[Bell Historians] Coventry bells - the last post

[David Cawley]

Thoroughly enjoyed the 'recording' of the old St Michael's, Coventry bells when Bill put it up. I duly armed myself with my copy of CJP's excellent The Steeple, Bells and Ringers of Coventry Cathedral and having sat myself down in the kitchen with both study doors open and the speakers turned up, I imagined myself sitting in the Dolphin on 9th June 1883 listening to the last peal on the bells. "Although it is forty-seven years since I first rang on St Michael's bells," said Henry Johnson, "I still feel a thrill of delight when I hear again their beautiful music." Thanks, Bill, for giving us a hint of what he meant.

DLC 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Bill Hibbert 
To: bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2004 8:45 PM
Subject: [Bell Historians] Coventry bells - the last post


Positively my last post on the subject: I have now put a 
transcription of the Coventry court case up as 
www.hibberts.co.uk/coventry_court.htm. It is worth a read, if you 
have not seen it. It includes such priceless exchanges as:

Mr. J. George, of Birmingham, in giving evidence, said that . . . he 
had on many an occasion spent an hour at Coventry just for the 
pleasure he found in hearing the bells, though they were only chimed.
Sir Henry: I notice that you appear somewhat deaf; can you hear?
Mr. George: Fairly well.
How long have you been deaf? - 30 years.
Sir Henry: But do you think your hearing good enough to judge bell 
tones?
Mr. George: Though one ear is deaf, I hear twice as well with the 
other.

And the following explanation of old-style hums:

He would like to remind the Chancellor, in regard to the properties 
of the flat seventh, that it was analogous to what they had studied 
in mathematical problems where a factor was introduced for the 
purpose of preventing recurrence. He thought the function of the 
flat seventh hum-note was very probably somewhat similar, inasmuch 
as it prevented the harmonics getting control of the primary wave 
lengths of sound.

Enjoy! - and the 'recording' of the bells, if you haven't yet heard 
it.

Bill H 



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