<html><head></head><body><div style="font-family: Verdana;font-size: 12.0px;"><div>Dear Chris,</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I am not the person you need to analyse the whole of this, but the following may help.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<div>The first paragraph (only) is transcribed by Ellacombe, CB Somerset, pp 115-6, from an earlier printed source.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Most of the rest is a transcript of Durandus' chapter de campanis, not exactly according to the received text (see eg https://archive.org/details/RationaleDivinorumOfficiorumDurandoEBeletho/page/n45/mode/2up ) but apparently the same in substance. The principal departure is that our scribe goes off-piste almost immediately after mentioning the iron bands that fix the bell to the headstock (ligatura, underlined in red on f17r, l 11) with a short passage of his own; and omits the rest of Durandus' para 7 and almost the whole of the long para 8 (which is about the bell-rope and the allegorical significance of its movements), picking up at the end of that para with what I read (staring with the gold S) as 'SAvinianus porro p'pa constituit ut hore diei p[er]eccl'as pulsent[u]r' (sorry, do not have the ligatures!), which is the very end of para 8.</div>
<div>We then continue for the whole of f 17v. Durandus' last sentence, a forward reference to organs, is omitted and the last sentence we have in this passage is a summary.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>The next part may be more interesting. We are in the lines with the big red P.</div>
<div>On the left, in two lines, is a version of that inscription often quoted, perhaps rather early here: Laudo deum verum; populum voco; convoco clerum; defunctos ploro; pestem fugo; festa decoro.</div>
<div>On the right and underneath is a short memo, all underlined, with a manicle. The best I can do is: Pro consuetudine libera pulsandi et confirmatione eiusdem in ecclesiam & de sentencia excoris lata super violatores vide p[aginam] in fine magne carte. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>There is then a reference to something in the second book of Decretals, possibly mentioning the Chapter of Durham (or a decree by a bishop of Durham) and a final reference to a decretals discussion that does not look as though it has much to do with bells. </div>
<div>That is the end of 'Classatio Campanarum' (the title on f 16v). The next section of the book is headed 'Coroner', and because we have moved from Canon law to English law, it's in French.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>However, if we go to the section on Magna Carta, we find bells again, as promised above. The version transcribed is one of the Henry III ones. Next to c 10 on f 23v, which decrees that the City of London shall have its free liberties and customs, as shall all other cities burghs and towns, and the Cinque Ports, we have a marginal picture of a bell and another manicle and a rather worn note which I cannot fully read. In particular I cannot get the second word of the second line, and the wear below is difficult, but it looks as though the whole thing is to the following effect: Note on bell ringing it is not what the civil power says but what the customs of the abbey say. I'm afraid there is a great deal of guesswork in that. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>We then go, as suggested by the note at the end of the bells section, to the end of the Magna Carta section, after the document usually called Magna Carta, and after the Charter of Forests, to the foot of f 26v, where we have a section on Sentencia Lata Super Violatores (see the explicit on the following page). The passage beginning with the red H and ending with the reference to the privileges of the City of London 'as marked by the bell in the margin four pages back' evidently refers to ringing customs of Bath, 'just like those of Westminster', and as far as I can see at a glance there are some threats of excommunication for inhibiting their continuance. It's a bit late to start on that paragraph now, and there may well be someone on this list better able to read it: otherwise I'll have a go.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>All the best</div>
<div>Mark</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<div name="quote" style="margin:10px 5px 5px 10px; padding: 10px 0 10px 10px; border-left:2px solid #C3D9E5; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;">
<div style="margin:0 0 10px 0;"><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, June 18, 2025 at 1:22 PM<br/>
<b>From:</b> "c.j.pickford--- via Bell-historians" <bell-historians@lists.ringingworld.co.uk><br/>
<b>To:</b> "'Bell Historians'" <bell-historians@lists.ringingworld.co.uk><br/>
<b>Cc:</b> c.j.pickford@talk21.com, "'Frank Seabright'" <stedmandoubles@gmail.com><br/>
<b>Subject:</b> [Bell Historians] Help needed</div>
<div name="quoted-content"><!--p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {
margin: 0.0in;
font-size: 11.0pt;
font-family: Calibri , sans-serif;
}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {
color: rgb(5,99,193);
text-decoration: underline;
}
span.EmailStyle17 {
font-family: Calibri , sans-serif;
color: windowtext;
}
*.MsoChpDefault {
font-size: 11.0pt;
}
div.WordSection1 {
page: WordSection1;
}
-->
<div>
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal">Frank Seabright has drawn my attention to a manuscript recently acquired by the British Library – The “Red Book of Bath” (add Ms 89789) – which contains some entries relating to bells. The whole manuscript is available online at <a href="https://iiif.bl.uk/uv/?_gl=1*1eya6d7*_ga*MzUyNjgyNjQyLjE3NDkwNDE0NzY.#?manifest=https://bl.digirati.io/manifests/ark:/81055/man_10000025.0x000001" target="_blank">https://iiif.bl.uk/uv/?_gl=1*1eya6d7*_ga*MzUyNjgyNjQyLjE3NDkwNDE0NzY.#?manifest=https://bl.digirati.io/manifests/ark:/81055/man_10000025.0x000001</a> - and as far as I can see the actual references on folio 16 verso to 17 verso are to be found on images 43 to 45 of the online version.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My Latin isn’t good enough to tackle this. Also, the British Library manuscripts catalogue isn’t online at present – they’re still rebuilding it following the cyber-attack in 2023 – so I can’t check the catalogue description to see that these pages are supposed to be about</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Anyone with a good knowledge of Latin and palaeography willing to take a look and do a translation?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="color: rgb(31,56,100);">Chris Pickford</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(47,84,150);">e-mail: </span><span><a href="mailto:pickford5040@gmail.com" onclick="" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(5,99,193);">pickford5040@gmail.com</span></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
_______________________________________________ Bell-historians mailing list Bell-historians@lists.ringingworld.co.uk <a href="https://lists.ringingworld.co.uk/listinfo/bell-historians" target="_blank">https://lists.ringingworld.co.uk/listinfo/bell-historians</a></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div></div></body></html>