bell2 (bel)

[Early mod. E. also bel (dial. also beal ), roar. As loud as belleth wind in hell. Chaucer, House of Fame, 1. 1803. Specifically-2. To bellow like a deer in rutting-time. The wild buck bells from ferny brake. Scott , Marmion, iv. 15. Enjoining perfect silence, we crept from tree to tree with stealthy pace and occasionally sweeping the opposite brow of Hanger ton with a deer gla to discover some of the numerous harts which were belling and calling. Forest and Stream , XXIV. 449. [Rare.] The bellow of the II. trans. To bellow forth. bell2 (bel), n. [ bell2 , v.] wild deer in rutting-time. In Ireland the deer-stalker has to put aside his rifle in October. The first bell of the hart is a notice for him to quit, so that these wild denizens of the woods may carry on their courting at their leisure. Forest and Stream, XXIV. 449.