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<DIV><SPAN class=555340214-07112009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>He
might even write a foreword as well.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=555340214-07112009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>A</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>
bellhistorians@yahoogroups.com [mailto:bellhistorians@yahoogroups.com]<B>On
Behalf Of </B>Dickon Love<BR><B>Sent:</B> 06 November 2009 11:19<BR><B>To:</B>
bellhistorians@yahoogroups.com<BR><B>Subject:</B> RE: Re: [Bell Historians]
Unusual clock chimes<BR><BR></FONT></DIV><SPAN
style="DISPLAY: none"> </SPAN>
<DIV id=ygrp-text>
<P>Mark,<BR><BR>Sounds to me as if you should ask The University Bellringer to
write a forward for this production..<WBR>.<BR><BR>DrL<BR><BR>-original
message-<BR>Subject: RE: Re: [Bell Historians] Unusual clock chimes<BR>From:
"Mark Regan" <<A
href="mailto:markregan%40arcubus.com">markregan@arcubus.<WBR>com</A>><BR>Date:
06/11/2009 10:39 am<BR><BR>Thanks you for this Frank. You've set me off in
another related area. Another example of why this network is so important. A
PhD thesis too?<BR><BR>Mark<BR><BR>>----- ------- Original Message -------
-----<BR>>From: Frank King <<A
href="mailto:Frank.King%40cl.cam.ac.uk">Frank.King@cl.<WBR>cam.ac.uk</A>><BR>>To:
<A
href="mailto:bellhistorians%40yahoogroups.com">bellhistorians@<WBR>yahoogroups.<WBR>com</A><BR>>Sent:
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:42:56<BR>><BR>>Dear Mark,<BR>><BR>>> My
basic plan is a cd of bells in the UK which<BR>>tell<BR>>> the time.
This will range from Big Ben to...<BR>><BR>>Ah. If you are going to have
Big Ben, then your CD<BR>><BR>>should surely include the original
Cambridge<BR>>Quarters<BR>>which, any decade now, will be working again
on<BR>>their<BR>>Phelps bells sounding much as they did in 1793.
<BR>>They<BR>>have been out of action most of this year
while<BR>>some<BR>>other project has been in progress
:-)<BR>><BR>>A historical point which might be noted on
the<BR>>sleeve<BR>>of your CD is a practical reason why we
usually<BR>>divide<BR>>the 24-hour day into two lots of
12.<BR>><BR>>[Another reason is that before we had
equal-hours<BR>>the<BR>>system was to divide daylight hours and
night-time<BR>>hours separately into 12-hour periods. In
winter,<BR>>daylight hours would be short and night-time hours<BR>>long.
This so-called unequal-hours scheme was used<BR>>in<BR>>Europe until the
advent of striking clocks in 13C.]<BR>><BR>><BR>>If you have an hour
bell that strikes all the<BR>>hours from 1 to 24 that means 300 dongs a
day.<BR>><BR>>If you settle for 1 to 12 that is just 78 dongs<BR>>or
156 dongs in 24 hours. This reduces the effort<BR>>involved in winding up
clock weights to a little<BR>>more than half of what it would otherwise
be.<BR>><BR>>It is common in Italy to see old clocks that
have<BR>>six-hour dials and which strike just 1 to 6 and<BR>>hence need
only 4x21=84 dongs a day.<BR>><BR>>Curiously, it is also common in Italy
to find<BR>>(modern) 12-hour clocks that strike the relevant<BR>>hour
after chiming each quarter so, say, at<BR>>half past 10 you get the
half-hour chime and<BR>>then 10 dongs. This means 4x156=624 dongs
in<BR>>a day and I cannot believe that hand-wound<BR>>versions of such
clocks have ever been made!<BR>><BR>>Frank H. King<BR>>Keeper of the
University Clock<BR>>Cambridge, U.K.<BR><BR>Mark Regan<BR>22 Sebright
Avenue<BR>Worcester<BR>WR5 2HH<BR>01905 354339<BR>07971
573688<BR><BR></P></DIV><!-- end group email --></BODY></HTML>