c. 1180 – c. 1920 · english & colonial market towns · supplanted by the daily newspaper
he wore a red coat trimmed in gold and a tricorn hat that did not suit him. he stood at the market cross at noon, rang his bell three times, and read the proclamation in a voice that could be heard at the further end of the square. "oyez, oyez, oyez," he began — three times for the three parts of the realm. the news was the news of the king, the council, the magistrate, and once a year the fair. it was illegal to interrupt him. it was also illegal to damage his bell.
most criers were also illiterate. they did not read the proclamation; they had memorised it from a clerk's recitation that morning. the clerk wrote the date on the back of the scroll, which was then nailed to the post outside the inn — "posting" — so that those who could read could check what was said. a lector de taller would have been comfortable in the office.
then, in the nineteenth century, the daily newspaper became cheap enough to be bought, and literacy became common enough to read it. the crier's voice was no longer the most authoritative one in the town. the office continued ceremonially — most english market towns still have a town crier on the books, in case of a royal birth, a horse race, the opening of the christmas market. they are paid in tradition. they are very loud, and they are very happy.
field note · the bell was always heavier than it looked. they trained on it as boys, ringing it for hours in an empty barn, until they could ring it three times without making it sound like four.