Grandsire by J. Armiger Trollope File 01: Preface, Introduction, Pricking Changes, Grandsire Doubles, Grandsire Triples – Pages 1 to 82 This document is provided for you by The Whiting Society of Ringers visit www.whitingsociety.org.uk for the full range of publications and articles about bells and change ringing THE JASPER S~OWDON CHANGE-RINGING SERlE.S GRANDS IRE J. ARMIGER TROLLOP£ C'opyrighL l!JI~ by .\Lis>< _\[.,uc";,\l1.J·~r E ..~:--:!.•Wt>0N J,LCD:< \V JIJTr.H l·:A !l ,\: .\I! LL En, I ;rr >. HJ48 By the wune w1lho1· 'l'HE CoUEm YouTHS (1937) STEDMAN ( 1938) STANDARD :?\!ETHODS (1940) CONTENTS PREFACE 5 INTRODUCTION 8 PRICKING CHANGES 9 GRANDSIRE DouBLES 14 GRANDSUI.E TRIPLES: (i) Tim ME.'THOD 20 (ii) CONDUCTING 23 (iii) TOUCHES .. 27 (iv) CALUNG TI!Jo Br-:u.s RouND 42 (v) PEALS 48 (vi) HOLT's 0RICINAL 60 (vii) COMPOSITION 62 (viii) PROOF 76 GRAl'DSlftE C.-\TEHS : (i) THE METHOD 8~ (ii) DEVELOPMEl':T OF COMPOSITION 87 (iii) AIUtANGEME:-:T OF THE LARGER BELL'; 91 (iv) PRooF 95 (v) TOUCHES AND l'EAl.S 100 GRAXOSIRE C!KQUF:s 114 HISTORY OF THE i\iETJIOD 117 BIBLIOGRAPHY .. 130 PUBLISHER'S PREFACE T is, I know, with a joyous heart that the Exercise welcomes this new G-rand.<dre, the I \Vork of our friend and leader, Mr. Armiger Trollope. The Authue knew of my very sincere personal gratitude. The completion of the work, however, is due to the kindness of Mr. Ernest Tmner and }[r. Wilfrid 'vVilson, who not onJy read the manusct·ipt carefully, putting in the finaJ touches, bnt also conectt>d the proof. MARGT. E. 8:-:0WDO?:\:. ('artmel, 1948. PREFACE HB .Jasper Snowdon Change-Ringing Series of text-books T have been the standard works on their particular subjects since they were fust published during the closing years of the last centmy. In the preface to Stedman, by .J. Armiger Trollope, were briefly reviewed the achievements of .Jasper Snowdon in commencing the series and of 'William Snowdon in carrying on the work after the death of his bt·other. vVhen, after the lapse of half a century, some books of the series had become out of print and also, to a certain inevitable extent, out of date, a worthy successor was found to carry on the work. Stedman, originally published in l90G, was re-written by J. Armiger Trollope and published in 1938. 81-andard Methods was revised and 1·e-written in 191.0. The first edition of Grandsirc was in manuscript when its author, Jasper Snowdon, died in 1885. The book wa.s, however, published in 1888 by William Snowdon, with t.he help of the Rev. C. D. P. Davies. In 1905 the second edition appeared and with it were incorporated the Thompson papers and diagrams on the Grandsire method. At the request of Miss Margaret E. Snowdon, ?llr. Trollope undertook the work of re-writing Grandsire and preparing it for· a thit·d edition. No one could have been better equipped for this purpose. I [e had, as mentioned, successfully revised two other books of the series, he had an uru·ivalled knowledge of the technical and also the historical sides of his subject, and above a.ll he had the p1·oved abilit.y to write about it in a readable and comprehensible manner. At the time of his death in August, 1947, his manuscript was almost completed, the scope and fm·mat of the book were fixed and there remained to be done only a few chapters, this preface, <tnd the preparation of the work for the printer. We had been privileged to help )h. Trollope in some small amount with the preparation of his other published works and it was, therefore, our bounden duty, as well as a proud privilege, to ensm·e so fat· as we could that his work on this book was not lost to the Exercise, but should be continued ready for publica­ tion. A notable feature of the second edition of Grandsire was the inclusion therein of the Thompson papers mentioned above. A great deal has been learned and published about composition since the appearance in 1886 of Mr. W. H. Thompson's Note on Crrandsire Triples, and while the importance of this pamphlet must not be underestimated, yet we consider that to-day the limited appeal of these papers and the great expense which would be involved by the printing of the complicated diagrams, etc., do not justify their inclusion in the present work. The keen student will readily find access to a copy of the 1905 edit.ion. The chapter on the history of the method will be found to contain many facts not included in t.he earlier editions. These