There is considerable interest attaching to the subject of the making of bells in the Middle Ages.  Even in domestic life bells played quite a part; it was the custom to ring a bell when the bath was ready and to announce meals, as well as to summon the servitors.  Church bells, both large and small, were in use in England by 670, according to Bede.  They were also carried by missionaries; those good saints, Patrick and Cuthbert, announced their coming like town criers!  The shrine of St. Patrick’s bell has been already described.  Bells used to be regarded with a superstitious awe, and were supposed to have the ability to dispel evil spirits, which were exorcised with “bell, book, and candle.”  The bell of St. Patrick, inside the great shrine, is composed of two pieces of sheet iron, one of which forms the face, and being turned over the top, descends about half-way down the other side, where it meets the second sheet.  Both are bent along the edges so as to form the sides of the bell, and they are both secured by rivets.  A rude handle is similarly attached to the top.

A quaint account is given by the Monk of St. Gall about a bell ordered by Charlemagne.  Charlemagne having admired the tone of a certain bell, the founder, named Tancho, said to him:  “Lord Emperor, give orders that a great weight of copper be brought to me that I may refine it, and instead of tin give me as much silver as I need,—­a hundred pounds at least,—­and I will cast such a bell for you that this will seem dumb in comparison to it.”  Charlemagne ordered the required amount of silver to be sent to the founder, who was, however, a great knave.  He did not use the silver at all, but, laying it aside for his own use, he employed tin as usual in the bell, knowing that it would make a very fair tone, and counting on the Emperor’s not observing the difference.  The Emperor was glad when it was ready to be heard, and ordered it to be hung, and the clapper attached.  “That was soon done,” says the chronicler, “and then the warden of the church, the attendants, and even the boys of the place, tried, one after the other, to make the bell sound.  But all was in vain; and so at last the knavish maker of the bell came up, seized the rope, and pulled at the bell.  When, lo! and behold! down from on high came the brazen mass; fell on the very head of the cheating brass founder; killed him on the spot; and passed straight through his carcase and crashed to the ground....  When the aforementioned weight of silver was found, Charles ordered it to be distributed among the poorest servants of the palace.”

There is record of bronze bells in Valencia as early as 622, and an ancient mortar was found near Monzon, in the ruins of a castle which had formerly belonged to the Arabs.  Round the edge of this mortar was the inscription:  “Complete blessing, and ever increasing happiness and prosperity of every kind and an elevated and happy social position for its owner.”  The mortar was richly ornamented.