“At Nantwich they have a custom like that in Scotland; when anyone is
dead a Bellman goeth about the streets in the morning that the dead
person is to be buried, tinkling a bell he has in his hand, and now
and then makes a stand and invites the people to come to the funeral
at such an hour.”
Prebendary Garencieres of Chester Cathedral, in his will of 1703,
says:--
“I would have no other invitation to my funeral than by notice given
by the Clerk to the parishioners of Handley and Waverton, and by the
Belman to the people of Chester, of the time when, and the place where
my corps is to be buried.”
Congleton still preserves three ancient leather belts, on which are
strung a number of metal bells with rolling clappers. Two belts have
seven, and one has five, and each bell has a different tone. They are
said to have been worn by three church officials on the Congleton
“Wake” day, the Feast of St. Peter _ad vincula_, or “St. Peter in
Chains.” At midnight of that day three acolytes ran round the town
summoning the people to church, thereby representing the clanking of
chains. About one hundred years ago the bells fell into the hands of a
family of chimney-sweeps, but were ultimately seized and preserved by
the town authorities. They are unique.