Old Photograph Town Bell Ringer Newburgh Fife Scotland

Old photograph of the town Bell Ringer on the High Street in Newburgh, Fife, Scotland. A dead bell, or deid bell, was a form of hand bell used in Scotland and northern England, in conjunction with deaths and funerals up until the 19th century. Before the Reformation, friars in Glasgow rang the dead bell through the streets for the repose of the soul of the deceased, especially if the individual was a benefactor of the church. It is known that the ancient bell of Saint Mungo was used for this purpose. From 1454 a record survives of the bell being rung annually for the soul of Johne Stewart, the first Provost of Glasgow, who had left lands and property to the church. A record of 1509 for Sir Archibald Crawford of Cadder also shows that the ringing of the dead bell sometimes took place more than once and was intended to encourage others to pray for the deceased, his ancestors, and other Christian souls. In 1594 the presbytery of Glasgow attempted to recover the right of use of the dead bell, arguing that it was an ecclesiastical and not a secular function.



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