The Curfew Bell

The Scots mining company, which owned many of the mines around Leadhills, near Biggar, in southeast Scotland,  erected this bell in 1770 to commemorate James Stirling, who managed the mines and brought about great technical and organizational improvements to the benefit  of both the company and the miners.

Amongst these changes were the cut in the compulsory working day for miners from 12 hours to 6 hours. With the additional leisure time he encouraged the miners to grow vegetables in their gardens so as to bring about an improvement in diet and thus health.

The bell was never rung to mark the start of a curfew in the widely understood sense or in the older sense, as a reminder for people to cover the fires in their houses (as a fire prevention device). Over the years, however, it has found many uses as well as announcing mine shift changes. It has rung to call children to school, to mark funerals and to call people together to form search parties for people lost on the hills.

Today it is only rung to mark the new year.