Perilous Feat of Bellringers.

Huntly Press and District Gazette, Volume 4, 26 February 1915, Page 3

Perilous Feat of Bellringers.

A most thrilling spectacle is that presented by the bellringers of the Giralda in Seville, whose method of sounding a peal over the city is unique. When the city is to make merry on high days and holidays, or' any other occasion that requires the ringing of the bells, the bellringer climbs to the belfry and, wifli the assistance of a rope and steps cut in the wall of the tower, mounts to the bell and stands astride the shoulder of the brazen monster. Then he presses the bell with his feet, holding on himself to the cross-piece upon which the mass of metal is swung. Gradually the groat bell sways to the muscular movement of the man astride it, until it acquires a momentum that swings the hammer, first gently and then with gradually augmenting force as the sweep of the bell widens, until the air is trembling from the giant blows that strike the massive sides of the monster. But the most terrifying part of the daring performance to the spectator is tho sight of a bellringer calmly swaying the bell while it hangs far out of the 1)41 fry over the city, for the outward swing sends the counterpoise with the ringer into tho space beyond tho arch, and one can see the ringers astride their brazen mounts like new centaurs, borne out into space. Should they lose their balance, God receive their souls, for the work would bo their death.