Ringing Forums

There’s a recent Ringing World article about ringing backwards in early emergencies about three / four weeks ago. I’ll try and find the page number.

It rings a distant bell :) in the back of my mind. I can't help with references though. In 1381 there would probably be no more than 3 bells in a tower and they would be rung by a lever so there wouldn't be the control of today. Having said that, I'm sure I've read it somewhere.

The Ringing World 10th November has an article from Richard Smith. This is the most relevant part. But it is taking about 1530’s rather than anything significantly earlier than that.

“Late in the sixteenth century, William Byrd (c1540–1623) composed a short air for the virginal, a keyboard instrument like a harpsichord. It was named The Bells and descending scales feature prominently, clearly intended to evoke the sound of church bells. This tells us that bells being rung in rounds was a familiar part of the soundscape of the day. Twenty Ways upon the Bells, a piece for two lutes by Thomas Robinson that was published in 1603 also prominently features fivebell descending scales, reinforcing the idea that rounds was being rung by the end of the sixteenth century.

Andrew’s article quotes the Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic of Henry VIII which says that during the Lincolnshire Rising of 1536, the people ‘rung bells backwards’. This is an interesting new piece of evidence. The earliest description I had found of bells being rung backwards was in the State Papers Domestic of Elizabeth I (Addenda, 1566–79, p.105) from 1569. During the Rising of the North, another Catholic uprising in the north of the country, the Earl of Northumberland took Topcliffe Bridge ‘and rang the bells backward’. As Andrew says, these accounts tell us that there must have been a usual order for bells to be rung – presumably rounds – and the population could tell when they were being rung backwards. This new source pushes the date of rounds back from Elizabethan times to the eve of the Dissolution.”

The Andrew mentioned is Andrew White, who wrote a previous Ringing World article about ringing around the time of the Dissolution. So there clearly is some research out there but nothing looking as far back as you, from what I can see.

To save you wasting time, I've skimmed the books below and there is no mention of ringing "backwards".

Stedman: Campanalogia
Wilson: Change ringing
Coleman: The Bellringer's Bedside companion
Harrison & Lewis: The New Ringer's Book
Snowdon: Ropesight
Powell & Powell: The Ringers' Handbook

I was aware of this many years before I became a ringer in the context of WW2 in the case of an invasion. Makes sense that the locals would be alert to a sound they are not used to yet the invaders might not realise a warning had been given. Afraid I can’t help with a reference. I was told it many years ago from a generation who were around at the time.

In the context of the peasants revolt, makes sense as the defenders would assemble at the church where weapons would be kept. Thinking about it, maybe the backward rounds was a summons to the locals to assemble at times of trouble, in the same way that the lifeboat siren calls its crew from the community. No old bill then of course.

Were forward rounds even a thing then? Different bells meant different things?

It's backwards rounds. I thought that it was well known that ringing reverse rounds (for longer than normal) is a sign of invasion. Similar to flying the Union Flag upside down being a sign of distress.

The poem “The High Tide on the Coast of Lincolnshire”, of 1571, details the flooding of Boston, and bell-ringing features prominently at the beginning, as a warning, but the ringers are told to “ply all your changes; all your swells …. Ring out the Brides of Enderby [whatever that means]”, with no mention of backward ringing.
However, rhe Scottish folk song, “The Bonnets of Bonnie Dundee”, based on a Jacobite uprising, quotes:
“Dundee he is mounted and rides up the street
The bells they ring backward, the drums they are beat”.
Feel free to discuss!

The "Brides of Enderby" is apparently a special peal rung from Boston Stump to warn the townsfolk of danger.¹ The name supposedly commemorates the womenfolk of Mavis Enderby² a village at least 10 miles away as the crow flies. The church there has three unringable bells, the earliest of which is c. 1450, the others 1688 and 1819. Dove doesn't mention any earlier bells, so the peal can't have been rung there. I've not been able to find why the womenfolk needed commemoration.

Felstead peal records for Boston Stump³ go back to 1738 but none of them mention "The Brides of Enderby".

The website https://allpoetry.com/The-High-Tide-on-the-Coast-of-Lincolnshire gives the full poem but raises the question as to where the River Lindis was. Local knowledge here would be welcome.


¹https://web.archive.org/web/20050217084857/http://www.enderbymuseum.ca/thepast/geog/bride.htm
²https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mavis_Enderby
³https://felstead.cccbr.org.uk/tbid.php?tid=599

One of the old bells at St Ives, Hunts - by Henry Penn 1723 said " When backward rung we tell of fire, think how the world shall thus expire

flying the Union Flag upside down being a sign of distress. — Susan Hall

Or incompetence!

From something I wrote about the USS Pittsburgh (CA-4) some years ago:

After the refit she [USS PIttsburgh] sailed for Honolulu to become flagship US Asiatic fleet. She took on several hundred new recruits, which was to lead to a catalogue of errors during the passage. Under way she came to the rescue of HMS Wakakura, a British minesweeper with engine troubles. Eventually it was decided to tow the Wakakura and the captain is quoted as saying “Now remember, we have a ship of the Royal Navy on the towline. It's your job to see that every action of ours reflects nothing but good seamanship to our cousins astern”. Pittsburgh had the loudest bell in the fleet, clearly audible in other ships. At midnight a raw recruit rang twelve single strokes instead of the correct 4 double strokes. All hell let loose, this was the alarm for a fire on board. The skipper growled “I only hope those Britishers think we did not have a fire”. As dawn broke the tow parted but a new line was passed. The honour of the Pittsburgh was restored – until the skipper reached the bridge and saw the “Stars and Stripes” flying upside down, a signal that the ship was in distress! The captain left the bridge with his head in his hands.

As John said "incompetence".

Indeed. Sadly seen too frequently nowadays.