# Ring the Church Bells 29 times.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 10, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877 "2006-11-10T16:32:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877/1 "2006-11-10T16:32:24Z")
> **[Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot](https://gordonlightfoot.com/Lyrics/WreckOfTheEdmundFitzgerald.html)** > > Gordon Lightfoot - Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald ``` 31 years ago today, the * Edmund Fitzgerald* was lost with all hands. I would have just turned 10 years old a few days before it happened. Don't remember much about it from the time, as I didn't pay much attention to the news back then. Later, when the song came out, my mother bought a copy, and I've been hooked ever since. Masterful story telling, beautiful lyrics. Talk about painting pictures with words...this is how it's done. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877/2 "2006-11-10T16:35:04Z")
[copyrighted material removed] ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877/3 "2006-11-10T16:42:11Z")
Probably the best ballad ever written/performed, IMO. The story is so compelling that the lack of consistent rhyming verse nearly goes unnoticed. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877/4 "2006-11-10T16:54:07Z")
Any person who can make peril/Firtgerald sound like a rhyme is a genius. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877/5 "2006-11-10T17:00:30Z")
The Great Lakes are treacherous. Pops Mercotan used to Scuba dive on the wrecks, and he never lacked for dive sites. All due respect to the crew of the Edmund Fitz. I’ve visited the ship’s bell at Whitefish Point myself. Don’t forget this coming November 18th, the plight of the [SS Carl Bradley](http://perdurabo10.tripod.com/themindofjamesdonahue/id582.html), which went down in Lake Michigan, taking 33 souls with her, in 1958. Amazingly, two survived. “the Iron boats go as the mariners all know with the gales of November remembered” ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877/6 "2006-11-10T18:08:23Z")
What a beautiful haunting song. I need to listen to it tonight. Did they never find the wreck? Or they did and it can’t be raised? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877/7 "2006-11-10T18:19:19Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] What a beautiful haunting song. I need to listen to it tonight. Did they never find the wreck? Or they did and it can’t be raised? [/QUOTE] I thought I remembered reading long ago that the bell had been recovered. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877/8 "2006-11-10T18:31:45Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] Did they never find the wreck? Or they did and it can’t be raised? [/QUOTE] The shipwreck was found in 1976. The ship’s bell was recovered in 1995, and a memorial bell substituted on the ship. The original bell may be seen at the Whitefish Point shipwreck museum. Lots of info here. [http://www.ssefo.com/](http://www.ssefo.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877/9 "2006-11-10T18:34:17Z")
A nice site: [Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum](http://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877/10 "2006-11-10T18:42:35Z")
BTW, I do have a large old schoolbell along Lake Michigan’s shoreline in my yard. I’ll be ringing it 29 times today. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877/11 "2006-11-11T02:04:38Z")
As a sailor I cringe when I think of any ship going down. 29 bells Aye. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877/12 "2006-11-11T02:48:51Z")
A lovely, lovely song. It’s one of my favourites. Spine-chilling stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Griffin-Kentzel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_griffin-kentzel/32/14787_2.png) [@Larry\_Griffin-Kentzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Griffin-Kentzel)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877/13 "2006-11-12T02:35:25Z")
[**SDMB Registration Agreement**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=347160) > [@](#): > > You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by the operator of the SDMB, except as permitted by the “fair use” provisions of the U.S. copyright laws (in general this means brief excerpts only). You agree to abide by the wishes of the board moderators in interpreting and enforcing these rules. Refusal to cooperate with board moderators or to abide by these rules is grounds for revocation of your posting privileges. [**What’s the policy on copyrights?**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7696968#post7696968) > [@](#): > > Our sponsor, the Chicago READER, has a strict policy on respecting copyrights and copyrighted material. They don’t want their stuff used by others without permission, and so we don’t use stuff created by others without permission. Basically, The policy is : don’t do it. > > The rules of the Straight Dope Message Board are enforced by volunteer moderators who are not all legal experts in these matters. So we offer a set of guidelines that may be more conservative or stringent than the law in your jurisdiction, but that we think may help avoid the copyright violation issue. In this as in many other matters we depend not only on moderator enforcement, but also ask for the cooperation and goodwill of our posters. > > Suggested guidelines: > (1) If you are going to quote something from an article, quote less than 5% of the source. Include a link to the article if the article is available online. > > (2) Only quote directly in very rare circumstances. Instead of repeating a source word-for-word, read the article, attempt to understand it, and rephrase what it says in your own words. Again, include a link to the source if the source is available online. Otherwise indicate a reference to the source (e.g. Science News, issue x, pages yy-zz). > > (3) Minor changes in quoted text are permitted, as long as such changes are clearly identified (e.g., ellipses … for omitted material, square brackets for added material, etc.) Changes that alter the tenor or interject editorial comment are not permitted. If you want to comment on a quote, do it outside the quotation marks or quote tags. Do not do this again, **Kythereia**. You’ve been here long enough to know better. **Cajun Man** for the SDMB ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Griffin-Kentzel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_griffin-kentzel/32/14787_2.png) [@Larry\_Griffin-Kentzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Griffin-Kentzel)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877/14 "2006-11-12T05:00:11Z")
[**The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald**](http://home.pacbell.net/chabpyne/lyrics.html) ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877/15 "2006-11-13T19:34:18Z")
[QUOTE=Cajun Do not do this again, **Kythereia**. You’ve been here long enough to know better. **Cajun Man** for the SDMB[/QUOTE] I’m sorry–I thought it was okay to post small snippets of the poem. Sorry about that. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877/16 "2006-11-13T19:54:46Z")
Am I the only one who cringes at the line “The church bell chimed 'til it rang 29 times for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald”? By my reckoning, that’s 841 chimes. ---
**Author:** ![Indyellen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/indyellen/32/4176_2.png) [@Indyellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indyellen)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877/17 "2006-11-13T23:37:47Z")
An online friend of mine from the old alt.callahans Usenet board was a novice reporter out of Sault Ste Marie the night the Fitzgerald went down. She wrote about it [here](http://www.peak.org/~kightp/scribble/fitz.html). It is both fascinating and poignant. (People are welcome to share the link to the story but copyright remains hers.) ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877/18 "2006-11-14T00:16:21Z")
I’ve thought of changing my location to Icewater Mansion on several occasions. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877/19 "2006-11-14T01:28:32Z")
[QUOTE=Omegaman] I’ve thought of changing my location to Icewater Mansion on several occasions. [/QUOTE] “The Mercotan steams like a young man’s dreams!” ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877/20 "2006-11-14T05:27:34Z")
[QUOTE=Oakminster] … I would have just turned 10 years old a few days before it happened. [/QUOTE] Actually, you did. Unless your dead. Since then I mean. Oh, never mind. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ring-the-church-bells-29-times/379877.md?page=2)