Judas Bell

(No. 13, p. 195). In the “Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie,” a singular Scotch Poem, composed in the former half of the 16th century, and printed in Ramsay’s *Evergreen*, the following passage occurs (Everg. vol. ii. p. 74.):— “A Benefice quha wald give sic a Beist, But gif it were to jingle Judas bells? Tak thee a Fiddle or a Flute to jest, Undocht thou art, ordained for naithing ells.” The Judas bells may probably have been used in the Easter-eve ceremonies, in connexion with which we find *Judas candles* mentioned. See Brand’s *Popular Antiq.* by Sir H. Ellis, vol. i. p. 29.