# The reign of King Charles III of the United Kingdom **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 8, 2022, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232 "2022-09-08T18:05:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 41
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/804 "2023-04-11T13:31:27Z")
Indeed. See _[The Nine Tailors](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nine_Tailors)_ for a good reason why ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/805 "2023-04-11T16:28:00Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Are human bellringers really still the norm for English churches? Because here in Germany, the bells have long been automated in almost every church. You wouldn’t find the people to regularly ring them anymore anyway. Hard to find enough hunchbacks these days. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/806 "2023-04-11T18:01:35Z")
I’ve seen snippets of bell ringers in various UK shows/ movies (particulary, one _Midsome Murders_ episode), and it all sounds to same to me. When I was a kid, I always assumed they played actual songs, but it mostly, to me, sounded like samey dribbles of notes. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/807 "2023-04-11T18:12:52Z")
English bell-ringers don’t play songs; they play intricate patterns of the bells. See _The Nine Taylors_ cited above for an excellent account. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/808 "2023-04-11T19:44:45Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > English bell-ringers don’t play songs; they play intricate patterns of the bells. I’m probably being whooshed, but aren’t those the same? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/809 "2023-04-11T20:12:49Z")
No, there’s no tune that you can hum. It’s more like a dance of the bells amongst themselves. Her’e one pattern, from the wikipedia article on [Change ringing:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Change_ringing) > **[File:Plain-bob-minor 2.png](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plain-bob-minor_2.png)** > **Change ringing** is the art of ringing a set of [tuned](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuning_(music)) [bells](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_(instrument)) in a tightly controlled manner to produce precise variations in their successive striking sequences, known as “changes”. This can be by [method ringing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_ringing) in which the ringers commit to memory the rules for generating each change, or by [call changes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_changes), where the ringers are instructed how to generate each change by instructions from a conductor. This creates a form of bell music which cannot be discerned as a conventional [melody](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melody), but is a series of mathematical sequences. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/810 "2023-04-11T20:49:05Z")
But they still sound essentially the same to me. I know they’re not what we usually call “songs,” but I struggle to hear the minute differences. Maybe if I cared enough to study it for years, my ears might be able to differentiate. But I don’t care enough, so it’ll just stay background noise for me. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/811 "2023-04-11T20:59:02Z")
Carillons play songs. That’s what @Spoons was mentioning. When you say that they sound the same to you: have you heard change-ringing in England? I don’t know how popular it is outside the UK. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/812 "2023-04-11T21:07:33Z")
Only in TV shows and movies, but all in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/813 "2023-04-11T21:07:40Z")
I just watched a very nice explanatory video that was set in the US National Cathedral in Washington. [Mathematical Impressions: Change Ringing - YouTube](https://youtu.be/3lyDCUKsWZs&t=5m34s) ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/814 "2023-04-11T21:11:05Z")
I was about to link that same video - and I have definitely heard change ringing in the US. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/815 "2023-04-11T21:11:36Z")
Thanks, @gnoitall. I guess not being a mathematician (at all!) is why it doesn’t speak to me. You need a math brain. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/816 "2023-04-11T21:47:36Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Hard to find enough hunchbacks these days. I can’t say I know the guy, but his face sure rings a bell. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/817 "2023-04-11T21:55:44Z")
Is his name [Claude Cooper](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgYbogp1Ha0)? ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/818 "2023-04-12T09:51:21Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > But they still sound essentially the same to me. I know they’re not what we usually call “songs,” but I struggle to hear the minute differences. Maybe if I cared enough to study it for years, my ears might be able to differentiate. But I don’t care enough, so it’ll just stay background noise for me. I find this surprising. Not that I don’t believe you of course, but carillons play very distinct melodies that you can recognise and sing. There’s one in Bruges that clearly plays an adaptation of **Bach** ’s famous _prelude in C Major_ and I was stunned to hear **Piazzolla** ’s _Libertango_ in the centre of Ghent back in 2020. The bell-ringing described above is more like a wall of blurry sounds without any discernable melodic line. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/819 "2023-04-12T13:31:41Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Maybe a hijack, but I was once in the carillon of Hart House, at the University of Toronto. > > It had a keyboard, much like a piano, but the “keys” weren’t like anything I have on my piano. Well, they kind of were, but they were wooden rods (oak for the white keys, ebony for the black keys), which the carilloneur would hit with his fists. It was fascinating, but I declined the chance to play. > > I’ve attended carillon concerts at Hart House. Their carilloneur is skilled, and it is wonderful music. > > [end hijack] This fellow makes the rounds of RenFairs and such. I’ve heard him many times and have a couple of his CDs. In the vid yo can see how he operates the machine. And it’s small enough you can see how the whole thing works. It’s permanently built on a small flatbed trailer. Sometimes he plays in parades which is here I first saw/heard him rolling down the street. Interesting chap to talk to too. **[Cast in Bronze - Carol of the Bells - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGR4Lj8cpYs)** ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/820 "2023-04-12T15:12:42Z")
> [@Moonrise](#): > > The bell-ringing described above is more like a wall of blurry sounds without any discernable melodic line. This is the kind of bellringing I was talking about. If they were playing an actual piece of music, eg. Bach, I’d recognize that for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/821 "2023-04-12T15:27:53Z")
OK, thanks. That’s the part that I found confusing, but I misunderstood you. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/822 "2023-04-12T17:18:18Z")
Change ringing to me seems similar to pibroch on the pipes. (The “great music”as opposed to hummable tunes.) A pibroch starts with a tune, or base, and then the Piper starts playing variations on the base, getting more and more complicated and definitely not hummable, before ending on the base to wrap it up. It’s magnificent, but not readily accessible the way “Amazing Grace” is. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232/823 "2023-04-12T17:48:52Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > … and then the Piper starts playing variations on the base, getting more and more complicated … Jazz bagpipes. Who knew? [aside] We have a piper who apparently lives nearby. On nice Saturdays (i.e. most of them) he can be seen & heard marching down our sidewalks serenading the other pedestrians, joggers, and outdoor eatery patrons. Sometimes he’s dressed in Scots regalia, and other times in basic Florida Outdoor Casual. When he came by last Saturday he was wearing a light green T-shirt, light green sneakers and a light green baseball cap. The cords and tassles that connect the three pipes (Google says “drone cords”) were a dark kelly green. The hide bag was dark brown. The color of his clothes largely matched @Northern_Piper’s avatar, which I thought was a nice homage to our good friend up north. Had his bag also been green the story would be even better. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232.md?page=40) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-of-the-united-kingdom/971232.md?page=42)