[Bell Historians] Royal
Richard Offen
richard at 4HjvICrMAAg4BhSbRLQMozaamxZD-0ukwNy3saWnObQ-M_s97OIj7LTtNcx4wyc2ahqOR8IE.yahoo.invalid
Wed Aug 23 06:17:46 BST 2006
> Hello (timidly)
> I was going to go away quietly but several years ago I did some
research
> into the origin of "Queens" and "Whittingtons". Initially, I was
prepared to
> accept as the legend has it, that possibly Gloriana heard the 6
bells of
> (wherever) stopped in her tracks, proclaimed "I like it" and from
then on
> the change that she heard & liked - 135246 has been known as the
Queen's
> change. Well, its plausible - not likely but plausible. But, as for
531246
> "Turn again Whittington". as heard by Dick Whittington, no, I don't
think
> so. As I've said, I know nothing of belfry archaeology (not even
sure how to
> spell it) but I would have thought that in his day (he died in
1423) he is
> not likely to have heard 6 bells playing 531246.
> I won't bore you with trying to recall the results of my findings
(perhaps
> ANOTHER article for the Ringing World?) but these, together with
the origin
> of bob and sally and why Treble & Tenor? might form a series of
articles in
> the RW from the pen of
> Yours respectfully
> Eddie Martin
> PS any comments, suggestions help in preparing these articles would
be
> gratefully accepted (off list)
> mew
Don't be timid Ed, it's great to have you with us!
Do we actually know when the changes for Queen's and Whittingtons
started to be known by those names?
Ruth Niblett from Canterbury once pointed out to me the remarkable
resemblance between the older technical terms used in lace making and
those of bell ringing ...all the more interesting when one considers
that several of the pioneering bands of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries resided in towns famous for their lace:
Nottingham and Norwich to name but two.
As to the derivation of 'Royal, does the OED definition help?
"Of a qulity or size suitable for a king or queen."
I know of many ringers who find ringing on ten amongst the most
satisfying number on which to ring changes. Could it be that early
change ringers felt that ringing on ten bells was fit for royalty?
Richard
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