Having intelligent, curious and ever thinking friends is a joy to everyone, but especially to a writer. Then having a friend like that be unopposed to my sharing all the facts, fun and fancy of his research is just another benefit of a generous friend.
Shrewsbury’s Don Burden is that kind of friend to me. The former mayor of Shrewsbury, and former incredibly intelligent and hard working member of not one but two Monmouth County Commissions…the Historical and the Library commissions, shared some of his thoughts about bells with me during a delightful conversation.
BELLS.
It made me stop to think how often we hear them, where we hear them, how many kinds there are, who makes them, and so much more.
For instance…take a minute to test your brain. How many Christmas songs do you know that reference bells?
Sure, Jingle Bells probably comes to mind first. Then perhaps Silver Bells, Silver Bells? That’s only two. Don came up with a list of more than a dozen. How about Carol of the Bells? Or “I Heard the bells on Christmas Day”. Even White Christmas includes sleigh bells ringing and Caroling, Caroling talks about Christmas bells ringing. “I heard the bells on Christmas Day” goes into great detail about bells.
So bells are definitely associated with Christmas. And they are part of history in so many other areas as well. But that’s facts and fun for another story.
For now, the bell, actually an idiophone percussion instrument, generally made in the shape of a hollow cup, its sides providing the resonator, the clapper the tones, brings back at least one happy memory for Burden. It’s worth sharing that story here.
“As a child, I always remember my Grandpa putting up a leather strip with several large shiny bells attached on the back door. He would shine them all each year , with the exception of one.
The one lonely bell he never shined. Nor did it ever sparkle. It was dull. It didn’t make any sound.
Once I asked him when he didn’t shine the lonely bell. He told me it was a symbol of hope.
Hope that one day there would be peace in the world and then, and only then, could the dull bell join his shining brother bells.
Another time I asked him why he hung the bells on the back door and not the front door. He said it was because all the family, neighbors and friends come in the back door. He wanted to hear the bells ring sounding the alarm that people were coming. When I asked why not the front door, he said the front door was only used by Grandma’s blook club members.
The strip of bells remains in the family today with the one bell still unpolished.
Want to share your favorite bell story?
