| OCR Text |
Show DELLS OF OLD HOLLAND. H Ancient Chimes That Have Delighted J the Dutch for Centuries. H From tho earliest times tho pcoplo of the Netherlands havo so greatly H loved their bells nnd chimes that the H architecture of their belfries and H steeples shows marked trace, of It. H Most of theso aro of open-work de- H sign, so that tho bells might bo heard H in the wldost clrcumferoncc, writes H Tho llaguo correspondent of tho Chi- B cago Dally News, llcauttful exaraplep H of this style cun bo seen In tho caturv H dral towers of Utrecht and DolfL Sev- H oral of the smaller towns posbess even H finer speclmenB, either In their chinch H spires or In tho belfries of watch tow- H crs. Like the well-known belfry ot H Monnlkendam, theso towers gcncially H stood in tho principal squares. Tho H bells wero tolled In caso ot danger, to H alarm the burghers, or to call them H together fur Important communlcac H tlona. Such a tower Is that c! llruges, H of wlilch Longfellow sings: In tho market place of Druses H Stunds Ihu 1-clfry, old und brown. H Th- o drnlioyed und thrleo rcbulldcd, H HUH It wntclirs o'er the town. H In Holland there is scarcely a place of importance that doc3 not havo one H or more towers with chimes. Tho H tunes of theso aro changed ouco or twlco a year, generally on Now Year's H day. This Is so at Tho Hnguo and H Utrecht. Somo places, however, aro H not content with this and havo tho H tunes changed oftencr. It is nn rcc- H ord that In ono town, which had a lino H carillon cast by tho famous i lemony H In 1577, It was decreed that tho tunes H should be changed ovory fortnight or H at lenit ouco a month, so fond wero H tho burghers of their bells. H In a timo when clocks wero by no H means general tho church bells wero H tho tlmekecpcrH for the burghers. Tho H heavier bell struck tho hours and tho H lighter bell tho hulf hours. If theso B wero chimes they played a tuno at HHVj noon and another at midnight, while H beforo tho stroko of tho hour or dl- H vision of tho hour a part of thu tuno H would bo plu j cd. H Tho Inscriptions on tho bells aro H g(rcrnll In rhymo and undo to read H as If the bell itself Is telling Us namo M and tho history of Its making. Hul- H hind still possesses many of thoso H ane'eut hells', notably In tho province H of Frlcslaud. Tho earliest authciitl- M catcd bell Is that of Krommenle, cast H In 1S3G by Hodolphus do Montlgny. M Most hells now in existence wero, H howovcr, cast In tho ilfteenth, six- M tccnth or seventeenth centuries. H Tho rcrormattou brought a chango M In tho naming of bells. Tho Catholic M saints were forsaken, and only nilill- M cal or worldly names wero allowed, M vioie the Inscription also breathed U o'.Nflr views, an can bo seen by com- paring the bells cast In tho sovea- M tccnth ccntriry with those ot earlier ' jH dato. Those on tho older hells havo M a purely religious slgnillcancu, while M tho Inter onos refer to worldly sub- WM Jects, as, for Instance, the famous boll at Ham, which recounts In Its In- scrlptlon how It burat in 10C0 "bo- H rauso it had too loudly ponied out Its M joy at tho victory ot tho Dutch fleet H over tho English." jH |
