mears & stainbank · cast 1768 · two hundred-weight
a slow, narrow bell. one stroke, then a long minute. the pattern is nine-times-three for a man, six-times-three for a woman, three-times-three for a child. the rest of the count is the years lived — one stroke for each, from a long way below.
it is rung by whoever is willing. the sexton, when he is able, and a neighbour when he is not. the bell is hung high and reached by a ladder that has been mended four times. what stops it is the last year. nothing else is permitted to stop it.
field-note · in fog the count is harder to follow. people stand on the bridge to be sure they have not missed any.
great bell · curfew · vigil · grief · midnight