The Washington Post Jan. 12, 1975 p. 227

The Toil of the Toll

Any number of bells from four to twelve, as we have noted, may be rung in changes in the various available methods. The number of possible changes is determined by the factorial of the number of “working” bells—those that shift position in a ringing sequence during the changes—as opposed to the “nonworking” if loudly heard tenor (deepest, 3,588-pound) bell, which, in the method Stedman Caters, is always the last of the bells to ring in each change. Eight is the normal number of working bells used on those rare occasions when the Cathedral band or a visiting band, usually English, attempts a full peal—the changes necessary to achieve every possible permutation among the working bells. The 5,040 changes require 3 hours, 25 minutes to complete. To ring every possible change on 10 bells would require 75 hours, a complete peal on 12 bells, 40 years.

Many a Christmas tree has before it four little figurines carrying signs with a single letter on each, the four of them together spelling out N-O-E-L. Most people seeing these figurines are tempted to rearrange them to spell L-E-O-N or E-L-N-O or whatever. Using one method of change-ringing (Bob Minimus) one discovers the following complete set of permutations for four bells: