_Ringing a Handbell before a Corpse._--Is it true that whenever an
interment takes place in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, the corpse is
preceded on its way to the grave by a person who rings a small handbell at
intervals, each time giving a few tinkling strokes? My informant on this
subject was an Oxford undergraduate, who said that he had recently
witnessed the burials both of Mr. ----, a late student of Christ Church,
and of Miss ----, daughter of a living bishop: and he assured me that in
both cases this ceremony was observed. Certainly it is possible to go
through the academical course at Oxford without either hearing the bell, or
knowing of its use on such occasions: but I should now be glad to receive
some explanation of this singular custom.