A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Knell
KNELL, the Passing Bell (Fr. La Cloche des Agonisants; Germ. Die Todtenglocke). A solemn cadence, tolled on the great Bell of a Parish Church, to announce the death of a parishioner; or, in accordance with old custom, to give warning of his approaching dissolution. To indicate the decease of a Man, or Boy, the Knell begins with three triple tolls, followed by a number of moderately quick single strokes corresponding to the age of the Departed. The Bell is then tolled, very slowly, for the accustomed time: and the Knell concludes, as it began, with three triple tolls, sometimes, but not always, preceded by a repetition of the single strokes denoting the age of the deceased person.
For a Woman, the Knell begins, and ends, with three double, instead of three triple tolls. In other respects, the formula is the same as that used for a Man.
Minute tolls denote the death of the Sovereign, or Heir Apparent to the Crown.