have become known as·a result of the many years of painstaking historical research by Mr. Trollope and are taken from his many manuscripts dealing with the subject. Many of the peals mentioned were quoted in full detail in the earlier editions from the peal books or boards concerned. These fuller details have now been omitted as they do not contribute greatly to the history of the development of the method and they can always be looked up if required. A comparison between this chaptet· on history and that in the 1905 edition will show slight variations in the dates of cntain peals in the eighteenth century. Often these wet"e due to the change from the .T u.lian to the Gregorian or reformed calendar. This new calendar, although introduced into Catholic countl"ies as early as 1582, was not adopted in England until 1752. At the same time 1st J anu.ary was adopted as the beginning of the legal year (instead of 25th March). It was customary for some time to give two dates for the period intet•vening between lst January and 25th March-that of the old and that of the new year, i.e. January 1752-3. An event occurring in the early part of the yea.r, under the new style, would, however, oft.en be noted as of the year before, under the old style. 6 It has been thought desirable in this edition to pay some attention to Grandsire Caters, which, except for a chapter on their history, were almost ignored in the earlier editions. .Y!r. Trollope had written the chapter to which we have given the title " Development of Composition " and he had been in communication with .Mr. Edgar C. Shepherd of Solihull, Birmingham, on the more technical aspects of Cater ringing. illr. Shepherd has been good enough to send us notes he had produced for Mr. Trollope on the notation and proof of Grandsire Caters and has been so generous as to give us complete liberty to use them as we pleased. We have accordingly tried to amalgamate the work we had from both sources. The chapters on the arrange­ ments of the larger bells and on the proof of Caters are, therefore, almost entirely the work of Mr. Shepherd and we hereby acknow­ ledge our great debt to him. In addition to this editorial work on Caters, we arc responsible for the cha.pters dealing with Holt's Original and with the proof of Grandsire Triples and for the writing of this preface. We are grateful to Miss Snowdon for allomng us to complete t.his work and we are proud to have done so in memory of the author and in the sure knowledge that it is exactly what he would have wished us to do for the use of the :Exercise, to which he gave so much. ERNEST C. 8. TURNER. \VILFRID G. WILSON. January, l 048. 7 Introduction " GRANDSlRE is the best and most ingenious Peal that ever was composed to be rang on five bells." So said Hichard Duckworth in the Tintinnalogia, and to-day, nearly three hundred years later, this statement remains fully and litera.lly accurate. It is equally t1·ue when we conside1· the great development in the art and science of change-ringing and the part played in them, then and now, by Grandsire Doubles, by its qirect tl'ansposition the "Standard" extent of Bob Minor, and by all that has come out of them. Ringers and r·inging owe perhaps as much to these things as to· almost all the rest of their art. Yet it is l'Cmarkable with how little regard and esteem the Exercise as a body holds the method to which it owes so much. F'or perhaps the majority it is no more than the earliest and most elementary stage in their training, to be got over as quickly as possible and to be forgotten among the 1·cst of the things whose brief utility has speedily passed. Grandsire Doubles is widel~· used by the men who act as teachers, but most of them are content if their pupils are ablB to hunt tho Treble indifferently and so can go on (as they suppose) to higher and better things. But the system (or want of system) of inst.J·uction gene rail~' used in the Hinging Exercise is thoroughly bad. Instead of the tea.cher trying at the beginning to make his pupil jw.,;t ca.pable of taking part in some simple method, hoping that time and pt·act,ice will eventually make up deficiencif,_., and remove defeets, he should concentrate fi·om the first on those things which are essential to the ringers' art. He should try not so much to teach his pupil Grandsire, ot· Plain Bob, or 'Treble Bob, as to make him an efficient and accomplished ringer·.