Those who have been following closely :-) will now understand the theory of plain hunting, where each bell moves one place at a time from the front to the back, and back again. We have seen that this comes back to rounds after 2n changes, where 'n' is the number of bells that are plain hunting.

Let's extend the simple case of plain hunting and look at the first method that a bellringer will learn -- Plain Bob. To make things simpler we will examine Plain Bob Doubles, that is Plain Bob rung on 5 bells, which is probably what a beginner will learn. This is usually rung with a 6th bell ringing after each of the five which are ringing the method.

First here is plain hunting on 5, with a 6th bell 'covering'; note how each bell traces a path from front to back (excluding 6) and vice versa:

123456
214356
241536
425136
452316
543216
534126
351426
315246
132546
123456

For simplicity a cover bell such as 6 above is not usually shown in such diagrams, and we will omit it in future.

In the above example the bells come back to rounds after 10 changes, so the simplest alteration we can make is to alter the order of the bells in that 10th change to something different. We cannot alter the treble's path (labelled '1') because the treble must always just plain hunt (that's the rules). The preceding two rows are

31524
13254

The treble must remain in the lead.

The bell in 2nd place is 3 which cannot go into 3rd place or it will be back where it started from, and it cannot lead (because the treble is leading) so we leave it in 2nd place: this is called 'making 2nd's place' or just 'making 2nd's'.

The bell in 3rd place is 2: it cannot move to 2nd place because it started there and anyway 3 is in 2nd place; so we make it dodge with the bell in 4th place (see below); this is called 'dodging 3/4 down', because it is moving *down* from the back and it is dodging in 3rd and 4th places.

The bell in 4th place is 5, and we have already decided that this must dodge with the bell in 3rd place: this is called 'dodging 3/4 up', because it is moving *up* to the back and dodges in 3rd and 4th places.

That just leaves the bell at the back, 4 in this case, and all it can do is stay there; in fact it will have to stay there for four 'blows', and this is called 'making four blows behind' or 'making four blows in 5th'.

To dodge with a bell means to swap places with it, and then continue in the same direction as before: so 2 is coming down from the back -- 5th, 4th, 3rd, dodges up to 4th place and then continues 3rd, 2nd etc. Whilst 5 is coming up from the front -- 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, dodges back to 3rd, then continues 4th, 5th etc. This can be seen from this diagram:

5...2
.5..2
..52.
..25.
..52. -- 5 goes back to 3rd place, 2 goes back to 4th
..25. -- 5 goes back to 4th place, 2 goes back to 3rd
.2..5 -- 2 and 5 carry on plain hunting from the position they are in

So we can put all this together to see how the order of the bells has been changed from simple plain hunting:

35142
31524
13254 -- treble is leading: dodge next stroke
13524 -- now continue plain hunting just as before, but with the bells
31254    in a different starting order

We now carry on just as before, and the next time the treble leads, just as the bells are about to come back to the place they began *this* section, we repeat this dodging process. The treble continues to plain hunt, and each other bell does the change appropriate to the position it now finds itself in.

This process can be repeated a number of times before we get back to rounds. Each of the working bells (i.e., 2, 3, 4 and 5) will perform each of the variations from plain hunting, thus:

 Bell 2 will dodge 3/4 down the first time, make 4 blows behind the second time, dodge 3/4 up the third time, and make 2nd's the fourth time, which will bring us back to rounds

 Bell 3 will make 2nd's, dodge 3/4 down, do 4 blows behind, dodge 3/4 up
 Bell 4 will do 4 blows behind, dodge 3/4 up, make 2nd's, dodge 3/4 down
 Bell 5 will dodge 3/4 up, make 2nd's, dodge 3/4 down, do 4 blows behind

In each case the 'cycle of work' is identical, and the variations are in the sam=e order for each bell, but the four bells each start and finish at a different place on the cycle. When learning and subsequently ringing a plain course of Bob Doubles, the ringer simply has to remember these four variations from plain hunting, and which one they have to do first.

So, finally for this lesson, we can write out a complete plain course of Plain Bob Doubles:

12345 -- ringing rounds ... 'Go Bob Doubles!'

12345 -- everyone starts to plain hunt
21435
24153
42513
45231
54321
53412
35142
31524
13254 -- bell 2: dodge 3/4 down; bell 3: make 2nd's;
         bell 4: 4 blows behind; bell 5: dodge 3/4 up
13524 -- continue plain hunting from this new position
31254
32145
23415
24351
42531
45213
54123
51432
15342 -- bell 2: 4 blows behind; bell 3: dodge 3/4 down;
         bell 4: dodge 3/4 up;   bell 5: make 2nd's
15432 -- continue plain hunting from this new position
51342
53124
35214
32541
23451
24315
42135
41253
14523 -- bell 2: dodge 3/4 up;   bell 3: 4 blows behind;
         bell 4: make 2nd's;     bell 5: dodge 3/4 down
14253 -- continue plain hunting from this new position
41523
45132
54312
53421
35241
32514
23154
21345
12435 -- bell 2: make 2nd's;     bell 3: dodge 3/4 up;
         bell 4: dodge 3/4 down; bell 5: 4 blows in 5th
      ... 'That's All!'

12345 -- which is rounds

In this Plain Course of Bob Doubles we have rung 40 changes. On 5 bells there are 120 (= 2x3x4x5) possible combinations. To reach these other combinations we will have to introduce further variations to the Plain Course, and we do this by calling Bobs.

But that's more than enough for now.

simon