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October 27th, 2007

Bells upset

bells upset

We went on a splendid ‘roof tour’ at Lincoln Cathedral, which, incidentally, is the answer to yesterday’s little conundrum. This sign, which reads ‘DANGER – DO NOT TOUCH THE ROPES – BELLS UPSET’ is meant to indicate:

  1. That the bells are in their upper ‘upset’ position, which means that if you pull on the ropes they will come swinging down into their lower ‘non-upset’ position.
  2. That the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral will not be pleased if they hear any unauthorised donging, and will come running from their offices in an upset state.
  3. That the people of Lincoln will be somewhat upset if they hear an unscheduled bell ringing, as it would probably mean that some great calamity was about to befall the city.
  4. That any member of the tour party touching the rope would be fairly upset about being unexpectedly flung into the upper reaches of the bell tower, which would be the likely outcome of such a foolish action.

The photo is blurred because I did not want to use the flash in case a startled member of the party suddenly grabbed a bell rope in the ensuing confusion, thereby leading to even further upset.

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13 Responses to “Bells upset”


  1. Hennell says:

    As a resident of Lincoln I can confirm we would all panic at the sound of unscheduled bells; unscheduled bell ringing is the warning that a larger city is invading and trying to eat us.

    Caused mass riots last time the bell ringers practised.

    October 27th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
  2. Peter Kirk says:

    Surely also 5. That the bell, released without proper control, might fall off its mounting, come crashing through the roof (perhaps through many floors of tower), and land on your head. Well, that’s what they used to tell us years ago when I learned to ring the things, but maybe it was just to scare us into keeping the rules.

    October 27th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
  3. Peter Kirk says:

    PS I thought it wasn’t Rochester. That’s not far enough from Basildon for anyone to bother to go there for a three day break, much more day trip country. Lincoln is much more the distance someone would go for three days. Indeed I just went for three days to Sheffield, just a little further in the same direction.

    October 27th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
  4. Aaron Orear says:

    Or perhaps it means that you ought not pull the ropes just now, as the bells are upset for some reason. Perhaps they heard bad news about a bell relative of theirs, or maybe they were REALLY looking forward to ringing out a celebratory peal for England’s football victory…

    October 27th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
  5. Farli says:

    Is the person holding the sign real, or a statue?

    If real, is he allowed to move, or is he required to stay like that as long as anyone is nearby?

    October 27th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
  6. Lesley says:

    “The Bells The Bells The Bells” :-)

    October 28th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
  7. Aaron Orear says:

    Dave, with your kind permission…you’re the best source I know for connecting to a large, web-savvy British audience.

    I have a non bell-related question. A plea, really. A clergy friend of mine, an older man from Great Britain, commented today that he’d really like a copy of the old National Songbook. He got rather sentimental about it and it sounds like a keen Christmas gift to me, but I gather it is now a thing of the past. Does anyone know where one might be found?

    I tried eBay (and will continue to, as these things do come and go) but am wondering if dogeared copies of the Songbook are a common sight to anyone living on that blessed plot, that earth, that realm, that England (or Scotland or Wales or Northern Ireland).

    I’d be most happy to arrange an off-eBay, eBay-like purchase (provided you ask before buying it at the antique book seller’s, as I don’t need forty copies) for a fair price. I mean, I like the guy, but an assistant curate has limits. If copies of the Songbook are rare and costly, he’ll just have to pine.

    Thanks!

    October 28th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
  8. Dave says:

    Aaron – I’m not even sure I’ve heard of said songbook. Is the ‘National Songbook’ the official title, or does it go by any other name?

    But then again I’m no hymnal expert. Perhaps someone else reading might know more.

    October 28th, 2007 at 11:32 pm
  9. Aaron says:

    I gather it was used in school, quite some time ago. He mentioned songs from it – “Sally in our alley” and “Pretty Polly Oliver”.

    October 28th, 2007 at 11:34 pm
  10. Philip of Samaria says:

    in junior school we had one that had ‘blow the man down’ and ‘we’ll rant and we’ll roar like true british sailors’ but i’m sure that was called sea shantys and things

    October 29th, 2007 at 7:45 am
  11. Simon Boswell says:

    There’s a fair chance that there’s a copy in the cabinet behind the man with the sign, I’d wager …

    October 29th, 2007 at 11:29 am
  12. tobias says:

    I’d heard that the primary reason not to touch the rope of an upset bell wasn’t in danger from the bell, but from the rope, which upon then moving with many pounds of bronze behind it, can become a lethal instrument of hanging, bashing heads against the ceiling, and so forth. Which could be quite upsetting.

    October 31st, 2007 at 5:43 pm
  13. Aaron says:

    Huzzah! Dave’s near-universal access to people in the know, people who have great memories for things like comments left on blogs and who are willing to dig into school library discard piles on behalf of complete strangers, pays off!

    A Cartoon Church reader has contacted me with a genuine National Songbook! Many thanks, Emma!

    I’m overusing the exclamation mark!

    December 14th, 2007 at 2:53 am