It is necessary that we should add here some reference to schools for choristers. It is obvious that for the adequate rendering of divine service, the use of boys’ voices would be imperative, and consequently the need of providing instruction for them and of maintaining them would arise. The general rule was that the choir boys would be taught Latin by the master of grammar attached to the cathedral, and similarly music would be taught by the master of song.
The duty of the cathedral master of grammar in relation to the choristers is evidenced by various disputes which occurred. Thus at Beverley in 1312, the master of grammar refused to teach, without the payment of fees, more than seven choristers. The dean and chapter enquired into the “ancient customs” and reported that the grammar master was obliged to teach all the choristers freely.[263]
Again, at St. Paul’s, a similar dispute took place in the fourteenth century. Here, also, the dean and chapter investigated the matter, but their decision—though supporting the contention that the choristers were taught by the cathedral master of grammar—was that a certain payment was to be made to him for these services from the cathedral funds. The entry in the almoner’s register runs:—
“If the almoner does not keep a clerk to teach the choristers grammar, the schoolmaster of St. Paul’s claims 5/- a year for teaching them, though he ought to demand nothing for them, because he keeps the school for them, as the treasurer of St. Paul’s once alleged before the dean and chapter is to be found in ancient documents.”[264]
In addition to providing instruction, it was also necessary that the choristers should be lodged, clothed, and fed. Various devices to effect this seem to have been tried at various times. In some cathedrals, an arrangement was made with an individual to provide the necessary accommodation at an arranged charge;[265] in others, the duty of attending to the welfare of the choristers was assigned to the almoner.[266] Gradually it came about in some cathedrals, e.g. Wells, that the choristers were housed together. In 1459-60, Bishop Beckington of Wells drew up an elaborate code of statutes for the control and government of the Choristers’ School.[267] These statutes provided, inter alia, that the master of the choristers, who was to be learned in grammar and song, was to be appointed by the Chancellor. Latin was to be spoken in the house. Full details with regard to meals, discipline, and finance were also given.
At the present day, the headmaster of a school is not only responsible for teaching certain specified subjects but is also in general charge of the organisation, discipline and administration of the school. It is interesting to note that during the Middle Ages, the masters of grammar or of song taught the subjects entrusted to them and had no further duties. The idea of the organisation and disciplinary functions of the master seems to have been evolved from the necessity for exercising control over the choristers, but this duty was at first assigned to an officer distinct from the one who was exercising the teaching function. It was the custom at York, according to the Statutes of the Cathedral, which are dated 1307 but merely codified the customs which had prevailed since the eleventh century, to entrust the government of the choristers to the precentor.[268] The office of taking charge of the choristers developed more completely at other cathedrals. Thus at Lincoln in 1352, Ralph of Ergham was appointed “custos choristatum.” The preface to the record of the appointment shows that the function was that of a “canonicum supervisorem et custodem communitatis choristarum.”[269]
This custom of appointing a supervisor, as distinct from the schoolmaster, prevailed at the schools, other than schools for choristers, which were founded from time to time. Thus at Winchester, Eton, Acaster, and Rotherham—to name a few instances only—the responsible head of the institution was the provost, while the master of grammar was merely required to give instruction in the subjects assigned to him. The evolution of the schoolmaster as the superintending organiser and controller of an establishment belongs to a later date in English educational history. We must defer, for the present, a further consideration of this topic.