_Hand-bells at Funerals_ (Vol. ii., p. 478.).--In the _Testamenta
Eboracensia_, p. 163., Johannes Esten de Scardeburgh, le Ankersymth,
bequeaths 2d.--
"Clerico ecclesiæ pro pulsacione campanarum, et le belman portand'
campanam per villam excitandum populum ad orandum."
A hand-bell (as I am informed by a Roman Catholic gentleman) often precedes
the Host, when carried in procession to the sick, &c., in order to clear
the way, and remind passengers of the usual reverence paid at such times.