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On 27/01/2022 14:10, Richard Smith wrote:<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:alpine.LRH.2.02.2201271205160.29128@sphinx.mythic-beasts.com">By
1641 there were certainly clocks with chiming barrels which played
tunes. Chris Pickford recently brought an older one in East
Hendred, Oxfordshire to my attention. This is a village only
slightly larger than Little Eversden, so they were not the sole
preserve of big town churches. But if that's the case here, why
take the time to inscribe the tune on the tower wall? If the aim
was to record that Battell paid for the clock – and the man who
died in 1651 was a man of some substance who could have afforded
to – wouldn't we expect a more formal board or tablet?
<br>
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
I hope you'll all forgive an absolute amateur at campanology from
saying a piece on this. I have been corrected before on this list
and no doubt am about to be again, but that's fine.<br>
<br>
I am however deeply steeped in local historical matters.<br>
<br>
The middle 'initial' looks to me much more like a flourish or a
personal cipher than the mere mark of an illiterate - although it
could be both at the same time of course. I see more of a personal
seal or the equivalent of a mason's mark in it. It has a strong
presence.<br>
<br>
Whether or not Mt. Battell commissioned either a domestic chiming
clock for himself or a chiming turret clock for this church, he
could have composed its tune, being what is recorded in these
numbers. If it was a distinctive or even possibly unique little
tune, then it might perhaps have been known as 'Battell's Chimes'
locally, and so its written numerical form could also have acted as
his 'mark'. So I wonder whether the rows of numbers are in fact
another form of personal monogram. <br>
<br>
Thus, this signature might actually be a triple-decker if you'll
forgive the expression.<br>
<br>
<br>
I'm probably now about to be completely misled, but in checking
Wikipedia for the date of arrival of chiming domestic clocks, I soon
noted that their entry on the Whittington chime says that:<br>
<blockquote>
"Before the name Whittington became common, the melody used to be
referred to as “chimes on eight bells”. However, evidence suggests
it was originally a chime on six bells – a melody that has not
been in use at St Mary-le-Bow since 1666."<br>
</blockquote>
Could there be some distant echo of a connection between the 6/8
here and the 8/6/8/6 metre of the inscription? A common origin
perhaps?<br>
<br>
One thought I had was that maybe the numbers 1 to 4 refer not to
four bells but to the four steps of a four-step chiming sequence,
i.e. all the 1s are to be struck first, followed by the 2s etc.; and
the actual positions of the digits (either 6 or 8 of them) might
refer to the individual 'bells' (of a smaller chime rather than the
main ring of a church). This would mean that most of the steps
consisted of more than one note, a bit like a Swiss musical box (and
didn't church chimes also use pinned barrels?).<br>
<br>
Maybe the last two (or first two, or last and first) 'bells' were
not used in the six-figure lines?<br>
<br>
<br>
As for a formal tablet recording a worthy donation, I agree that it
would not be tucked into a corner and would far more likely be
displayed visibly, probably either on the ground floor or on the
ringing floor of the tower. But such a generous act might not be
recorded in a tablet at all. I can offer one example from Waltham
Abbey church.<br>
<br>
In the Churchwardens' Account Book for 1624-1670, are these entries:<br>
<blockquote>1656<br>
The Catologue of such Batchlers and Maides who weare Uoluntarie
Contributeurs for the first bell of the Sixe for the parish of
Waltham Holy Crosse in the County of Essex Ao: 1656 [followed by
about 200 names]<br>
<br>
Feb 27 1656/7<br>
A rat[e] made by the Church wardenes and Overseers for the poor of
the toune and other Inhabitants for the raising of monyes for the
caysting of the great bell and making the fram for the bells &
other cherges as Appeir by their accounts [followed by a list of
121 names]<br>
<br>
1658/9? <br>
BE IT REMEMBRED That in the yeare 1656: the Batchelors &
maides of the parish of Waltham Holly Crosse did by A volluntary
Contribution Purchase a new treble to the other five bells Henry
Webb & Tho. Eaton weare Church wardnes then. <br>
Item in the yeare 1657 the Right Honable James Earle of Carlile at
his own Cost and charge did sett up the chimes which cost xxxviilb
0 – 0. 37-0-0<br>
Besides the Frame and Timber which came unto 5-10-16<br>
Abraham Hudson and Henry Webb weare overseeres of that worke for
his Lordshipe. <br>
</blockquote>
Of all this work, nothing physical remains in the church today. Not
a vestige, except for this account book's entries. We do however
still have the turret clock commissioned and made in 1627, which has
the then four churchwardens' names inscribed upon its frame. Its
predecessor had chimes, according to a 1625 entry in this book.<br>
<br>
Lawrence Greenall, Waltham Abbey<br>
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