Sept. 10. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



24a 



On one of the bells of Burford Church, near 

 Tenbury, is the following inscription : 



" At service-time I sound. 

 And at the death of men ; 

 To serve your God, and well to die, 

 Remember then." 



The inscriptions on the bells of St. Helen's 

 Church, Worcester, are veiy singular ; the names 

 they bear tell their date : 



1. "Blenheim. 

 First isiny note, and Blenheim is my name ; 

 For Blenheim's story will be first in fame," 



2. " Barcelona. 



Let me relate how Louis did bemoan 



His grandson Philip's flight from Barcelon." 



3. " liamilies. 

 Deluged in blood, 1, Ramilies, advance 

 Britannia's glory in the fall of France." 



4. " Menin. 



Let Menin on my sides engraven be, 

 And Flanders freed from Gallic slavery." 



5. " Turin. 



When in harmonious peal I roundly go, 

 Think on Turin, and triumph of the Po." 



6. " Eugene. 

 With joy I bear illustrious Eugene's name, 

 Fav'rite of Fortune, and the boast of fame." 



7. " Marlborough. 



But L with pride, the greater Marlborough bear. 

 Terror of tyrants, and the soul of war." 



8. " Queen Ann. 



Th' immortal praises of Queen Ann I sound ; 

 With union blest, and all these glories crown'd." 



In Clifton-on-Teme Church (dedicated to St. 

 Kenelm) are the two following bell-inscriptions, 

 the second of which appears to contain a date : 

 " Per Kenelmi merita sit nobis ccelica vita." 

 « HenrlCVs lefFreyes KeneLMo DeVoVIt." 



The following are from the six bells of Kinver 

 Church, Worcestershire : 



1. " In Christo solo spem meam repono. a.r. 1746." 



2. " Cui Deus pater ecclesia est mater, a.r. 1746." 



3. " In sue templo numen adoro. a.r. 1746." 



4. « We were all cast at Gloucester by Abel Rudhall, 



1746. Fac manus puras coelo attollas." 



5. " Jos. Lye and John Lowe, churchwardens, 



A.R. 1745. Opem petentibus subvenit Deus." 



6. "■\\n. Gosnell and Sam. Brown, churchwardens. 



John Rudhall /ec^ 1790." 



CUTHBEBT BeDE, B, A. 



PASSAGE IN MILTON. 



" And every shepherd tells his tale 

 Under the hawthorn, in the dale." 



I have read with interest the " Notes " (Vol. i., 

 pp. 286. 316.) on these lines of the Allegro ; be- 

 cause, in spite of early prepossession in favour of 

 the idea commonly attached to them, I was con- 

 verted, some years ago, by the late Mr. Constable, 

 R.A., whose close observation of rural scenery 

 and employments no one can question. 

 His account of the matter was this: 

 " It is usual in Suffolk, and I have seen it often my- 

 self, for the shepherd, assisted by another man or boy, 

 to make the whole flock pass through a gap, in order 

 to facilitate the tale. One fellow drives them through 

 the opening by moving about, shouting, and clapping 

 his hands, while his comrade, on the other side of the 

 hedge, and under cover of a thorn or other thick bush, 

 counts them as they leap through. I have not only 

 seen but assisted, when a boy, at the shepherd's tale ; 

 and I do believe Milton had no other idea in his mind. 

 For, in'deed, the early morning is not the time the 

 poets choose for lovers to woo, or maids to listen ; and 

 Milton has described a scene where all were up and 

 stirring. Neither is the word « every ' appropriate, 

 according to the common interpretation of the passage ; 

 every shepherd would not woo on the same spot ; but 

 that spot might be particularly favourable for making 

 the tale of his sheep." 



Your correspondent J. M. M. adduces an argu- 

 ment in favour of the romantic versus the pastoral, 

 which seems to me entirely devoid of weight. He 

 thinks that Handel's " ' Let me wander ' breathes 

 the shepherd's tale of love." Surely there is more 

 imagination than truth in this. There is a series 

 of images in the words of that song : it was neces- 

 sary, unless the music varied unreasonably to suit 

 them all, to choose a pleasing, but not very signi- 

 ficant, melody, and, above all, to make the close of 

 it a fit introduction for the " merry bells," and 

 "jocund Rebecs," which burst in immediately 

 after. I confess I find nothing of the amatory 

 style in Handel's setting of the two disputed lines. 

 He chose the Pastorale or f time, as for " He shall 

 feed his flock," " O lovely Peace," &c. But were 

 It so, I could not admit Handel as an authority, 

 because, as a foreigner, and an inhabitant of towns, 

 he could not possibly be conversant with the rural 

 customs of England. S. K. 



DESIGNED FALSE ENGLISH BHTMES. 



(Vol. vll., p. 483.) 



I was much surprised to see in your paper such 

 a lengthened defence of Irish rhymes by a reference 

 to those of English poets, and particularly to Pope. 

 I thought It was well known that he, at last, be- 

 came sensible of the cloying effect of his never-vary- 

 ing melody, and sought to relieve it by deviations 



