Plain Hunt on 5

This is the first kind of Plain Hunt that I learnt. The basic terminology as relates to Plain Hunt is described elsewhere.

Plain Hunt on 5 with 6 bells

To be precise I actually started by learning to Plain Hunt with 6 bells. Only later did I discover that only the first 5 bells were plain hunting and the Tenor was covering [Glossary: covering]. Since I started learning this way then that is how I will start the description.

The example below shows where each bell rings in one cycle of Plain Hunt on 5 with 6 bells. I started learning "plain hunt on 5" on bell number 5. This turned out to be quite straightforward since the progression is symmetrical. As the table shows, bell 5 starts in its "usual" position, i.e. 5th. It then moves earlier in the cycle by one bell each time until it is the first bell. at this point bell 5 is "leading" which involves two strokes, a hand-stroke and a backstroke, it then slows down and moves later in the cycle until it is back in its "usual" position. That's it!

All the bells except the 6th (the tenor) follow a similar cycle. The cycle is complete when you have occupied each of the 10 possible positions, i.e. 1 to 5 hunting up and down. [h indicates handstroke, b indicates backstroke]

1 2 3 4 5 6 b a pointer to this row Rounds
2 1 4 3 5 6 h  
2 4 1 5 3 6 b  
4 2 5 1 3 6 h  
4 5 2 3 1 6 b  
5 4 3 2 1 6 h  
5 3 4 1 2 6 b  
3 5 1 4 2 6 h  
3 1 5 2 4 6 b  
1 3 2 5 4 6 h  
1 2 3 4 5 6 b a pointer to this row Rounds

To show the work of a particular bell choose from the following:

What has to be achieved is clear enough, but how? If you have learned how to do call changes then you know how to move to follow another bell. The "easiest" way to learn plain hunt is to learn which bell to you will follow on each stroke and then change as necessary. Continuing with bell #5 as the example you would proceed as follows:

 3 1 2 4 lead lead 3 1 2 4

This is quite easy to learn though when first trying it is tricker than the changes made when doing call changes since a change is required on every stroke not just hand-strokes. In other words, things happen twice as quickly!

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, learning these sequences by rote is not very extensible. When I started to learn Plain Bob Doubles I realised that when having to memorise 40 cycles rather than 10 my memory is not up to it.

The more versatile approach is to learn to know your position in the cycle. This is trickier and involves "rope-sight" which I am trying to get the hang of. It is also a little more resilient since if someone that you are meant to follow goes wrong you know where you are meant to be.

If you use the counting places approach your places would be (this time it is position not which bell is to be followed):

 5 4 3 2 1(lead) 1(lead) 2 3 4 5

Plain Hunt on 5 with something other than 6 bells

After becoming comfortable with "Plain Hunt on 5" I was introduced to the notion that the method could be rung with something other than 6 bells. The number 5 in "Plain Hunt on 5" really states that 5 bells are doing some work, i.e. not just ringing in the same place as the tenor does in the earlier example of "Plain Hunt on 5" with 6 bells.

"Plain Hunt on 5" can be rung on 5 bells. In this case the sequence is the same as described earlier but without the tenor. The only difference is when leading as there is no tenor to lead off.

"Plain Hunt on 5" can be rung on more than 6 bells. For example, I have rung "Plain Hunt on 5" in towers with 8 bells. Once again the sequence for bells #1 to #5 is the same as described earlier but this time there are three bells, #6; #7; #8, that ring rather than just a sixth bell. The tenor is always the last bell so when it comes time for one of the "working" bells to lead they follow the tenor as usual but in this situation the tenor is bell #8.

Plain Hunt on 5 with 5 bells

1 2 3 4 5 a pointer to this row
2 1 4 3 5  
2 4 1 5 3  
4 2 5 1 3  
4 5 2 3 1  
5 4 3 2 1  
5 3 4 1 2  
3 5 1 4 2  
3 1 5 2 4  
1 3 2 5 4  
1 2 3 4 5 a pointer to this row

To show the work of a particular bell choose from the following:

Plain Hunt on 5 with 8 bells

1 2 3 4 5 678 a pointer to this row
2 1 4 3 5 678  
2 4 1 5 3 678  
4 2 5 1 3 678  
4 5 2 3 1 678  
5 4 3 2 1 678  
5 3 4 1 2 678  
3 5 1 4 2 678  
3 1 5 2 4 678  
1 3 2 5 4 678  
1 2 3 4 5 678 a pointer to this row

 

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