[AT] Belling

[Steve W.]

Ben Wagner wrote:
> I'm too young to know about belling, but I have heard stories on what
> happened in my area of VA.  My grandfather and great-uncle were both heavily
> involved in belling until it stopped in the mid 60's.  The tricks that some
> of those folks played!  The belling would usually end when the newlyweds
> came out on the porch and kissed to the cheering of the crowd.
> 
> Just to get noise, my great-uncle would find those round saw blades, place
> them on a pole, and whack them with a chunk of wood.  Another tool was a
> truck which a friend owned.  The truck was an old Ford, and it would
> backfire if the right combination of fuel and spark was observed.  They
> would back the truck up to a window, then fire it up.  My grandfather took a
> shotgun, and fired straight up into the air so that the shot would bounce on
> the metal roof.
> 
> There are some stories that I've heard about what happens when a previous
> belling leader gets married.  The story goes that this character had a house
> with a small spring house about a hundred yards away.  He tied a cable to a
> light switch in his bedroom, routed it out the window and through the field
> to the spring house.  So it happens that when the bellers came, he scrambled
> with his wife out to the spring house.  The noise making would go on, and
> he'd pull the cable to switch on the light.  Then, five minutes later, he'd
> turn it off again.  On and on this charade went, until finally one of the
> bellers decided to go check to see whether the man was upstairs.  Somebody
> saw the cable, and followed it to the spring house, where the man and wife
> was hidden.  The beller's solution was the dunk the former leader in a
> wheelbarrow full of water.
> 
> There are a few stories more that I've heard, but I don't need to wear
> everyone out.  Anyone else have memories of belling?
> 
> Ben Wagner
> 
> On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 11:05 PM, Gene Dotson <gdotsly at watchtv.net> wrote:
> 
>>   During th 1950's dynamite was sold in hardware stores in
>> our ares. Just had to be 18 years old or have a signed note from your
>> father. Most of the dynamite sold locally was only 40 percent nitro
>> glycerine, so was pretty safe, even if stored for a while. Never heard very
>> many instances of shenanigans with the stuff. one that comes to mind is
>> when
>> a case was set off in the middle of a bean field to celebrate the belling
>> of
>> one of the neighbor's daughters.
>>
> 

Never heard of belling but have heard of horning. Modern take on the 
same thing.
Last one I was on was in 1972 or so.

-- 
Steve W.