Where did this come from?

Posted by Bruce Kahl on January 28, 2000

In Reply to: Where did this come from? posted by Jude on January 27, 2000

: Where did the phrase "With bells on" come from????
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable has a series of bell-related items. It looks like "with bells on" originally meant to be free of evil spirits since bells were once used to ward off or disperse evil and devils.

The Passing Bell:
The hallowed bell which used to be rung when persons were in extremis, to scare away evil spirits which were supposed to lurk about the dying, to pounce on the soul while "passing from the body to its resting-place." A secondary object was to announce to the neighbourhood the fact that all good Christians might offer up a prayer for the safe passage of the dying person into Paradise. We now call the bell rung at a person's decease the passing bell.

The Athenians used to beat on brazen kettles at the moment of a decease to scare away the Furies.

Ringing the hallowed bell.
Bells were believed to disperse storms and pestilence, drive away devils, and extinguish fire. In France it is still by no means unusual to ring church bells to ward off the effects of lightning. Nor is this peculiar to France, for even in 1852 the Bishop of Malta ordered the church bells to be rung for an hour to "lay a gale of wind." Of course, the supposed efficacy of a bell resides in its having been consecrated.

Tolling the bell.
A relic of the Ave Bell, which, before the Reformation, was tolled before service to invite worshippers to a preparatory prayer to the Virgin.

To bear the bell.
To be first fiddle; to carry off the palm; to be the best. Before cups were presented to winners of horse-races, etc., a little gold or silver bell used to be given for the prize.