North Country Wind Bells

We make 100% of our work right here in our shop on the coast of Maine. As well, we are ‘Proudly a Green Company”!

This is our story.......

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 HarborÆ, Camden ReachÆ, Bar HarborÆ, KennebunkportÆ, PemaquidÆ and Nantucket BellsÆ. 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.