When They Ring The Golden Bells: A Song History

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“When They Ring the Golden Bells” dates from 1887, and its tune is credited to Dion de Marbelle.[1][2] Hymnals do not agree on how to name him. Printings list him as Dion De Marbelle, Daniel de Marbelle, Daniel A. Marbelle or just “D. M.”[1] Hymnary.org’s main entry for the words marks them anonymous, although its page on de Marbelle lists him as their author and gives his dates as 1818–1903.[1][3] The song looks toward heaven as a country on the far side of a river. It is set in an uncommon 8.8.11.8.8.11 meter and closes each verse with a refrain.[1]

Wood engraving of a crowd of workmen and onlookers gathered around a frame of large church bells about to be hung

Winslow Homer, Chime of Thirteen Bells for Christ Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts, wood engraving from Harper’s Weekly, 1860. The Cleveland Museum of Art. Public domain (CC0).

The story of de Marbelle’s life is colorful, and it comes mostly from a sketch in the Cyber Hymnal that draws on a local history by Mike Alft. That account says he was born in Seville, Spain, in 1818 and worked aboard whaling ships. He is said to have drummed in the Mexican War and served as a musician with the 6th Michigan Infantry in the Civil War. After that, by this telling, he toured as a musician and actor, ran his own troupe and later his own circus, and helped Buffalo Bill Cody get his Wild West show started. The sketch adds that he was cheated of his royalties and died penniless in Wayne, Illinois, in December 1903.[4] The sources consulted here do not document these details independently, so they are best read as the story that has been handed down about him.

The song spread widely through gospel hymnals, and Hymnary.org now lists it in more than two hundred of them. Johannes de Heer translated it into Dutch.[1] The earliest recording named in the sources consulted here is by the Imperial Quartet, though they differ on the year: SecondHandSongs gives 1916 and Wikipedia 1915.[5][6] Alfred Karnes is listed as recording it for Victor at the Bristol sessions on July 29, 1927.[7] SecondHandSongs also lists later versions by the Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet and the Browns.[5]

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Sources

  1. Hymnary.org: "When They Ring the Golden Bells" (text).
  2. Hymnary.org: "When They Ring the Golden Bells" (tune by Dion De Marbelle).
  3. Hymnary.org: "Dion De Marbelle".
  4. The Cyber Hymnal: "Dion De Marbelle".
  5. SecondHandSongs: "When They Ring the Golden Bells".
  6. Wikipedia: "When They Ring Those Golden Bells".
  7. Wikipedia: "Bristol sessions".