W.

We have received the following Replies to NABOC'S inquiry (Vol. ii., p.
103.) as to where the custom of ringing the curfew still remains.

_Bingley in Yorkshire._--In the town of Bingley, {312} in Yorkshire, the
custom of ringing the curfew existed in the year 1824. It may have been
discontinued since that year, but I do not know that it has.

It is also the custom at Blackburn, in Lancashire; and it was, if it is
not now, at Bakewell in Derbyshire.

H.J.

_Bromyard, Herefordshire._--The curfew is still rung at Bromyard,
Herefordshire, at nine P.M., from the 5th of November, until Christmas
Day; and the bell is afterwards tolled the number of the day of the
month. Why it is merely confined to within the above days, I could never
ascertain.

G.F.C.

_Waltham-on-the-Wolds._--The curfew is still rung at
Waltham-on-the-Wolds, Leicestershire, at five A.M., eight P.M. in
summer, and at six A.M., seven P.M. in winter; the bell also tolling the
day of the month.

R.J.S.

_Oxfordshire._--I see that NABOC's inquiry about the curfew is answered
at p. 175. by a reference to the _Journal of the British Archaeological
Association_. The list there is probably complete: but lest it should
omit any, I may as well mention, from my own knowledge, Woodstock, Oxon,
where it rings from eight to half-past eight in the evening, from
October to March; Bampton and Witney, Oxon, and Stow, in Gloucester; at
some of which places it is also rung at four in the morning.

C.

_Chertsey, Surrey._--In the town of Chertsey in Surrey, the curfew is
regularly tolled for a certain time at eight every evening, but only
through the winter months. There is also a curious, if not an uncommon,
custom kept up with regard to it. After the conclusion of the curfew,
and a pause of half a minute, the day of the month is tolled out: one
stroke for the 1st, two for the 2nd, and so on.

H.C. DE ST. CROIX.

_Penrith._--The curfew bell continues to be rung at Penrith, in
Cumberland, at eight o'clock in the evening, and is the signal for
closing shops, &c.

_Newcastle-upon-Tyne._--The curfew is still rung by all the churches of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne at eight in the evening; and its original use may be
said to be preserved to a considerable extent, for the greater bulk of
the shops make it a signal for closing.

G. BOUCHIER RICHARDSON.

_Morpeth._--The curfew bell is still rung at eight P.M. at Morpeth in
Northumberland.

E.H.A.

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