I want to tell you about the bells in those small Italian villages. As you
know from personal experience or from seeing pictures of these towns - the
bell tower usually plays a prominent part in the landscape. Most of the
bells today are used to call the people to Mass on Sundays. In other times
the bells were a method of communication. In the fortified villages during
the years of feudal wars the bells were rung when there was a danger of
attack. The peasants in the fields would hear the bells warning them of
danger and they would leave the fields and return to the protection of the
walled villages. When the people were inside the walls, the big iron gates
would close and the battles would beging.
The bells had different rings. Somber tones for sad tidings. Joyous peals
for glad times. For instance, everyone in the village knew when one of their
citizens was dying. When death came, the village bells would sound "la
campana a morto" (the death bell) usually just one single bell ringing a
soulful sound. The peasants in the fields would stop their work and lower
their heads in prayer for the deceased. Close friends would leave their work
and go back to the village to be by the side of the family members.
The joyful bells were usually rung by more than one bell (2 or 3) and were
called "il doppio" which comes from the verb "doppiare" (to increase or
multiply). My mother tells me that when the Armistice of WWI was signed, she
could hear the bells sounding in far away villages and knew something had
occurred. Then as each village got the news the bell ringers rushed from the
fields to their bell tower and began to ring the joyful bells. Soon the
entire valley resounded with the great ringing of the bells and the people
knew that the war was over.
The bells were also rung when someone who had left home returned. The bells
were rung many times during this period as the men returned home from the
wars. They actually stationed people in the tower who could see the roads
leading to the town and when they saw a returning soldier approaching the
bells would sound and the people would rush to see who it was that was coming
home.
Someone from my family has always been a bell ringer. It takes a lot of
practice to do it right. The melody is very beautiful. When my father
returned home after being gone for over 40 years, his brother was one of the
bell ringers welcoming him home. When I made my first trip to the village, I
sat on the steps of our family home with tears running down my face as those
old bells rang for me welcoming me to the home of my ancestors. My cousin
PierGiorgio was one of the bell ringers. My young cousing Marco has a bell
hanging from a tree branch in the garden and is practicing on that bell in
order to take on the duty as soon as he is big enough. I have a tape of the
bells of Ghivizzano and sometimes when I get really homesick for that small
Italian town - I play the bell tape and I'm once again sitting in the
twilight in the shadow of those ancient walls like my ancestors did so long
ago.
Nonna Velma Pagliassotti
