May I venture to observe, in confirmation of ARUN'S suggestion as to the
origin of this term, that the bell appears to have been a constant
attribute of St. Anthony, although I have tried in vain to discover any
allusion to it in his legend?
Frederick von Schlegel, in describing a famous picture by Bramante
d'Urbino (_Æsthetic and Miscellaneous Works_, p. 78.), mentions St.
Anthony as "carrying the hermit's little bell;" and Lord Lindsay, in the
Introduction to his _Letters on Christian Art_ (vol. i. p. 192.), says
that St. Anthony is known by "the bell and staff, denoting mendicancy."
If this be the case, the bell at Kimbolton was doubtless intended
originally to announce the presence of some wayfarer or mendicant.
Tanthony is a common contraction for St. Anthony, as in the term "a
Tanthony pig;" and a similar system of contraction was in use amongst
the troubadours, who put _Na_ for _Donna_; as _Nalombarda_ for _Donna
Lombarda_.
The bell carried by St. Anthony is sometimes thought to have reference
to his Temptations; bells being, in the words of Durandus, "the trumpets
of the eternal king," on hearing which the devils "flee away, as through
fear." I think, however, that these words apply rather to church bells.