THE CHURCH BELLS OF DORSET. 12^ 



to show the extensive nature of his business. At Fordington 

 the inscriptions are, on the 3rd : — 



'i* Huncfa Jiatmnu C£>xix '^JPxo ^oVx^., 



and on the 5 th — 



Hh 3En XIlul[tii&' M-\m^ :Eir;&ouct (STjunpuu Johnnni^'. 



The frequent occurrence of the name of the former Saint on 

 bells is probably due to the introduction of the wheel instead of 

 a simple lever for the rope. The latter Leonine hexameter is all 

 over England, and was the first inscription I ever copied, from 

 the old 5th bell in IMildenhall tower, Suffolk, in the year 1848, 

 cast after Walgrave's time, but probably at the same foundry. 

 The capitals on the Fordington 5th are crowned as in the 

 facsimile of the inscription, Fig. 11. 



The smaller bell at Winterborne Came and the bell at Winter- 

 borne Monkton bear the same initial cross which Ellacombe 

 has engraved, as at Osmington and elsewhere in Dorset, and has 

 given as on Rimpton tenor, Somerset. At present we know 

 nothing about it, save that it seems entirely confined to the 

 south-west of England. I cannot find it in Ellacombe's 

 Gloucestershire book. As we go on we may come upon some 

 evidence which may help us. The same remark applies to the 

 larger bell at Winterborne Came, bearing only CT) » xi Jl. 



We now come to the period between the accession of Queen 

 Elizabeth and the Commonwealth, which gives us a dozen bells. 

 The earliest of these is late enough, the second at West Stafford, 

 dated 1595, which bears the initials of John Wallis, of Salisbury. 

 Like most of his bells it bears a short pithy motto, . GOD IS 

 FAITH FVL. Mr. Lukis* says of him that he seems to have 

 been a man of few words, but of great deeds. " A man," he 

 adds, " is known by his works, and a man's character and tone 

 of life may be known in some measure by his words. If we 



* An Account of Church Bells, p. 7. 



