No man is an island, entire of itself;
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less,
as well as if a promontory were,
as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were;
any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind;
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
it tolls for thee...
John Donne
There are those who have wondered what I meant when I said "when I found out the tradition behind the tolling of the bell -"
I am a Barrister of the Honorable Society of Lincoln's Inn. The most senior members of the Society are known as benchers. When news is received by the Society of the death of a bencher, the bell of our chapel tolls at mid-day, one peal for every year of the bencher's life. John Donne was for a while, Dean of our chapel, and probably learnt of the tradition there.
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Amended on: 19 October, 2000