An early reference to the giant or devil named Bell The story of Bell the giant can be found in ‘Bygone Leicestershire’, edited by William Andrews and published in 1892, as well as ‘A Provincial Glossary with a Collection of Local Proverbs and Popular Superstitions’ by Francis Grose published in 1787. In both cases the story is attributed to Peck.
Francis Peck FSA (1692-1743) was an antiquarian,naturalist and rector of Goadby Marwood and his major publication was the two volume ‘Desiderata Curiosa’ published in 1732-35. So the story goes back at least 280 years.
In fact it may be even older.
John Earle (1601 to 1665) wrote describing a journey taken one summer from Oxford to York.He mentions the myth that Mountsorrel in Leicestershire had been moved by the devil (Erudite Satire in Seventeenth Century England by Felicity Henderson)
