Note 1 — Chapter IV · FROM A.D. 1418 TO 1530.

The miraculous bell of Velilla, a little village in Aragon, nine leagues from Saragossa, about this time (the death of Ferdinand of Aragon) gave one of those prophetic tintinnabulations which always boded some great calamity to the country. The side on which the blows fell denoted the quarter where the disaster was to happen. Its sound, says Dr. Dormer, caused dismay and contrition, with dismal “fear of change,” in the hearts of all who heard it. No arm was strong enough to stop it on these occasions, as those found to their cost who profanely attempted it. Its ill-omened voice was heard for the twentieth and last time in March, 1679. As no event of importance followed, it probably tolled for its own funeral. See the edifying history, in Dr. Diego Dormer, of the miraculous powers and performances of this celebrated bell, as duly authenticated by a host of witnesses.—‘Discursos Varios,’ pp. 198–244. Prescott’s ‘History of Ferdinand and Isabella.’