An article published on 16 October 2016 appeared in Sky News with the
headline: Public clamour after bell ringers given heave-ho. What does heave-ho
mean?
Heave-ho is an interjection or an exclamation. Heave-ho! The Oxford
Dictionaries defines heave-ho as a ‘cry emitted when doing actions that take
physical effort.’ For example, as a person lifts a weight, the person might
shout heave-ho. It is also a noun, meaning ‘dismissal or elimination from a
job.’ If a person is given the heave-ho at work, that person is being sacked,
fired, let go, dismissed.
The article is about bell ringers at York Minister in England. All 30
volunteer (unpaid) bell ringers – people that pull the cords to make bells ring
– also called campanologists – were fired on Tuesday 11 October. The bells will
remain silent until a new team of bell ringers will be recruited next year. The
article adds that more than 11,100 people created a clamour (a noise of
protest) and signed a petition calling for the fired bell ringers to be re-instated.
They are, after all, volunteers – performing work because they want to, not
because they are paid to.
The current group of bell ringers were stunned at the decision, saying that
they were loyal and dedicated ringers. One of the bell ringers has been ringing
the York Minster bells for 30 years. With no bell ringers until next year, who
will ring in the festive season, and who will ring in the New Year? If there is
no bell rings during this year’s festive season, it will break a tradition that
dates back to the 14th century.
York Minister officials plan to appoint a new, paid, Head of Bell Tower,
who will recruit new volunteers, stating that they are ‘committed to having a
fully trained, motivated and engaged body of staff and volunteers by 2020.
Since 2014 we’ve been working with our groups of volunteers to introduce a
consistent standard of recruitment, induction, training and development.’ The
officials also want to ensure a consistent approach to health and safety. ‘In
order to make these changes we sometimes need to close existing volunteering
roles so that we can move forward with the new process.’ The officials said
that the existing bell ringers can apply for the new volunteer roles next year.
The Scorecard for the Sky News headline is 100%. Clamour has
two meanings: the public noise of protest, and the noise of the bells. Heave-ho
has two meanings: a shout when pulling the heavy bell cords to make the bells
ring, and the dismissal, sacking, of the volunteer bell ringers. The use of
clamour and heave-ho in the one headline accurately reveals the plight of the
volunteer bell ringers in a clever double double entendre (figure of speech
that has double meaning). Yes, a double double entedre! And that’s worth
ringing the bells for.
MARTINA NICOLLS is an international
aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of
Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet
(2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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