BELFRY. 



BELG.E. 



wooden tower used in attacking fortified places, and it was afterwards 

 given to any elevated tower in which a bell was hung. This state- 



B 



Plan of the Belfry of St. Paul's. 

 A and B, lines of sections ; a, a, beams. 



ment, if correct, might lead us to infer that the Latin word btllum 

 :;&.* the first part of the compound belfredus, and the second 



Section of the belfry of St. Paul's on the line A, . 

 r, r, gudgeons, on which the bell swings. 



Section of the belfry of St. Paul's on the line B, a. 

 A, hammer. 



Scale of >= 



=J Feet. 



part possibly derived from the Latin fera, to bear or carry away. The 

 forms Mfredus, verfredits, and be/ml, also occur as the names of old 

 military engines, and seem to lead to a different etymology. 



In this plan and sections of the belfry of St. Paul's church are seen 

 the construction of the timbers, showing their bearings independent of 

 the masonry. This construction may be taken as a good example of 

 the method of hanging heavy bells in a belfry. . In the two towers of St. 

 Paul's Church four bells are hung ; in the southern tower three, and 

 in the northern tower one. The great bell shown in the section is 

 hung over two others in the south tower ; these latter are fixed, and 

 are uot intended to be rung : the upper bell is hung on gudgeons or 

 axles, and prepared for ringing, but from the confined space in which 

 it is placed, it cannot be rung, and only moves on its axle when struck 

 by the hammer of the clock. 



In constructing a belfry, the frame-work is placed either on stone 

 corbels, or is made to bear on a " recess formed in the wall." (' Encyc. 

 Method. Arch.') This latter method is considered the best, because 

 the vibration caused by the motion of the bells acts with less force on 

 the masonry than it would if the framework were fixed in the masonry. 

 It is also to be observed, that the higher the bells are placed in the 

 tower % the more must the vibration, caused by ringing them, affect the 

 masonry. 



Village churches have belfries in their towers or steeples. In some 

 instances, where there is a single bell, it is not placed in a tower, but 

 suspended to a slight frame-work fixed between an arch constructed on 

 the exterior top of the gable end of a church or chapel, which is either 

 called a bell cot, in mediaeval architecture, or a bell yaUe in modern 

 pseudo-classical art. [BELL.] 



BELG^E, the general name given by Ctcsar to the different tribes 

 inhabiting the north of Gaul, between the sea on the west, the rivers 

 Matroua (Maine) and Sequana (Seine) on the south, and the Rhenus 

 (Rhine) on the east. But it is not well determined how far this name 

 may be extended to the east ; perhaps the Treviri, on the banks of the 

 Moselle, were included. Caesar remarks that the Matrona and Sequana ' 

 separate the Belgie from the Galli, who were to the south of them. 

 He says also, in general and vague terms, that the Belgie extend to 

 the Lower Rhine, and lie towards the north and the rising sun. He 

 also (' De Bell. Gall.' v. 24) uses the term Belgium to express the 

 country of the Belgao. The Belgie were, according to Csesar's testimony, 

 of German origin, though probably wanting a name : to the inhabitants 

 north of the Seine, he applied the name of some of the more consider- 

 able of the tribes to the whole. It would rather seem that the bulk 

 of the people were of Celtic origin. Caesar was informed by the Remi 

 (' De Bell. Gall.' ii. 4) that most of the Belgie were Germans, who had 

 crossed the Rhine, and had expelled the Gauls. But this only applied 

 to some of the tribes ; and others, the Morini for instance, whose name 

 is but a variation from that of Armorici, were Celts. All were distin- 

 guished by their warlike character, which Ciesar attributes partly to 

 their origin and partly to their being strangers to luxury and refine- 

 ment. The Bellovaci were the most warlike and numerous Belgic 

 tribe in the time of Ciesar. ('De Bell. Gall.' ii. 4.) The Remi, 

 whose capital was Durocortorum (Rheiuis), were the nearest Belgic 

 tribe to the Galli on that side. The rest of the tribes are mentioned 

 by Caesar (ii. 4) ; among them we find one name, the Atrebates, the 

 same as that of a tribe in Britain. The Belgie may be described 

 generally as occupying, in the time of Caesar, the French departments 

 of Nord, Pas de Calais, Somme, Seine Infe'rieure, Oise, and Aisne; 

 with a part of modern Belgium. 



When Caesar invaded South Britain, he found that part of the island 

 occupied by Belgoo, that is, by tribes of German origin, who had passed 

 over from the opposite shores of Gaul, and obliged the original inhabi- 

 tants to retreat into the interior of the country. (' De Bell. Gall.' v. 12.) 

 But as he had no intercourse with the original inhabitants, it is 

 impossible to say how far the Belgie had penetrated inland ; and later 

 historians have given us no account of this circumstance. We learn 

 only that the whole southern coast, from Suffolk to Devonshire, was 

 occupied by Belgic tribes. The Cantii were settled in Kent, the 

 Trinobantes to the north of the Thames, the Regni in Sussex, and the 

 Atrebatii in Berkshire. To the west of them the Belgae, properly so 

 called, occupied Hampshire and Wiltshire, and extended through 

 Somersetshire to the Bristol Channel ; their ' capital was Venta Bel- 

 garum, Winchester. Farther to the west, the Durotriges were found 

 in Dorsetshire, and their neighbours, the Damnonii, in Devonshire. 

 This is taking the accounts of Caesar and of Ptolemy together; 

 Ciesar fixes the Belgo; in Kent and Sussex, Ptolemy in Hampshire, 

 Dorsetshire, Wiltshire, and Somersetshire ; but Wiltshire, by its 

 ancient remains, shows that it was essentially Celtic. The names of 

 these chief towns go far to show they were not German ; Venta 

 (Winchester), and Ischalis (Ilchester), are British : and Aquie Solis 

 (Bath) is Latin. 



The Belgie in Britain were most likely rather of the Celtic division 

 of the BelgiE, than of the German ; and, conformably to the character 

 of their brethren in Gaul, made a stout resistance to Caesar. But about 

 a century afterwards they were compelled to submit to the yoke, which 

 the Romans had already in the time of Caesar imposed on their kinsmen 

 in Gaul. The name Belgica occurs as the name of a division of (laid 

 as late as Diocletian's time. Under the emperors it was governed by 

 an officer with the title of Procurator, or Legatus. 



