|| An English Folklore ||
“Great Tom” of Kentsham was the greatest bell ever brought to England, but it never reached Kentsham safely, nor hung in any English tower.
Long, long ago, there was a small English village called Kentsham. The good folk of Kentsham wanted to have a larger and finer bell in their church than any other village could boast.
At that time there was a famous bell foundry abroad, where all the greatest bells were cast. So the Kentsham people sent to order their famous bell. Seeing them, few neighbouring villages and towns too sent orders abroad for huge bells.
What can I say, bells were fascinating to people!
And so it happened that the Great Tom of Lincoln, and Great Tom of York, and Great Tom of Christchurch, and Great Tom of Kentsham, were all forged at the same time, and all were carried safely to the shore of England on the same vessel. Bells were all called Great Toms.
Then they set about landing them, and this was anxious work, but little by little it was done, and Tom of Lincoln, Tom of York, Tom of Christchurch, were safely laid on English ground.
And then came the turn of Tom of Kentsham, which was the greatest Tom of all. Little by little they raised him, and prepared to draw him to the shore. But just in the midst of the work, the captain who proudly mentioned how he was responsible for bringing four great bells safely.
That very moment the ropes which held the bell snapped in two, and Great Tom of Kentsham slid over the ship’s side into the water, and rolled away to the bottom of the sea.
Then the people went to their priest and asked him what they should do. And he said, “Take six sturdy wooden boards and fasten them to strong ropes, and let no man speak a word either good or bad till the bell is at the top of the hill.”
So they took six of the strongest wooden boards and harnessed them with strong ropes and bound these to the bell as it lay in the shallow water. They keep pulling the ropes. The bell moved very slowly but finally it was on dry ground.
Slowly and laboriously they drew it up the hill.
Tang! Ting-dung! The bell made sounds as it was dragged upwards. Slowly, slowly, they moved and no one spoke, and they nearly reached the top of the hill.
Now the captain had been wild with grief when he saw that he had caused his precious freight to be lost in the waters just as they had reached the shore; and, when he beheld it recovered again and so nearly placed in safety, he could not contain his joy, but sang out merrily:
“In spite of all the devils in hell
We have got to land old Kentsham Bell!”
Instantly the ropes broke in the midst, and the bell rolled back again with force down the sloping hillside.
Tang! Tang! Clang! It made loud sounds rolling over and over, faster and faster, with unearthly clanging.
It kept going till it sank far away in the very depths of the sea. And no man has ever seen it since. But many fishermen and sailors have heard a bell tolling beneath the ocean, due to the ocean currents. Even today, if you go to the coast of Kentsham, you might be able to hear a faint bell tolling under the water.
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