Beating the system
Has the introduction of smartphones changed the face of beating — or at least the sound of it? Traditionally, there are five sounds emanating from the beating line: the hazel stick tap, a flag’s crack, the “aye, aye, aye, aye”, the keeper’s “keep the bloody line straight” and the difficult-to-master old Trimble ringtone, which involves a lot of lip vibration.
Why the Trimble tone was thus immortalised into game shooting’s hallowed conventions is unclear, but will it survive now everyone has an smartphone announcing incoming calls with anything from I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside to one of Led Zeppelin’s more raucous hits?
I was discussing these niceties with a friend who’s
