Plain Hunt

I am not sure whether Plain Hunt is really a method but it satisfies the criteria as I understand them.

The basic ringing cycle is simply Rounds which means that the bells ring in sequence one after the other, for 6 bells they would continually loop around as follows: 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 . . .

When ringing Rounds the number of bells between each ring of a particular bell is always the same. If ringing on 6 bells there will always be 5 bells that ring between two blows of a particular bell. This means that there is (or at least, should be) a steady rhythm to the ringing of a bell.

Hunting is the name given to the movement of a bell makes when it changes the position in which it rings. Their are two variants, one is "hunting up" and the other is "hunting down".

hunting up
When a bell is "hunting up" it means that on each stroke the bell rings one position later in the sequence than the previous stroke. This requires the ringer to ring more slowly. Using Plain Hunt on 5 as an example (exactly 5 bells ringing) there will be 6 bells between strokes.
This can also be calling hunting out to the back.
hunting down
When a bell is "hunting down" it means that on each stroke the bell rings one position earlier in the sequence than the previous stroke. This requires the ringer to ring more quickly. Using Plain Hunt on 5 as an example (exactly 5 bells ringing) there will be 4 bells between strokes.
This can also be calling hunting in to the front.

Plain Hunt can be performed on any number of bells with all of the bells Plain Hunting. It is also possible to Plain Hunt with one (or more) bells covering [Glossary: covering].

It is quite common to have the Tenor covering an odd number of bells. I started ringing at Harvington, a tower with 6 bells and we mostly ring Plain Hunt on 5 with the Tenor covering. I also ring at Norton, a tower with 8 bells and we mostly ring Plain Hunt on 7 with the Tenor. As a variation we have also rung Plain Hunt on 5 with three bells covering.

Ringing on an even number of bells when all are Plain Hunting and there is no covering bell is a trickier transition than you might think. My first experience of this was ringing Plain Hunt on 6 at Harvington.

So what is it that makes it trickier than I had expected. The first, and immediately obvious, difference is that when leading you cannot follow the Tenor. When I first tried I found it most disconcerting and continued to find it disturbing for a long time. The metronome quality of the Tenor had become a safe haven. Whenever I felt I might be losing my way I would end up back at the lead and re-establish my rhythm leading off the Tenor.

The second difference is more subtle, it is the fact that when ringing your two blows at the back you will ring them on backstroke followed by handstroke.

The Essence

Plain Hunt is really all about two adjacent bells switching position, if bell A is followed by bell B, on the next stroke bell B will be followed by bell A. If you take a look at the start of what happens at the beginning of Plain Hunt on 6 we have:

1 2 3 4 5 6
The pairs of bells in positions: 1 & 2; 3 & 4; 5 & 6; swap places.
2 1 4 3 6 5
The pairs of bells in positions: 2 & 3; 4 & 5; swap places.
2 4 1 6 3 5
The pairs of bells in positions: 1 & 2; 3 & 4; 5 & 6; swap places.
4 2 6 1 5 3
The pairs of bells in positions: 2 & 3; 4 & 5; swap places.
4 6 2 5 1 3

If the same pair of bells swapped each time then it would simply oscillate between two states. To achieve the rippling effect the a bell in a particular position alternates between swapping with the bell before it and the bell after it. Bells at the start and the end only swap on alternate blows.

Plain Hunt variants

Plain Hunt on 5
Plain Hunt on 6

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