sleigh-bell

Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.

A small hollow ball, made of bell-metal, having a hole in it that passes half round its circumference, and containing a small solid ball, of a size not to escape. These bells are fastened to leathern straps, which commonly pass round the necks of horses. They were formerly, by the Dutch, attached to small plates, which were buckled to various parts of the harness; but this caused a motion annoying to horses.--Cooper, Satanstoe, Vol. I. p. 216.

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