Minor Canons, Clerical and Lay.
1
Master of the Choristers.
10
Choristers, &c. &c.
The choristers are to be appointed by the dean (or, in his absence, the sub-dean and chapter); they are to be ‘of tender age, with clear voices and musical talent.’
‘To instruct these boys,’ says the statute, ‘and especially to train them in decorum of manners, and to teach them the art of singing, and to play skilfully upon musical instruments, one clerk shall be chosen, of good conduct and character, and a proficient in music, who shall carefully employ his time in the performance of divine service, and in playing upon the organ, and who shall also be occupied in the care and education of the choristers.
‘And because it may happen that one of the minor-canons or clerks may be better qualified than the organist to instruct the choristers, the dean, &c. shall have the power to elect either the organist or such of the minor clerks as may appear most worthy to perform this duty; which if he neglect, let him, after a third admonition, be deposed from his office, by the authority of those by whom he was elected.’
It also appears that the children of the Chapel Royal, when their voices had changed, were frequently sent to the Grammar School belonging to the cathedral to complete their education; for Laud had been dean of the King’s Chapel, and as such had the superintendence of the choristers belonging to the royal household, and retained an interest in their welfare when no longer officially connected with them. The statute runs thus:—
‘And so often as the dean of our Chapel Royal shall signify to the Dean and Chapter of our church of Canterbury that he will send from our chapel a chorister, who has served there till the breaking of his voice, to study grammar in our church, we will that the Dean and Chapter elect and admit, without fraud or collusion [the king or the archbishop could have had no very favourable opinion of the integrity of the dignitaries of his church], the chorister so nominated.’