science

Whittington chimes

Whittington chimes is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Whittington chimes rather than just read about it. In short: Whittington chimes, also called St. Mary's, are a family of clock chime melodies associated with St Mary-le-Bow church in London, which is related to the historical figure of Whittington by legend.

Key takeaways

Whittington chimes belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Whittington chimes to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Whittington chimes from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Whittington chimes, also called St. Mary's, are a family of clock chime melodies associated with St Mary-le-Bow church in London, which is related to the historical figure of Whittington by legend. Whittington is usually the secondary chime selection for most chiming clocks, the first being the Westminster. It is also one of two clock chime melodies with multiple variations, the other being the Ave Maria chimes. Before the name Whittington became common, the melody used to be referred to as “chimes on eight bells”. However, evidence suggests it was originally a chime on six bells – a melody that has not been in use at St Mary-le-Bow since 1666. In 1905, based on what was known about the six-bell version, Sir Charles Villiers Stanford composed a new melody (still called Whittington chimes) that uses 11 out of the 12 bells in the tower of St Mary-le-Bow; this 11-bell version is the one now used at that church.

Dick Whittington story The customary English theatre story, adapted from the life of the real Richard Whittington, is that the young boy Dick Whittington was an unhappy apprentice running away from his master, and heard the tune ringing from the bell tower of the church of St Mary-le-Bow in London in 1392. The penniless boy heard the bells seemingly saying to him "Turn again Dick Whittington". Dick returned to London upon hearing the bells, where he went on to find his fortune and became the Lord Mayor of London four times. According to tradition, Whittington used the tune as a campaign song for his three returns to the office of mayor. A short version of the campaign song goes:

Turn again Dick Whittington, Right Lord Mayor of London Town.

Chimes of St Mary-le-Bow

The twelve bells in the tower of St Mary-le-Bow, cast in 1956, all have inscriptions on them; the first letters of each inscription spell out:

D W H I T T I N G T O N

Chimes on domestic clocks

The Whittington chimes are less well known than the Westminster (Cambridge) chimes, despite being much older. The chimes are found in many early English bracket and longcase clocks. The melody was not given the name "Whittington Chimes" on domestic clocks until the late Victorian period onwards. Whittington chimes found on domestic clocks are variations on the eight-bell melody, and there are at least four variations of this chime sequence. Currently the Whittington chime is often available on grandfather clock movements that have selectable chimes and some quartz clocks.

Bawo & Dotter Chimes

One of the Whittington chime variations is also known as the Bawo & Dotter chimes, and is usually found on many older German movements such as early models of Junghans grandfather clocks. This version of the chimes is remarkably different and unique from the other three variations; only the first-quarter melody remains the same with the other variations.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Whittington chimes

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Whittington chimes claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Whittington chimes before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Whittington chimes ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Whittington chimes

In research: Whittington chimes appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Whittington chimes in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Whittington chimes is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Anonymous musical compositions, Clocks, Compositions by Charles Villiers Stanford, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Whittington chimes outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Whittington chimes in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Whittington chimes means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Whittington chimes out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Whittington chimes in simple terms?

Whittington chimes, also called St. Mary's, are a family of clock chime melodies associated with St Mary-le-Bow church in London, which is related to the historical figure of Whittington by legend.

Why does Whittington chimes matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Whittington chimes?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Whittington chimes.