Cowbell

For other uses, see Cowbell (disambiguation).

A Simmentaler Fleckvieh cow wearing a trychel cowbell

Goat with cowbell

The cowbells are different depending the species, sex and age of animals. These are used in the Pyrenees area.

A cowbell is a bell worn by freely roaming livestock, so that it is easy to locate them should they wander off. Although they are typically referred to as "cowbells",due to their extensive use with cattle, they are used on a wide variety of animals.

Characteristics

Ancient Southwest Asian cowbells.

Cowbell made in wood from Indonesia.

The bell and clapper are most commonly crafted of iron, bronze, brass, copper, or wood,. The collar used to hold the bell is traditionally made with leather and wood fibers. The use of cowbells can be traced all the way back to the Iron Age.

Most cowbells are plated with thin, flat pieces of sheet metal that can be decorated or left plain; their craftsmanship varies by geographic location and culture. The ornaments on the cowbell and the collar are usually just aesthetic, but some cultures believe that they provide magical protection for the animal.The cowbell is used animal husbandry to keep track of herds of grazing animals like goats, reindeer, sheep and cows. They are mainly found on free-roaming animals in Europe and Mediterranean area, but are also used transhumance areas all over the world, including nomadic pastoral tribes in Africa and Asia.

Different bells can have specific sounds to identify important characteristics of the animals that wear them like age, gender, and species. Cultures have even developed specific names to differentiate between bells, depending on their sounds. For example in Spanish they are named "truco" for stud males, "esquila" for female goats or ewes, and "esquileta" for pregnant female and immatures. Each of these bells have a different shape, size, and sound.

History

Copper hawk bell, from the Pre-Columbian Mississippian culture in Tennessee (U.S.A).

About 10,000 or 15,000 years ago, Paleolithic and Neolithic human cultures began practicing animal husbandry. It is difficult to pinpoint when exactly the use of cowbells began, but the earliest examples of truly recognizable cowbells are from the Iron Age.

The use of iron bells in sub-Saharan African music and Niger–Congo area is linked to the early iron-making technology spread during the Bantu migrations.

The earliest archaeological evidence of bells dates more than 5000 years ago, from 3rd millennium BC of Neolithic China. Goats, sheep, and cattle were kept and there is evidence of early forms of the cowbell, made of pottery. The pottery bells later developed into metal bells. In West Asia, the first bells appear in 1000 BC. The earliest metal bells, with one found in the Taosi site, and four in the Erlitou site, are dated to about 2000 BC.

In Europe, the earliest written attestation of bells used for livestock dates to the late 14th to early 15th century (Grimm's Deutsches Wörterbuch s.v. "Kuhschelle" points to a 1410 mention in a Frankfurt archive; the OED lists 1440 as the earliest attestation of bell-wether, the leading sheep of a flock, on whose neck a bell is hung, and attributes the phrase "to bear the bell" in the sense "to take the first place", originally referring to the leading cow or sheep of a drove or flock to Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, 1374). In Germany, in the 15th century, a cow bell was worn only by the best and leading piece of livestock. The wider distribution of the bell worn by livestock was a gradual process of the Early Modern period. In France, Rabelais in the mid 16th century in his Gargantua and Pantagruel makes this explicit, stating that

"...such was the custom, to appear on the field wearing jingling garment, as the high priest wears when entering the sacristy; since the tournaments, that is, the contest of nobility, have been abolished, carters have taken the bells and hung them on their hacks" (cited after Grimm, s.v. "Schelle").

Swiss folklore reflects a period when a great Trychel, a large cow bell, was a rare and much-coveted item. The legend of the Simmental tells how a young cowherd strays inside a mountain, and by a beautiful woman is offered the choice between a treasure of gold coins, a golden Trychel, and the fairy herself. He chooses the Trychel.

In Southern Germany, the term is Kuhglocke. As opposed to regular cast metal bells, trychlen are made of hammered sheet metal. This results in a less clean, clanking sound, but at the same time results in a bell that is less heavy and thus easier to carry.

Cowbells are frequent yet they being very used in many parts of Asia. The most famous are from Korea, Indonesia and India as Village Handicrafts. The last remaining Cow Bell manufacturer in the United States, Bevin Brothers Manufacturing, has made bells in East Hampton, CT since 1832.

Examples of Ceremonial Use

In Western Europe in the spring, when the snowmelt is finished, villages send the cows to the high alpine meadows to graze. This event, called Alpaufzug, is celebrated in each village with a procession through the village into the high pastures. The cows are decorated with floral wreaths woven through the horns, and the best milk-producing cow in the village leads the procession wearing the largest bell. The bells are made in various sizes, and cows are awarded bells according the milk production of the year.

In the fall, the event is repeated, but this time called an Alpabzug, as the animals return from the high meadow. The best cows (called the Kranzkuh) from each herd lead the procession through the village. The traditional festival is called Viehscheid in Southern Germany, and has various other names in the Alpine regions.

Gallery

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  Ancient Madoera festival. Madoera (Madura), Sawah Tengah, Java Oriental, Indonesia
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  Brass cowbells from Tamil culture in Southern India.
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  Greek Animal bells
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  Italian animal bells
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  Ancient Roman cowbell in a Bavarian museum, Weißenburg ( Bayern ).
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  A wood collar for cowbell
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  Another wood collar for cowbell with carved symbols.
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  Iron cowbell view 1
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  Iron cowbell view 2
• Traditional Costume of Carnival in Galicia (Spain).
  Traditional Costume of Carnival in Galicia (Spain).
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  Procession of La Vijanera fiesta (Cantabria).
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  Plowing a rice field with oxen, about 1910-1920 in Sawa (Indonesia).
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  An improvised cowbell used for sheep or goats. The bell was found in 1988 in a field near Tuqu' (Tekoa) in the Judean hills, the West Bank. The bell's body is made of aluminum, probably a broken kitchen utensil, while the clapper is a brass cartridge case.

See also

• Swabian-Alemannic-Fastnacht
• More cowbell

References

• Robert Schwaller, Treicheln, Schellen, Glocken (1996; 2005 addendum).