Continuing my crash course in method ringing theory...
Now that we have covered the details of the simplest change-ringing
method, Plain Bob, we can move on to what is perhaps the next easiest,
Grandsire, which can be regarded as a simple extension of Plain Bob.
Grandsire is the theme for the chapters of the second section of NINE,
and is also used by LPW to demonstrate how a message might be encrypted.
First, a quick recap on where we have got to.
Recall that the basis of all these methods is plain hunting, in which
a bell moves from the front to the back (1st place, or lead, to nth
place at the back), and then returns to the front, and each bell is
only allowed to move one place at a time. Recall too, that in Plain
Bob, the treble always plain hunts, and the other bells (in Plain Bob
Minor: bells 2, 3, 5, 5 and 6) plain hunt except when the treble is
leading, at which point the plain hunt is varied, and each bell
performs one of the following dodges in the cycle of work: dodge 3-4
down, dodge 5-6 down, dodge 5-6 up, dodge 3-4 up, make 2nds (and lead
again).
Grandsire Triples, rung on 7 bells, is very similar to Plain Bob Minor,
which is rung on 6 bells. But instead of there being one bell, the
treble, which always plain hunts, we now add a second bell which is
always plain hunting too.
In a plain course (no bobs or singles) the extra plain-hunting bell is
the number 2.
The consequence of this is to push all the other dodges up one place,
so that the cycle of work for all the other bells becomes: dodge 4-5
down, dodge 6-7 down, dodge 6-7 up, dodge 4-5 up, make 3rds (and lead
again).
There is one tiny difference at the start. The very astute of you may
have realized in Plain Bob that as the bells leave rounds to begin the
method they are effectively in a position where they have just
dodged. Obviously they haven't dodged because the method has only just
started, but if we were to project the method back in time then they
would just have dodged, as the teble led -- just as they dodge again
right at the end of the plain course. In Grandsire, the extra bell
pushes the dodges up one place, as we have seen, and also means they
are made one stroke later than in Plain Bob. So, as Grandsire starts,
the bells are halfway through a dodge (rather than having just
completed it) and they must do the other half dodge before plain
hunting.
So we can draw a diagram for Grandsire Triples. In a 'proper' diagram
a red line will be drawn through the path of the treble (1), and a
blue line through the path of another bell (not the 2, which is only
plain hunting). The bell through which this line is drawn is called
the 'observation bell', presumably because it is the one we are
observing.
1234567 -- ringing rounds, conductor calls 'Go Grandsire Triples!'
1234567
2135476 -- 1 & 2 plain hunt; 3 makes 3rds; 4 & 5 dodge; 6 & 7 dodge
2314567 -- dodging finished, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 plain hunt
3241657
3426175
4362715
4637251
6473521
6745312
7654132
7561423
5716243
5172634
1527364
1253746 -- 1 & 2 plain hunt; 3: dodge 4-5 down; 4: dodge 6-7 down;
-- 5: make 3rds; 6: dodge 6-7 up; 7: dodge 4-5 up;
2157364
2513746 -- 5, having made 3rds, goes down to lead
5231476
5324167 -- etc: continue plain hunting until treble leads again
Having learnt to ring Plain Bob Minor, ringing a plain course of
Grandsire Triples is relatively easy: the biggest problem is
remembering that you aren't ringing Plain Bob, and that the dodges
must be rung one place higher. It is all too easy to lapse into Plain
Bob dodges if your concentration slips.
In a plain course of Grandsire, bell 2 is always plain hunting. In a
touch (or a full peal) the conductor will call bobs (and singles), and
one of the effects of such a call is to alter which bell is plain
hunting alongside the treble. The bell which is plain hunting with the
treble is said to be 'in the hunt'. At a bob that bell will 'come out
of the hunt' and another bell will 'go into the hunt'.
We will look at Bobs in Grandsire in a separate lesson.
simon
tower captain in the little town of St Ives in Huntingdonshire