The "Original" North Country Wind Bells

This is a family story, begun by Jim and May Davidson on the craggy Maine Coast. In the small town of Round Pond they, their family and neighbors craft wind bells that echo the distinctive and familiar tones of coastal and harbor bells.

For many years Jim, like his neighbors, worked as a lobsterman. He spent countless hours on the water listening to pounding surf and the constant warning of bell buoys. After a time, it occurred to him that others might also enjoy the reassuring sound of bell buoys.

He began recording the sounds of bell and gong buoys where he hauled lobster traps, and then eagerly sought other bells in the region. After hours of listening to these tapes and painstakingly working pieces of steel to match the tones, he produced his first set of bells: the Boothbay Harbor®, Camden Reach®, Bar Harbor®, Kennebunkport®, Pemaquid® and Nantucket Bells®. These six recall the haunting, yet comforting sounds Jim experienced while working along the New England Coast. Over time additional bells have been added to this impressive collection.

Each North Country Wind Bell® is based on Jim's interpretation of the gong and bell buoys in the areas for which they're named. Because of the wide variance in their tones, his groupings have resulted in single, double and triple-toned bells. Each is reminiscent of the magic he experienced on the water.

A special bell, the Island Pasture Bell®, is based on the dulcet tones of sheep and cattle bells common on several Maine islands where Jim and May once pastured their own sheep.

Every North Country Wind Bell® is shaped from a high grade steel known as Cor-Ten®. It is widely used on bridges, guard rails and buildings because it requires no maintenance. These characteristics make it ideal for North Country Wind Bells®, which are designed to hang outdoors year-round, and will not twist, tangle or break. As they weather, the steel turns a rich rust color. This natural oxidization doesn't signal a deterioration of the bell, since Cor-Ten® will never flake, peel or rust out. Instead, it tempers with age, creating clearer, more resonant tones. This patina both preserves and improves a bell's tones over the years.

Quality materials, fine workmanship and family pride ensure that these rugged bells from North Country Wind Bells® will endure to become individual family heirlooms. Even hung far from the ocean, their response to a gentle breeze carries pleasant reminders of ocean swells and the constant vigil sounded by coastal and harbor bells.

In a year or two, sometimes sooner, depending on the environment, North Country Wind Bells® will begin to take on a weathered appearance. This rich, emerging patina of rust can be made deeper and more lustrous with an annual rubbing of plain salad oil. Or, if you prefer your wind bells to remain black, they may be given a quick spray of flat black metal paint. Either way, they will endure outdoors, year-round, for a lifetime.