[r-t] [r-c] Definition of a peal (was Not A Block)

[Richard Smith]

Mark Davies wrote:

> Set changes are a very ancient form of jump changes. They are rung as 
> follows. The band starts off ringing rounds. After a while the conductor 
> calls out the name of a row he would like the band to ring - for example, 
> Queens. At the next handstroke everyone tries to jump to that row as cleanly 
> as possible.

What is the evidence that this is an "ancient" form of 
ringing?  That's a genuine question.  I wonder whether such 
"set changes" might have been practiced in Elizabethean 
times.  To modern eyes, it seems a natural precursor to 
change ringing as we believe it to have developed in the 
Jacobean era.  But despite doing considerable research I've 
yet to find any evidence.

RAS