"Dogmatism is nothing but puppyism come to its full growth."
I find this quotation in a leader of _The Times_. Can you or any of your
readers inform me of its origin?
[?]
67. _A Saxon Bell-house._--A reader of "NOTES AND QUERIES," who
subscribes himself A LOVER OF BELLS, has kindly referred me to a passage
in Hume's _History of England_, in which it is said that, according to a
statute of Athelstan, "a ceorle or husbandman who had been able to
purchase five hides of land, and had a chapel, a kitchen, a hall, and a
_bell_," was raised to the rank of a Thane. The marginal reference in
Hume is to Selden's _Titles of Honor_; and in that work the statue is
then given:
"If a churle or a countryman so thrived that hee had fully five
hides of his owne land, a church, and a kitchen, a bel-house, a
borough-gate with a seate, and any distinct office in the king's
court, then was he henceforth of equall honour or dignitie with a
Thane."
Selden considers that the _bel-house_ was the dining-hall to which the
guests and family were summoned by the ringing of a bell. He thinks the
word corresponds with _tinello_, _tinelo_, and _tinel_, the Italian,
Spanish, and French words for a "public hall" or "dining-room,"--"so
named, because the _tin_ or tingling of a bell at the times of dinner or
supper in it were signified by it."
I beg to ask whether the existing knowledge of the details of Saxon
architecture substantiates Selden's view; and whether this bell was also
the alarum-bell of the castle, hanging in an outside turret?
Many thanks to my correspondent, and to "NOTES AND QUERIES" for the
introduction to his notice.