Lincoln Surprise Minor

About Lincoln Surprise Minor

Lincoln Surprise has the maximum amount of backward plain hunting above the treble and shares a straight-forward frontwork with Westminster Surprise.

Each 3-4 and 5-6 section has place notation X12X, and both 4-5 cross-sections and the half lead are place notation 36.

Method Structure.

Place Notation:
36 X 36. 14 X 12 X 36 X 12 X 36, 12, Bob 14, Single 1234.

Grid:

Diagram: Lincoln Surprise Minor, plain lead, change-rows and grid.

Plain Course structure
The 1-2 section with backward hunting in 3-4-5-6 places needs close attention to get the backward thirds places crisp.

The pivot bell is 3rds place bell, and the parted pair, 2nds and 5ths place bells work together in 1-2 for the whole lead. The half-lead coursing pair (4ths and 6ths place bells) cross over in 4-5.

Learning Lincoln Surprise Minor.

The Structure

The structure is incorporated in the description above.

The Rules

Lincoln Surprise Minor - the rule
Ring London S. over Westminster S.

Double Blue Lines

Lincoln Surprise Minor, 1-2

Diagram: Lincoln Surprise Minor, 1-2.

Lincoln Surprise Minor, 3-4

Diagram: Lincoln Surprise Minor, 3-4.

Lincoln Surprise Minor, 5-6

Diagram: Lincoln Surprise Minor, 5-6.

Artefacts

See London S Minor for notes on ringing London above the treble.

Place Notation and Grid

Unless you are ringing by the rules (see above), both grid and place notation are relevant to learning and ringing Lincoln Surprise Minor.

Pictels

The method is too complex to chop into elements.

Ringing Lincoln Surprise Minor.

Track the treble

Awareness of the position of the treble is a key skill for most bellringing methods, and a significant help in ringing Lincoln Surprise Minor. Some hints and tips for developing the skill are given in the techniques section.

Positional Awareness

• The only way for a working bell to enter 1-2 is by passing the treble 3-2 at the 2-3 cross-section.
• The only way for a working bell to leave 1-2 is by passing the treble 2-3.
• Apart from the 1-2 section, the work in 3-4-5-6 is treble bob hunting.
• 3-4 dodge together 7 times in the plain course
• 5-6 never dodge together in the plain course

Place Notation Elements

The method only contains 4 elements (36X36, 14, 12, 36), the backward hunting blocks above the treble might be new territory.

Place Bells, Pivot Leads, and Staging posts

• Pivot bell is 3rds place bell (NB Fishtails).
• Pivot for 3-4 pair is the 2-5 lead which includes the long frontwork, a classic staging post (handrail).
• Pivot for 5-6 pair is the cross-over in 4-5

Awareness of other bells

Lincoln Surprise Minor demands total concentration on the method structure, awareness of the work of the other bells comes automatically.

Coursing Order in Lincoln Surprise Minor

Lincoln is unhelpful re coursing order.

If you are working towards performances of Lincoln S, the following notes should be useful.

• Pivot bell is 3rds place bell, using the coursing order circle for Minor:
• The parted pair work together in 1-2
• The coursing pair make 3rds under the treble, either side of the pivot bell, but in reverse order
• The coursing pair cross over in 4-5 at the half lead

Ringing the Method

This is a classical bellringing method repaying the time spent in study and practice.

The difficulties in Lincoln Surprise stem from:

• Backward hunting above the treble and in particular at the lead end. There is no comforting dodge to mark the place bells.
• Potential confusion between 2nds place bell and 5ths place bell as they "strip the willow" in 1-2.

It seems that ringing purely by the grid structure (or place notation) is too mentally demanding to be sustainable and a more comprehensive visual approach is needed. Our suggestion is to use both grid structure and double blue lines for the 1-2 section, plus Westminster rules for the 3-4, and 5-6 sections and half lead.

The Rules

Lincoln Surprise Minor:
When treble dodges in 1-2 ring backward hunting in 3-4-5-6 places.
When treble dodges above 1-2, lead and 2nds places are made.
When treble hunts above 1-2, and at the half lead, 3rds and 6ths places are made.

Bobs and Singles.

Bobs
Running in and out at the bob is more intuitive than making the 4ths and turning round to hunt out to the back.

Singles
All the bells make places and reflect back down the blue line.

Touches of Lincoln Surprise Minor.

3rds place bell is the pivot bell, and hence the first lead end is 156342 giving calling positions from the tenor as:
4ths, In, Wrong, Before, Home.

Complib has over 80 compositions for Lincoln.