June 17. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



567 



to believe it to be so at present), for the men to 

 sit on one side of the aisle, and the women on the 

 other, in the church of Grange, near Armagh, in 

 the north of Ireland. No one remembered the 

 introduction of the custom. Abhba. 



Standing while the Lord's Prayer is read (Vol. ix., 

 pp. 127. 257.). — The congregation of the English 

 Episcopal Chapel at Dundee stood during the 

 reading of the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Command- 

 ments, and the Song of the Angels at the birth of 

 Christ, when these occur in the order of morning 

 lessons. This congregation joined that of the 

 Scottish Episcopalians several years ago, and 

 whether the practice is continued in the present 

 congregation I cannot say. 



In St. Paul's Chapel, Edinburgh, York Place, 

 the congregation stand at the reading of the Ten 

 Commandments in the fifth chapter of Deutero- 

 nomy, and they chant " Glory be to thee, O God," 

 on the giving out of the Gospel, and " Thanks be 

 to thee, O God," &c, after the reading of it. In 

 the Communion they sit during the reading of the 

 Exhortation, " Dearly Beloved in the Lord ; " and 

 it is but very lately that they have stood when 

 repeating " Glory be to God on high," &c, in the 

 Post Communion. Henry Stephens. 



In Durham Cathedral, on Sept. 5, 1850, at the 

 Anniversary of the Sons of the Clergy, the con- 

 gregation rose simultaneously on the occurrence 

 of the Lord's Prayer in the lesson. I remember 

 also that the same custom was observed at Trinity 

 Church, Chelsea, during the incumbency of the 

 Rev. Henry Blunt. Where the Bidding Prayer 

 enjoined by the 55th Canon is used (that, by-the- 

 way, being the only authorised pulpit prayer), it 

 is usual I believe for the people to stand, during 

 the Lord's Prayer ; the preacher then teaching us 

 to pray as our Lord taught His disciples. The 

 short doxology at the end of the Gospel, to which 

 Mr. Ellacombe refers at p. 257., is common in 

 the north of England. E. H. A. 



This custom prevails generally in the Episco- 

 palian churches in Scotland ; and our congrega- 

 tions also stand up while the Commandments are 

 read in course of the lessons. We have also the 

 practice of singing, after the Gospel : " Thanks be 

 to thee, O Lord, for this thy Holy Gospel ! " 



Balivus. 



Edinburgh. 



This is the practice on the reading of this prayer 

 in the second lesson at the parish church of Edg- 

 baston, near Birmingham. It is probably a re- 

 manet of the ancient practice in the Church, not 

 only to stand up during the reading of the Gospel, 

 but throughout the whole service, as symbolic of 

 the resurrection of Christ — the Lord's Day; which 

 still exists in the Greek Church, and may be wit- 



nessed any Sunday in London, on visiting the 

 recent edifice in London Wall. T. J. Buckton. 

 Birmingham. 



The custom is observed in St. Thomas' Church. 



W. Hazel. 

 Portsmouth. 



At Exeter Cathedral the people kneel whenever 

 the Lord's Prayer is read in the lesson. 



J. W. Hewett. 



Tolling the Bell on leaving Church (Vol. ix., 

 pp. 125. 311, 312.). — In this parish a bell is al- 

 ways rung on the conclusion of the morning ser- 

 vice, to give notice that a sermon will be given at 

 the evening service. This bell, which a very re- 

 spectable old man, who was parish clerk here for 

 fifty- four years, called the " sermon bell," is never 

 tolled unless there is a second service. If at any 

 time the morning service is not performed, the 

 bell is tolled at twelve o'clock at noon to inform 

 the parishioners that an evening service will take 

 place. A bell is also rung at eight and nine 

 o'clock on Sunday, or any other morning when 

 morning prayer is said. 



The custom of ringing the church bell on Shrove 

 Tuesday, as mentioned by Newbtjriensis (Vol. ix., 

 p. 324.), is observed here too, and is generally 

 called " the pancake bell." C. F. P. 



Normanton-upon-Soar, Notts. 



I am disposed to agree in opinion with E. W. I. 

 as to this custom, not only as regards the priests, 

 but the people also, for in most country parishes 

 it is the signal for the baker — who usually cooks 

 the Sunday's dinner of the humbler classes — to 

 open his oven : and I have often heard old folks 

 speak of it as " the pudding bell." G. Taylor. 



Reading. 



The object is to announce that another service 

 is to follow, either in the afternoon or evening, as 

 the case may be. Here the tolling is, not as the 

 congregation are leaving the church, but at one 

 o'clock. Wm. Hazel. 



Portsmouth. 



E. W. I., in his answer to this Query in Vol. ix., 

 p.312., refers to the custom of tolling the church 

 bell at eight o'clock on Sunday morning, and 

 again at nine. This custom is followed at the 

 chapel of ease (at Maidenhead) to the parishes of 

 Bray and Cookham. Newbtjriensis. 



" The pudding bell," as country folks sometimes 

 call it (under the impression that its use is to 

 warn those at home to get the dinner ready), is 

 still rung in some of the old Lancashire parish 

 churches as the congregation go out. But as in 

 this county parish churches are scarce, and two 

 full services quite a matter of course, W. S.'s 



