By Drum and Horn and Shell.



At about nine o'clock on the Sabbath morning the Puritan colonists
assembled for the first public service of the holy day; they were gathered
together by various warning sounds. The Haverhill settlers listened for the
ringing toot of Abraham Tyler's horn. The Montague and South Hadley people
were notified that the hour of assembling had arrived by the loud blowing
of a conch-shell. John Lane, a resident of the latter town, was engaged
in 1750 to "blow the Cunk" on the Sabbath as "a sign for meeting." In
Stockbridge a strong-lunged "praying" Indian blew the enormous shell, which
was safely preserved until modern times, and which, when relieved from
Sunday use, was for many years sounded as a week-day signal in the
hay-field. Even a conch-shell was enough of an expense to the poor colonial
churches. The Montague people in 1759 paid L1 10s. for their "conk," and
also on the purchase year gave Joseph Root 20 shillings for blowing the new
shell. In 1785 the Whately church voted that "we will not improve anybody
to blow the conch," and so the church-attendants straggled to Whately
meeting each at his own time and pleasure.

In East Hadley the inhabitant who "blew the kunk" (as phonetic East
Hadleyites spelt it) and swept out the meeting-house was paid annually the
munificent sum of three dollars for his services. Conch-blowing was not
so difficult and consequently not so highly-paid an accomplishment as
drum-beating. A verse of a simple old-fashioned hymn tells thus of the
gathering of the Puritan saints:--

"New England's Sabbath day
Is heaven-like still and pure,