found 2 old bells....trying to identify

[traderoftreasures]

I found these two old bells and I was wondering if anyone could tell me the age and or name for them. Also i was wondering if there is usually only 2? Looks like horse shoes on the bottom. one bell has a number 2 on it and the other has no marks that i can tell. both still ring (after i dug the dirt out)

 

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[naturegirl]

Only thing I know is they are sleigh bells, here is one link:http://www.classicbells.com/info/Info.htm, there may be better info out there. When we bought our house I found two sets in the garage. They make the best sound. Nice find!

 

[ivan salis]

crotal bell or sliegh bell -- rough guess --crotal bells wer often put on livestock collars to help keep tabs on animals * -- so if you were looking for your cow that wondered into a thickly woooded area -- you could find it by the sound of the bell on its collar .

 

[Marc(NB)]

their crotal bells and probably date mid 1800's ,they will display well congrats
Bells were numbered according to the size.Check out figure 16 on this link
http://www.ukdfd.co.uk/pages/crotal-bells.html#Anchor-Th-55036

 

[traderoftreasures]

thanks everyone. i have researched and found this as well. http://www.tennesseelead.com/

 

[ivan salis]

during the CW animals being herded often were belled to keep track of em -- once they were delivered to the troops to be eaten the bells were taken off the animals -- since camps moved and since bells made noise --no one wanted to take them the bells with them -- uh would you want to carry a bunch of bells that made noise on you if you were moving thru enemy land --(possibly giving away your position and getting you killed)? --nope --so the bells were left behind at the camps --often these bells are found where the live stock was kept / slaughtered at in the CW camps.

some folks say that the bells were used together with trip wires set out by camps set up next to thickly wooded areas to prevent sneak attacks from the wooded areas -- but others disagree saying human pickets were used --some say a mixture of both was used.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Here's one example of one of our hometown's first white settlers who used "Sleigh Bells" on their horses.
The Swannanoa Valley throws her boundary lines from peak to peak, around coves from which escapes the headwaters of the upper Swannanoa. And these secluded coves, with the beautiful valley, into which their perennial streams converge were, until the close of the American Revolution, a cherished possession of the Cherokee Indians.
From the moment one enters the Swannanoa Valley, one realizes why Samuel Davidson, in 1784, dared to be the first white settler to strike out from the state's westernmost outpost at Old Fort to challenge the Blue Ridge Range to discover what lies just beyond them.

Viewed as a trespasser by the Cherokee Indians, Davidson was lured into the woods and killed, after the Cherokee caught on to him keeping track of his horses using sleigh bells. One evening, the Cherokee removed a bell from one of his prized horses. When Samuel came looking for his horses, the Sleigh bell was rang drawing Davidson right into the knives of the Cherokee, who Davidson constantly betrayed and stole from. His wife, child and slave woman escaped and traveled a tortuous route back to Old Fort and told their story. The Cherokee tribe here were soon after slaughtered


Click here for some great reading
http://www.classicbells.com/info/History.htm

 

[naturegirl]

Ivan and 4h, those were great tidbits of history, thank you!

 

[traderoftreasures]

Ivan and 4h, those were great tidbits of history, thank you!

yes thanks those were great stories i'm glad you shared them