| For many people, the melodic, rhythmic ringing of sleigh | | | | common for wagons or sleighs, but it can be thought |
| bells brings along inescapable images of winter and | | | | that the served both a decorative and a practical |
| snowfall and the smell of Christmas, but were you | | | | function. While of course everyone smiles to hear the |
| aware that it goes much deeper than that? Sleigh bells | | | | cheerful ringing of sleighbells, they could also warn |
| have been with us for a very long time, and though | | | | other people that there was a coach coming along the |
| we might be most accustomed to them in picturesque | | | | way, and on foggy nights, this could have saved lives. |
| depictions a Victorian horse and carriage traveling | | | | Sleighs can be difficult to stop without notice, and in |
| through the snow, they actually go back quite a ways | | | | many places, bells were required for the protection of |
| earlier! | | | | those on the road. |
| Though today we'll find them everywhere, the bells | | | | During the nineteenth century, there was a fairly strong |
| that we know as sleigh bells were once only used for | | | | demand for sleigh bells, and they were mass produced |
| horses. Archaeologists have found similar bells in | | | | in East Hampton, Connecticut. The bells that were |
| England, and the most early ones date back to when | | | | made in this location were popular throughout the |
| the Romans inhabited the northern lands. This means | | | | country, and these bells would adorn racing sleighs |
| that these bells have been a part of the horse's | | | | during competitions and the sleighs of people who just |
| harness for well over a thousand years. With this in | | | | wanted to get around during the winter. |
| mind, it can be thought that the bells were quite | | | | For many people, the first contact that they had with |
| desirable, and they could be considered a sign of | | | | sleighbells was through the incredibly popular Christmas |
| wealth and status. | | | | carol, known as "Jingle Bells," though originally, it's |
| You could also find single bells, extravagantly made of | | | | composer, James Pierpont called it "One Horse Open |
| gold or silver, being used to decorate the warhorses | | | | Sleigh." Written in the mid 1800's, this song is still sung at |
| during the Medieval age. These bells, called crotals, | | | | Christmas time and has been translated into many |
| were definitely a sign of conspicuous consumption, and | | | | languages. |
| the ringing of these bells was thought to bring good | | | | From ancient Roman times to the present, it is clear |
| luck and to ward off evil spirits and diseases. | | | | that sleigh bells hold a popular appeal, whether they |
| It was not known when these ringing bells became | | | | are on a horse, or in our songs! |