Ring out the bells

When this modern carol was written and first sung at Tonbridge parish church, the vicar Michael Perry had already penned Ring out the bells and let the people know, for his previous parish of Eversley, Hants. This and a 3rd text joined some 16 other hymns with a first line featuring ringing bells; the loudest noise produced by humans (as Dorothy L Sayers noted) without electronic aid. In the Anglican and Prayer Book tradition, bells are rung at times of prayer; all the parishioners should know that they are being prayed for. This can easily be misused if bellringing becomes an end in itself; it was one of the youthful ‘sins’ of which John Bunyan repented at his conversion. The 1986 Carols for Today was the first of several hymn collections to feature this and the earlier hymn. Stzs 1 and 2 are reminiscent of Christopher Idle’s Sing, sing, sing to the Lord (written in 1982, from Psalm 96). The metre of PAST THREE A CLOCK (given here as ‘O’CLOCK’) is unique, and was one factor prompting the words in the first place. ‘The received text’, wrote MAP, ‘is not one which lends itself to use in worship, but the tune is fairly well known, and invites the creation of a Christian carol’. David Iliff arranged the music for its first appearance with the words (1986); it is possible to label it only as an ‘English traditional melody’.

b Beckenham, Kent 1942, d Tonbridge, Kent 1996. Dulwich Coll, Oak Hill and Ridley Hall Theological Colls, London and Southampton Univs (BD, MTh). Ordained (CofE) 1965; after curacies at St Helen’s, Lancs and Bitterne, Southampton, he became incumbent of Bitterne (1972), Eversley, Hants (1981), where Charles Kingsley was a predecessor, and finally Tonbridge from 1989. A contributor to Youth Praise 2 in 1969, he was then an editorial team member for Psalm Praise (1973) and Hymns for Today’s Church (1982, 1987), Canon of Rochester, member of General Synod, Chairman of Church Pastoral Aid Society and (from 1982) succeeding Jim Seddon as Hon Sec of Jubilate Hymns. Under Jubilate auspices he edited a stream of hymn, song, carol and Psalm and prayer books, in collaboration with David Iliff, David Peacock, Noël Tredinnick, Norman Warren and others. He edited The Dramatized Bible (1989), compiled the reference-handbook Preparing for Worship (1995), and wrote and spoke widely on many aspects of worship, in the UK and on visits to W Africa and N America. Over all, he possessed the gift of being able to handle vast amounts of work with a light touch and ready (but never unkind) humour. His 183 texts were collected in Singing to God: Hymns and Songs 1965–1995, a slightly Americanised volume, in the year before his early death from a brain tumour. His first published song (words and music) was ‘The Calypso Carol’ in 1963; see no.374, note. Including paraphrases, 40 of his texts are in HTC (1987 edn), 8 in Baptist Praise and Worship (1991), 18 in Sing Glory (1999), 8 in the N American Worship and Rejoice (2001), 15 in Carols for Today (2005) and 27 in Carol Praise (2006), not counting several versions attributed to ‘Word and Music’ which are predominantly his. For some 20 years he and Christopher Idle would exchange friendly mutual criticism of each other’s texts. MAP believed that ‘Our preparation for worship can only go so far. It is doomed if the Spirit of the Lord is not in it. On the other hand, God is sovereign; he can “take over” any kind of worship, provided that those who lead and those who participate are open to his grace’. He also consistently urged that ‘to be obscure is an indulgence we cannot allow ourselves’.
Michael is published by Praise! numbers 49, 75, 82, 88, 137, 128, 148, 153, 172, 187, 211, 213, 277, 323, 332, 373, 374, 382, 481, 624, 694, 872, 929, 947 and by Praise! online at numbers 1082, 1132.