Silver bells

Silver bells were once available only to those who could afford the workings of a fine silversmith. Used in upscale homes, silver bells were often family keepsakes or a casual reminder tot he viewer that the person they were visiting could afford the finest things in life.

Traditionally, silver bells would be used to summon servants or to commemorate special events. In the latter case, often they would be engraved to create a special memory of a wedding or other event.

Silver bells has also been used in Christmas music as another term for jingle bells. In the popular Christmas song of the same name, the “Silver Bells” in question are undoubtedly strings of jingle bells used to help denote the Christmas holiday. Jingle bells are traditionally made of a silver-colored metal and make the “ring-a-ling” sound quoted in the song. Bells made of silver sound and are more delicate.

The song “Silver Bells” is feel-good holiday song, playing on the commercialism of the holiday. It refers to shopper rushing home with their treasures and the decorations of the city as people bustle around buying presents.

Though the Salvation Army does use bell ringers during the holidays, few are equipped with silver bells. The soft metal of the silver is inappropriate for something designed to be used often or for something other than a delicate tinkling.

One use of the phrase silver bells not associated with Christmas is from the old nursery rhyme, “Mary, Mary Quite Contrary.” Historians speculate that the nursery rhyme was targeted at Bloody Mary, daughter of Henry VIII of England, and speaks of her propensity towards torture. The silver bells in the nursery rhyme were most like thumb screws that Mary Tudor used to torture her enemies.

The rhyme, “Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, How Does Your Garden Grow, With silver bells and cockleshells, and pretty maids all in a row” is thought to refer to the more than 300 people the Queen tortured and executed during her reign.