RING OUT, MILD BELLS!
Sir,-I was most interested to read the letter on bell-ringing in your last issue (from an ex-member of the North Lincolnshire Bell-Ringers’ Association). He inquires whether there is a peal of hand-bells in New Zealand. I cannot answer with any certainty, but I do know that I have heard some good lively stuff from the Christchurch Cathedral bells. I have also had my lunch hour enlivened by the bells of St. Matthew’s, Auckland; these bells, if I remember right, play complicated tunes, but how they are produced, I do not know. I was also interested in the suggestion that handbell ringers get together in the various centres and form an association. An excellent idea. I have always been interested in bell-ringing myself, and some time ago I became enthusiastic enough to try a very apprentice hand at the art. Perhaps it would be more correct to say that I tried my hand at an affiliated art, for in the absence of any church bells to ring, I took several bottles of beer, emptied the contents, and refilled with water to varying heights. When struck with a blunt instrument they produced most musical notes, and after careful "tuning" I was able to play several favourite hymns. The effect was for all the world like a set of small bells played in the distance. If it is found impossible to form an association of bell-ringers, I would be glad to help in the founding of an organisation to promote the art of playing on beer bottles. It is a fine healthy recrean.
EIGHT BOTTLE MAN
(Wellington),
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19401206.2.9.7
Bibliographic details
New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 76, 6 December 1940, Page 4
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268RING OUT, MILD BELLS! New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 76, 6 December 1940, Page 4
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