Keep it in the family
The other day I rang in a quarter peal on the newly restored bells at Ladock. I asked if I might ring the third bell since the inscription on the bell dating back several hundred years was to a person who was one of my ancestors – William Courtenay. The names have come through the family such that my nephew is a William and his sister a Courtenay. It was strange to think of this link going back through the generations. I wondered what kind of a man he was and even if he might have been a bellringer!
The giving of names to things goes right back to the start of the human race – in Genesis we read of Adam being tasked with giving names to all the animals. Bells are often given saints’ names and here in Cornwall we have plenty to chose from. Others, as in the bell I rang at Ladock, reflect generous benefactors.
The dedication I like most is the one that reminds us why we ring “soli deo gloria” – to the Glory of God alone. I was asked once what it was I enjoyed most about bell ringing and replied “It is probably the loudest legal way I know of praising God.”
John Hereward