The Evangelist Bell

One of the things I inherited from my grandmother was her dinner bell (which I'd always liked).  It's a brass bell about the size of a teacup and has the words mattheus marcus lucas johannes around the middle, along with the apropriate symbol for each: the winged man, the lion of St Mark, the winged ox of St Luke and the eagle.



It's not identical to the larger one in the picture, but it is very similar.

Google has failed me in trying to find out more about my bell, apart from the fact that it's called an 'Evangelist' bell because of the names of the four evanagelists (gospel writers).
I assume it may have been made as a copy of some original bell, and the fact that there are very similar ones out there tends to reinforce this.

Does anyone know where the  design of the bell originally came from.

It's not valuable - brass rarely is - but I'd like to know a bit more about it.

Born of Hope

Thanks to Megamole for linking to Born of Hope - the story of Arathorn and Gilraen.

Definitely one for the Tolkien lovers, but also an impressive view of what can be achieved on a very small budget by fannish volunteers.

I wasn't too impressed by the actress playing Gilraen, but felt Arathorn was very good.  However, the quality of costumes, special effects, music, camera work, etc where what we would have expected of commercial cinema only a few years ago.

In fact my only real complaint is this: actors in films, amateur or commercial, do not know how to wear cloaks properly outdoors.  I own one and sometimes wear it in cold weather.  The only way to stay warm, is not to let the front hang open, but to fling one side over the opposite shoulder and pin it there.