Editing Handbell (section)

==History==
Handheld bells have a long history. Credit for the development of the modern hand bell, or "handbell", is accorded to brothers Robert and William Cor in [[Aldbourne]], [[Wiltshire]], England, between 1696 and 1724.<ref name="Markey">{{Citation
  | last = Markey
  | first = Willard H.
  | title = More History?: From Hame Boxes to Handbells
  | journal = Overtones
  | volume = 43
  | issue = 3
  | pages = 36–37
  | date = May–June 1997
}}</ref> The Cor brothers originally made [[latten]] bells for [[Horse harness#Parts of the harness|hame]] boxes,<ref>A hame box is a device that attaches to the top of a [[horse collar]] and contains several bells that ring when the horse moves. For more information about the Cor brothers and a picture of a hame box, see [http://www.aldbourne.org.uk/awg/portal/main/?Section=Features&SubSect=41+..Graham+Palmer&Story=Foundaries A Brief History of The Aldbourne Bell Foundries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090825183457/http://www.aldbourne.org.uk/awg/portal/main/?Section=Features&SubSect=41+..Graham+Palmer&Story=Foundaries |date=2009-08-25 }}.</ref> but for reasons unknown they began tuning their bells more finely to have an accurate fundamental tone and fitted them with hinged clappers that moved only in one plane.<ref name="Markey" /> A foundry in [[Loughborough]], Leicestershire, that originated in the 14th century became [[John Taylor & Co]] in 1784.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-12-19 |title=Historical Loughborough bell foundry gets £3.45m lottery grant |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-55355374 |access-date=2022-05-01}}</ref>

Originally, tuned sets of handbells, such as the ones made by the Cor brothers, were used by [[change ringing|change ringers]] to rehearse outside their towers. Tower bell ringers' enthusiasm for practising the complicated algorithms of change ringing can easily exceed the neighbours' patience, so in the days before modern sound control handbells offered them a way to continue ringing without causing annoyance. It was also more pleasant for the ringers to learn and practise in the warmth of the local pub rather than in a cold tower in winter.<ref name=theile />  The handbell sets used by change ringers had the same number of bells as in the towers – generally six to twelve, tuned to a [[diatonic scale]].<ref name=theile>{{cite web
  | last = Theile
  | first = Ron
  | title = The History of Handbell Ringing
  | url = http://handbellringers.com/handbell_history.html
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030711160205/http://handbellringers.com/handbell_history.html
  | url-status = usurped
  | archive-date = July 11, 2003
  | access-date = 2009-08-13}}
</ref>

Handbells were first taken to the United States from England by Margaret Shurcliff in 1902. She was presented with a set of 10 handbells in London by Arthur Hughes, the general manager of the [[Whitechapel Bell Foundry]], after completing two separate two-and-a-half-hour change ringing [[peal]]s in one day.<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Bullen
  | first = Nigel
  | title = Researching the History of Handbells: In the Beginning
  | journal = Overtones
  | volume = 44
  | issue = 2
  | pages = 37–38
  | date = March–April 1998
}}</ref>