_Folk Lore in Cambridgeshire_ (Vol. viii., p. 382.).--The custom referred
to by MR. MIDDLETON, of ringing the church bell early in the morning for
the gleaners to repair to the fields, and again in the evening for their
return home, is still kept up not only at Hildersham, but also in most of
the villages in this neighbourhood. I have heard this "gleaners' bell"
several times during this present autumn; the object of course being to
give all parties a fair and equal chance. Upon one occasion, where the
villages lie rather close together, I heard four of these bells sounding
their recall from different church towers; and as I was upon an eminence
from whence I could see the different groups wending their way to their
respective villages, it formed one of the most striking pastoral pictures I
have ever witnessed, such, perhaps, as England alone can furnish.