A cowbell or cow bell is a bell

Bell (instrument)

A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...

 worn by freely roaming livestock

Livestock

Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...

, so that they do not run away or wander off without being heard. While bells were used on various types of animals, they are typically referred to as "cowbells" due to their extensive use with cattle

Cattle

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

.

A trychel (Alemannic

Alemannic German

Alemannic is a group of dialects of the Upper German branch of the Germanic language family. It is spoken by approximately ten million people in six countries: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, France and Italy...

 Trychle, also spelled Trichel, Treichel, Treichle) is a large cow bell traditionally in use in Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. As opposed to regular cast metal bells, trychlen are made of hammered sheet metal. This results in a less clean, clanking sound, but at the same time results in a bell that is less heavy and thus easier to carry.

In Southern Germany

Southern Germany

The term Southern Germany is used to describe a region in the south of Germany. There is no specific boundary to the region, but it usually includes all of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, and the southern part of Hesse...

, the term is Almglocke.

Cowbells also refer to a kind of pitched percussion instrument resembling a cowbell.

Trychel customs

Trychel processions play an important part in Swiss (Alemannic) folklore.

• Oberhasli
  Oberhasli
  Oberhasli may refer to:* Oberhasli, a historical region in the Bernese Oberland in the canton of Berne, Switzerland* Oberhasli District, a former district* Oberhasli , a breed of goat named after the Bernese district...
  
  : Ubersitz
  Ubersitz
  The Ubersitz is a traditional custom in Hasli, Bernese Oberland, Switzerland. On Christmas day, at nightfall, schoolboys begin with Treichlen, walking through the villages in small troops, sounding giant cow-bells. The following nights, the boys are joined, and later replaced, by adult men...
  
  
• Küssnacht
  Küssnacht
  Küssnacht am Rigi is a district and municipality in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland, consisting of three villages: Küssnacht, Immensee and Merlischachen...
  
  : Chlausenjagd, a custom related to the Wild Hunt
  Wild Hunt
  The Wild Hunt is an ancient folk myth prevalent across Northern, Western and Central Europe. The fundamental premise in all instances is the same: a phantasmal, spectral group of huntsmen with the accoutrements of hunting, horses, hounds, etc., in mad pursuit across the skies or along the ground,...
  
   with Saint Nicholas
  Saint Nicholas
  Saint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...
  
   replacing Wotan.
• Urnäsch
  Urnäsch
  Urnäsch is a municipality in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Switzerland.-History:In 831 A.D. a part of Urnäsch known as Färchen was first mentioned. In 1344 the village is sold to the German Earl Werdenberg, but later the Abbey of St...
  
  : Sylvesterkläuse
• Laupen
  Laupen, Berne
  Laupen is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district and its district capital, situated in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.-History:Laupen is first mentioned in 1130-33 as Loupa. In 1173 it was mentioned, in French, as Loyes....
  
  : Archetringele
• Einsiedeln: Einsiedeln carnival has the characters «Trichler» and «Ustrichler» bearing Trycheln.

These customs are strongly associated with Perchta

Perchta

Perchta or Berchta , also commonly known as Percht and other variations, was once known as a goddess in Southern Germanic paganism in the Alpine countries...

 and the Wild Hunt

Wild Hunt

The Wild Hunt is an ancient folk myth prevalent across Northern, Western and Central Europe. The fundamental premise in all instances is the same: a phantasmal, spectral group of huntsmen with the accoutrements of hunting, horses, hounds, etc., in mad pursuit across the skies or along the ground,...

 taking place during winter, near solstice

Winter solstice

Winter solstice may refer to:* Winter solstice, astronomical event* Winter Solstice , former band* Winter Solstice: North , seasonal songs* Winter Solstice , 2005 American film...

.

The last reamaining Cow Bell manufacturer in the United States, Bevin Brothers Manufacturing, has made bells in East Hampton, CT since 1832.

History

In the Early Middle Ages

Early Middle Ages

The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...

, bells were mostly reserved for religious purposes. In the High Middle Ages

High Middle Ages

The High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....

 to the 14th century, they became popular also in secular pageantry such as knightly tournament

Tournament

A tournament is a competition involving a relatively large number of competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:...

s. The earliest attestation of bells used for livestock dates to the late 14th to early 15th century (Grimm's Deutsches Wörterbuch

Deutsches Wörterbuch

Das Deutsche Wörterbuch / Deutsches Wörterbuch is one of the most important dictionaries of the German language...

s.v. "Kuhschelle" points to a 1410 mention in a Frankfurt

Frankfurt

Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...

 archive; the OED lists 1440 as the earliest attestation of bell-wether

Bellwether

A bellwether is any entity in a given arena that serves to create or influence trends or to presage future happenings.The term is derived from the Middle English bellewether and refers to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of a castrated ram leading his flock of sheep.The movements of...

, the leading sheep of a flock, on whose neck a bell is hung, and attributes the phrase "to bear the bell" in the sense "to take the first place", originally referring to the leading cow or sheep of a drove or flock to Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde

Troilus and Criseyde

Troilus and Criseyde is a poem by Geoffrey Chaucer which re-tells in Middle English the tragic story of the lovers Troilus and Criseyde set against a backdrop of war in the Siege of Troy. It was composed using rime royale and probably completed during the mid 1380s. Many Chaucer scholars regard it...

, 1374). In the 15th century, a cow bell was worn only by the best and leading piece of livestock, and the wider distribution of the bell worn by livestock is a gradual process of the Early Modern period

Early modern period

In history, the early modern period of modern history follows the late Middle Ages. Although the chronological limits of the period are open to debate, the timeframe spans the period after the late portion of the Middle Ages through the beginning of the Age of Revolutions...

. Rabelais in the mid 16th century in his Gargantua and Pantagruel

Gargantua and Pantagruel

The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel is a connected series of five novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais. It is the story of two giants, a father and his son and their adventures, written in an amusing, extravagant, satirical vein...

makes this explicit, stating that

"such was the custom, to appear on the field wearing jingling garment, as the high priest wears when entering the sacristy; since the tournaments, that is, the contest of nobility, have been abolished, carters have taken the bells and hung them on their hacks" (cited after Grimm, s.v. "Schelle").

Swiss folklore reflects a period when a great Trychel was a rare and much-coveted item, only found in the deep country mines in the north. Thus, a legend of the Simmental

Simmental

Simmental is an alpine valley in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland. It expands from Lenk to Boltigen, in a more or less South-North direction , and from there to the valley exit at Wimmis near Spiez it takes a West-East orientation . It comprises the municipalities of Lenk, St...

tells how a young cowherd strays inside a mountain, and by a beautiful woman is offered the choice between a treasure of gold coins, a golden Trychel, and the fairy herself chooses the Trychel.

Processions

In the spring, when the snowmelt is finished, villages send the cows with the cowherds to high alpine meadows to graze during the summer months. The event, called "Alpaufzug", is celebrated in each village with a procession through the village into the high pastures. The cows are decorated with floral wreaths woven through the horns, and the best milk-producing cow in the village leads the procession wearing the largest bell. The bells are made in various sizes, and cows are awarded bells according the milk production of the year.

In the fall, the event is repeated, but this time called an Alpabzug, as the animals return from the high meadow. The best cows (called the Kranzkuh) from each herd lead the procession through the village. The traditional festival is called Viehscheid in Southern Germany, and has various other names in the Alpine regions.