Brewer's Bells Trivia Quiz

Answer: Like sweet bells jangled

This is a quotation from Shakespeare's "Hamlet". Ophelia says this, after being told by Hamlet "get thee to a nunnery", lamenting his descent into madness: "Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh"

Answer: Bellwether

Shepherds often hang a bell on the leading sheep of a flock, as an aid in finding them perhaps in misty weather. Wether is a name given to a male sheep, usually castrated. Perhaps as a consolation, a leading wether may be given a bell. This sheep is called a bellwether. The term "Bellwether of the flock" is sometimes used mockingly of the leader of a party.

Answer: Who is to bell the cat?

The story is of a group of mice endangered by the house cat. They hold a meeting and decide that the best solution is to hang a bell round the cat's neck so they will hear her coming. One wise young mouse pointed out the difficulty by asking "Who will bell the cat?"

This story is often thought to be one of Aesop's fables, but in fact seems to have had a medieval European origin. An early source is Eustace Deschamps "Ballade: le Chat et les souris", while Brewer says it is given in "Piers Plowman and elsewhere".

Answer: Bell, book and candle

At the end of the Roman Catholic excommunication ceremony, the officiating cleric closes his book, quenches the candle by throwing it on the ground, and tolls the bell. The book symbolises the Book of Life, the candle the soul that is now removed from the sight of God. The phrase "In spite of bell, book and candle" means despite all the Christian church can do.

Answer: Warming the bell

This is apparently a nautical phrase that means doing something before the proper or appointed time. The phrase is obviously connected with the practice of sounding a bell every half-hour on board naval ships, but the reasoning that warming the bell would make it early is somewhat obscure.

Answer: Passing bell

This is the name given to a hallowed bell which is rung when someone is near death, and is partly to scare away evil spirits from the scene when the soul passes from the body, and partly to prepare people for the death so they may pray for the safe passage of the soul to paradise. The bell tolled for a funeral is sometimes incorrectly called a passing bell.

Answer: Bell-rope

This humorous phrase is comparing a curl of hair to a rope, that is for the "belles" to pull. I know! This kind of tedious punning was considered funny at one time.

Answer: That rings a bell

The usual meaning of this phrase is that you don't remember the exact details, but the idea is worth pursuing. The ringing of a bell to indicate some imminent occurrence is the obvious origin of this common phrase; Brewer thinks it so obvious he does not give any source. It appears in print no earlier than the 20th century, but is more often said than written.

Answer: As the bell clinks

The full phrase is "As the bell clinks, so the fool thinks", or sometimes the other way round. Either way, it indicates someone hearing bells ringing, and putting words to the sound that have some personal significance for the listener.

According to the popular story, often performed as a pantomime, Dick Whittington heard Bow Bells ringing and in his mind they said, "Turn again Whittington, Lord Mayor of London." There was a Richard Whittington who was appointed Lord Mayor of London in 1397, but the story of the poor orphan who made good (with the aid of his cat) is a complete fabrication. Richard Whittington was the son of a knight.

Answer: The bell-man

The old Town Crier was a man, usually in a distinctive robe, who walked the streets ringing his bell and shouting "Oyez, Oyez" to attract attention before making some important announcement. Presumably he stopped ringing when he was speaking. In even earlier times, a night-watchman who walked the streets at night and rang a bell occasionally and called the time ("One of the clock, and all's well"), was also called a bell-man.