Talk:Cowbell

Cowbells: Cruelty to animals
Cowbells are a cruelty to animals. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.196.128.141 (talk) 10:46, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Schellen-Ursli?
I am referring to the children's picture book Uorsin (Schellen-Ursli. Ein Engadiner Bilderbuch). by Selina Chönz and Alois Carigiet (1945). Though the German text calls it a "Glocke", Carigiet clearly depicts a trychel in his illustrations. I don't know which word Chönz used in her original text in Romansh. (The "Schelle" in Ursli's nickname refers to the tiny bell he receives and for which he is mocked by the other boys).

Given the book's international popularity, I would like to present the story as a modern example reflecting the folklore/myth mentioned in the article's current text, but the fact that the book doesn't call it a Treichel, makes me uncertain whether it would be appropriate, and also whether the distinction should be pointed out in this context. Thoughts? ---Sluzzelin talk  09:59, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Why the bell?
This article goes on and on but has no information on WHY a cow might be selected to carry a bell, except for some handwaving about religion. Is it to drive off evil spirits? Or to locate a cow? -76.4.52.247 (talk) 14:25, 27 February 2008 (UTC)
 * i was thinking the same. Do other poor sighted cows follow the clanging leader to the best grazing ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.42.193.160 (talk) 11:54, 2 May 2008 (UTC)


 * I understood it to be for the cowherd's benefit. He could just listen for the noise to find a lost member of the herd. (Many modern herds have a bell on each animal.) An old cowherder in the Haute Savioe (who keeps the bells of his dead cows on his barn wall) claimed he knew each cow's name by the ringing of its bell when it was out of sight.
 * But this is heresay, so not suitable for inclusion in the article
 * Prof Wrong (talk) 12:32, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

Trychel? Not in the OED.
The term trychel isn't in the Oxford dictionary. I've never heard the term used in English.

Does this term have any evidence of currency? I've only ever called it a "cowbell" or "Alpine cowbell".

The OED has this as the first sense of cowbell, predating the musical instrument by over 100 years.

Prof Wrong (talk) 12:28, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

Yes, it's not an English term (obviously). I would have placed it at cowbell, but there was already the article on the percussion instrument. If you want to move it to alpine cowbell or similar, I suppose go ahead, but please be aware that trychel is a technical term denoting only Alpine cowbells made from sheet metal, excluding bells made from cast metal. The article scope can easily be adjusted to discuss both kinds though. --dab (𒁳) 12:47, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

OK, I've move Cowbell to Cowbell (instrument). It's madness for a derivative to get the headword form, and most of the live redirects were looking for a "proper" cowbell anyway.

I would have thought that the best thing would be to expand Cowbell and merge this article with it as a subsection. What do you think? Prof Wrong (talk) 14:10, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

I think keeping two articles, at cow bell and cowbell (instrument) is a good solution for now. Cowbell can act as a disambiguation page. dab (𒁳) 09:29, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

The common English form (as attested by the OED) has cowbell as a single word. As such, I would say it's incorrect to title this article cow bell with a space. Prof Wrong (talk) 12:20, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
 * again, feel free to edit this yourself. I am not objecting to anything. It's a wiki. If you google, you will find both "cowbell" and "cow bell" are common. dab (𒁳) 07:29, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

The idea of using a space in the middle of the word as a way to distinguish between two articles is horrible. I understand that some might write cowbell as two words, but surely those people do so for both a bell worn around a cow's neck and the instrument? Keep it consistent. My suggestion: get rid of the disambig. page, move this to cowbell and keep the "See cowbell for..." at the top, and then start with "A cowbell, or cow bell,...". Alex9788 (talk) 22:58, 20 December 2009 (UTC)


 * I agree. Using a space in the middle of the word to disambiguate is horrible when the single- and double-word spellings are used for both the the original meaning and for the musical instrument. It's better to disambiguate by using a disambiguation page and parenthetical disambiguation phrases, and have thus made the moves. —Lowellian (reply) 06:56, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

Fixed readability, would like feedback
I didn't want to change the article too much, but I went through it and fixed the structure and grammar. I want to create another section, as some of the information is still jumbled. Any feedback suggestions would help! (New to editing so forgive me if I did something totes wrong) — Preceding unsigned comment added by JCDavis13 (talk • contribs) 05:07, 25 November 2013 (UTC)

After reading this article... (off-topic joke)
This article definitely needs more cowbell! (j/k) meteor_sandwich_yum (talk) 03:02, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

On a more serious note, trying to comprehend a confusing short citation
I admit I got sidetracked (I came to this article to help copyedit it, but got hung up on the references part).

I noticed the following quote didn't have anything but the citation listed: ([//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cowbell&oldid=598358504 permalink])

"...such was the custom, to appear on the field wearing jingling garment, as the high priest wears when entering the sacristy; since the tournaments, that is, the contest of nobility, have been abolished, carters have taken the bells and hung them on their hacks" (cited after Grimm, s.v. "Schelle")."

I conclude the previous text ("Grimm's Deutsches Wörterbuch s.v. "Kuhschelle" points to a 1410 mention ...") refers to the German dictionary started by the Brothers Grimm, with s.v. being a Latin abbreviation for "under the heading of". From the text "...In Rabelais, [sic] France in the mid-16th century he makes this practice explicit in his Gargantua and Pantagruel..." it refers to any member of a series of five books, collectively entitled Gargantua and Pantagruel, by author Francois Rabelais.

My confusion: what does Francois Rabelais have to do with the Brothers Grimm? Was Rabelais listed in a German dictionary under the heading of "Schelle"? I checked Project Gutenberg's full text of all five books and didn't find a "Schelle" anywhere. Am I missing something? meteor_sandwich_yum (talk) 06:06, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

QR code installed
Toodyaypedia article QR code in place Elrebe56 (talk) 01:40, 8 April 2014 (UTC)