O'Reilly — Ringing qf Bells in N. Spain and in Ireland. 497 



on to the beam and allowing themselves to fly round, passing by this 

 means out of the window in which the bell is rung." 



Unfortunately the author's description hardly gives a clear idea of 

 the bell-tower, and the sketch of it is still less clear and satisfactory, 

 but it may be gathered from it that the western wall is continuous 

 in height with one or two openings for bells, and is crowned with a 

 tiled roof, forming eaves. Many examples might be given from the 

 churches of southern France of a similar form of bell-tower, as well as 

 also from Ireland, as, for instance, in the case of Howth Abbey 

 tower, ^ or of the old church of Dalkey, the belfry of which has a 

 double apertui'e ; an elevation of the western wall-face and of the end 

 of this wall showing the old steps leading to the belfry accompany the 

 present paper. What is very interesting in Gadow's description is the 

 statement that the bells are " belaboui'ed " or beaten, as he says, " in 

 quick time," and that access to the bells is through the roof for that 

 pui'pose. He does not say that, " in all the small chiu'ches in northern 

 Spain," the same mode of sounding the bells prevails, but such might 

 be inferred from the wording of the phrase. This would not, however, 

 be correct, since my experience of five years' residence in this province 

 enables me to state so. Having lived at Comillas (a fishing village 

 situated about 24 miles west of Santander, and about 35 miles by road 

 from Potes), I had occasion to become familiar with the modes of 

 ringing or soimding the bells of the village church, which is large and 

 well built, and capable of easily accommodating 500 to 600 people. 

 There is a western tower in which are the large bells, and on the south 

 side of the chancel a small belfry of the description already mentioned. 

 On ordinary Sundays and feast days the small bell was usually 

 rung (by means of a rope) for the low masses, and the large bells for 

 the principal or parish mass, say of 1 1 o'clock, a.m. On these occasions 

 these large bells were played upon "in quick time " by youths, the 

 tower,, floor being at a level or height such as to allow them to so do 

 conveniently ; my impression is that they used wooden mallets for the 

 purpose, possibly di'umsticks, but the sound had not the sharp ring 

 which would be expected from the use of metal hammers. The effect 

 — a series of very rapid strokes, producing an almost continuous sound, 

 and marked by a few stronger notes at regular intervals — was 

 extremely agreeable to the ear, though strange for a northern. On 



^ See Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 1896. " Notes on 

 the Ecclesiastical Antiquities in the parish of Howth, Co. Dublin," by Eobert 

 Cochrane, F.S.A., M.H.I.A., vol, xxvi., pp. 1-21. 



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