Reprinted from Roots & Branches.
Used bookstores are great places to find those books that you never expected to locate. A recent trip down a street in Old Quarter of Samhain near where we live yielded three books by Jane Yolen, a writer who has been called the American Hans Christian Anderson. ‘Tis been said that she written over a hundred and fifty books — and only Great Alta herself knows how many shorter pieces of fiction and non-fiction! So it was not surprising that I found these books — just gratifying to finally own them. And me dear wife Brigid Dubhthach says the best of the books is Ring Out! A Book of Bells.
Anyone who has read any amount of Yolen’s fiction knows that she has had a long and deep interest in history and making that history something that children reading her works will understand as something both interesting and worth knowing.
Ring Out! A Book of Bells is a truly interesting history of bells down the ages. ‘Tis fair to say that the greatest era in the history of bells was the medieval period where commoner and royalty alike arose to the sound of peeling bells, did their prayers to yet more ringing bells, and retired to their sleep to the sound of still more bells. And we in the West quite literally ring in the New Year to the sound of bells clear and loud! Brigid notes the churches of Samhain ring in the hours — a quaint custom that has been largely lost elsewhere.
Yolen has done a fine job of blending authentic text (see the bibliography for her source material) with her charming ability to bring folklore to life — and make history as interesting as the folklore that is born of history which has been long forgotten. As James Goldman, author of The Lion in Winter said “Historians and storytellers don’t have much in common, but they do share this: the past, once it gets hold of you, does actually come alive. For scholars, this is troublesome. For writers, it’s the good stuff.” Jane Yolen is both an historian and a storyteller — a rare combination that indeed should be treasured! As should this book which you won’t find it in any new bookstore so haunt your favorite used bookstore: you may not find this book, but if you allow the magic of a good used bookstore to touch you, rest assured that good things will happen.
(Seabury, 1974)
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