Oh! the first and second bell.
That every day at four and ten, cry,
"Come, come, come, come to prayers!"
And the verger troops before the Dean.
Tinkle, tinkle, ting, goes the small bell at nine.
To call the bearers home;
But the devil a man
Will leave his can
Till he hears the mighty Tom.
The great bell originally belonged to Oseney Abbey, and hung in the
fine cupola over the entrance gate, named after it the "Great Tom Gate,"
and had been tolled every night with one exception since May 29, 1684.
The statue of Wolsey, which now stood over the gateway, was carved by an
Oxford man named Bird in the year 1719, at the expense of Trelawny,
Bishop of Winchester, one of the seven bishops and hero of the famous
ballad--
And shall Trelawny die?
At the time of the Restoration Dr. John Fell was appointed
Vice-Chancellor, and he not only made the examinations very severe, but
he made the examiners keep up to his standard, and was cordially hated
by some of the students on that account. An epigram made about him at
that time has been handed down to posterity:
I do not like thee, Dr. Fell;
The reason why I cannot tell;
But this I know, and know full well,
I do not like thee, Dr.
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