Death-bell

A tinkling in the ears, supposed by the Scotch peasantry to announce the death of a friend.

“O lady, ‘tis dark, anʹ I heard the death-bell,

Anʹ I darena gae yonder for gowd nor fee.”

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.