OCR Text |
Show BELLS OF OLD HOLLAND. Ancient Chimes That Have Delighted the Dutch for Centuries. From tho earliest tlmo3 tho peoplo of tho Netherlands have so greatly loved their bolls and chimes that tho architecture of their belfries and stcoplcs hIiows mnrked traces of It Most of theso aro of open-work design, de-sign, so that tho bells might bo heard In tho widest circumference, writes Tho Hague correspondent of tho Chicago Chi-cago Dally News. Beautiful examples of this stylo can bo Been ln tho cathedral cathe-dral towers of Utrecht and Delft. Sev-oral Sev-oral of tho smaller towns possess oven finer specimens, either In tholr church spires or In tho belfries of watch towers. tow-ers. Llko tho well-known belfry of Monnlkondnm, these towers generally stood In tho principal squares. The bolls were tolled ln enso of danger, to nlarm tho burghers, or to call them together for lmiortant communications. communica-tions. Such a tower is that of Drugcs, of which Longfellow sings: In tho market place of llrURes HtnnilK tha belfry, nlil nnd brown. Thrice destroyed nnd thrlco rcbulldcd, Still It wntches o'er tho town. In Holland there Is senrcoly a placo of Importanco that docs not havo ono or moro towers with chimes. Tho tunes of theso nro chnnged onco or twice a year, generally on Now Ycnr's day. This Is so at The Hague and Utrecht. Somo places, howovor, aro not content with this and havo tho tunes changed oftencr. It Is on record rec-ord that In ono town, which had a lino carillon cast by tho famous Hemony In 1577, It was decreed that tho tunos should bo changed overy fortnight or nt least onco a month, so fond woro tho burghers of their bells. In a tlmo whon clocks wero by no moans general tho church bolls wero tho tlmekeepors for tho burghers. Tho heavier boll struck tho hours and the lighter bell tho half hours. If theso wero chimes they played a tuno at noon and nnothor nt midnight, whllo before tho stroke of tho hour or division di-vision of tho hour a part of tho tuno would bo plnyed. Tho Inscriptions on tho bolls are generally ln rhymo and mado to read as If tho hell Itself Is telling Its name and tho history of Its making. Holland Hol-land still possesses many of those ancient bells, notnbly In tho province of Frlesland. Tho earliest authcntl cated bell Is that of Krommenlo, cast In 139C by ltodolphus do Montlgny Most bells now In exlstenco wero 'howovor, cast In the fifteenth, six tecnth or seventeenth conturles. Tho reformation brought a chnnge ln tho naming of bolls. Tho Catholic i saints wero forsaken, nnd only Biblical Bibli-cal or worldly names woro allowed, whllo the inscription nlso breathed othor vlows, as can bo seen by com paring tho bells cast ln tho seven teenth century with those of enrllci date. Those on tho older bolls havo a purely religions significance, while tho later ones refer to worldly sub Jects, as, for Instance, tho famous boll at Ham, which recounts ln Its In scrlptlon how It burst in 1GQG "bo-causo "bo-causo It hnd too loudly pealed out Itt Joy a't the victory ot tho Dutch ileot over tho English." |