CARILLON  , an arrangement for playing tunes upon a set of bells by

mechanical means . The word is said to be a Fr. form of Late Lat. or Ital. quadriglio, a simple dance measure on four notes or for four persons (Lat. quattuor) ; and is used sometimes for the tune played, sometimes (and more commonly in England) for the set of bells used in playing it . The earliest medieval attempts at bell music, as distinct from mere noise, seem to have consisted in striking a row of small bells by hand with a hammer, and illustrations in MSS. of the 12th and 13th centuries show this process on three, four or even eight bells . The introduction of mechanism in the form either of a barrel (see BARREL-ORGAN) set with pegs or studs and revolving in connexion with the machinery of a clock, or of a keyboard struck by hand (carillon a clavier), made it possible largely to increase the number of bells and the range of harmonies . In Belgium, the home of the carillon the art of the carillonneur was at one time brought to great perfection and held in high esteem (see BELL); but even there it is gradually giving way to mechanism . In Englandmanual skill has never been much employed, though keyboards on the continental model have been introduced, e.g. at the Manchester town hall, at Eaton Hall, and elsewhere; carillon music being mainly confined to hymn tunes at regular intervals (generally three hours), or chimes at the hours and intervening quarters . The " Cambridge " and " Westminster " chimes are very familiar; and more recently chimes have been composed by Sir John Stainer for Freshwater in the Isle of Wight (" Tennyson" Chimes), and by Sir Charles Stanford for " Bow Bells " in London .