CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL
The fact may not have escaped notice that Domina Alicia Seynt Johan de
Baggenet "took the vow of widowhood in the chapel of the Lord of
Amberley." Possession of a private chapel was, as it still is, a mark of
social distinction. "It was once the constitution of the English," runs
a law of King Athelstan, "that the people and their legal condition went
according to their merits; and then were the councillors of the nation
honoured each one according to his quality, the earl and the ceorl, the
thane and the underthane. If a ceorl throve so as to have five hides
booked to him, a church, bell-tower, a seat in the borough, and an
office in the King's court, from that time forward he was esteemed equal
in honour to a thane." Again, the laws of King Edgar relating to tithe
ordain "that God's church be entitled to every right, and that every
tithe be rendered to the old minster to which the district belongs, and
be then so paid, both from the thane's inland and from geneat land, as
the plough traverses it. But if there be any thane who on his boc-land
has a church at which there is a burial-place, let him give the third
part of his own tithe to his church. If anyone hath a church at which
there is not a burial-place, then of the same nine parts let him then
give to his priest what he will."
Domestic chapels were extremely common all through the Middle Ages. In
the parish of Tiverton, Devon, there were at least seventeen, some of
them within less than a mile of each other. Allusions to these oratories
are found in the registers of the Bishops of Exeter, by whom they were
severally licensed for the convenience of the owner, his family, and his
tenants. As a rule, they were in rooms of the house or castle, not
separate buildings. Andrew Boorde, in his directions for the
construction of a sixteenth-century mansion, remarks: "Let the privy
chamber be annexed to the great chamber of estate, with other chambers
necessary for the building, _so that many of the chambers may have a
prospect into the chapel_."
Great nobles of the post-Conquest period were not content with the
services of a priest only. They maintained an establishment of singing
men and boys analogous to the vicars-choral and choristers of the
present time, who were described as "the gentlemen and children of the
chapel." From the household books of the Earl of Northumberland
(A.D. 1510-11) we learn that he had "daily abidynge in his
household--Gentillmen of the Chapel, ix; viz., the maistre of the
Childre, j; Tenors, ij; Counter-tenors, iiij; the Pistoler, j; and oone
for the Orgayns; Childer of the Chapell, vj."
Particulars are recorded of the daily allowances of bread, beer, and
fish during Lent. On Scambling Days it was usual not to provide regular
meals, each having to scramble or shift for himself, but things were
otherwise ordered in the mansion of the Percy, where the service of meat
and drink "upon Scambling Days in Lent yerely" was properly seen to. Not
only are we furnished with the "Ordre of all suche Braikfasts that shall
be lowable daily in my Lordes hous thorowte the yere as well on Flesche
days as Fysch days in Lent, and out of Lent," but accounts are supplied
of the liveries of wine, white wine, and wax, and also of wood and coal,
of which the Master and the Children of the Chapel were entitled to one
peck _per diem_. The cost of the washing of surplices, etc., was not to
exceed a stated sum. "Then shal be paid for the Holl weshing of all
manner of Lynnon belonging to the Lordes Chappell for a Holl yere but
xvij_s._ iiij_d._ And to be weshed for every Penny iij Surplesses or iij
Albes. And the said Surplesses to be weshed in the yere xvj tymes
against these Feasts following," &c.
The salaries of the choir were paid at definite intervals, and formed a
charge on his lordship's property in Yorkshire. The scale of
remuneration was as follows:
"Gentillmen of the Chappell x (as to saye, Two at x marks a pece, iij at
iiij_l._ a pece, Two at v marks a pece, Oon at iiij marks, Oon at xx_s._,
and Oon at xx_s._; viz., ij Bassis, ij Tenors and vj Counter-tenors).
Childeryn of the Chappell vj, after xxv_s._ a pece. And so the whole somme
for full contentacion of the said Chappell wagies for oone hole yere
ys--xxxv_l._ xv_s._"
The gentlemen slept two in a bed, as seems to have been the custom for
priests also; the children, three in a bed. ("There shall be for vj
Prests iij Beddes after ij to a Bedde; for x Gentillmen of the Chapell v
Beddes, after ij to a Bedde; for vj Children ij Beddes after iij to a
Bedde.")
Not only noblemen, but the Princes of the Church had their private
chapels, for which the services of children were retained. George
Cavendish, in his "Life of Wolsey," gives a glowing account of the
Cardinal's palatial appointments, in the course of which he observes:
"Now I will declare unto you the officers of his chapel and singing men
of the same. First he had there a dean, a great divine, and a man of
excellent learning; and a sub-dean, a repeater of the choir, a gospeller
and epistler of the singing-priests, and a master of the children
[therefore, of course, children]; in the vestry a yeoman and two grooms,
besides other retainers that came thither at principal feasts.... And as
for the furniture of the chapel it passeth my weak capacity to declare
the number of the costly ornaments and rich jewels that were occupied
in the same, for I have seen in procession about the hall forty-four
rich copes of one settle worn, besides the candlesticks and other
necessary ornaments to the furniture of the same." Such were the
sumptuous surroundings in which "children of the chapel" were wont
sometimes to perform their office.
An element of distinction enjoyed by peer and prelate was not likely to
be absent from the first estate of the realm; and, in point of fact, the
phrase "children of the chapel," so far as it is known, is more commonly
associated with the King's court than any of the castles or episcopal
palaces of the land. Certain of the King's "Gentlemen of the Chapel"
seem to have received payment in money, including extraordinary fees,
and provided for themselves, whilst others had board and lodging. The
following table, though less complete than the Northumberland accounts,
throws light on the rate of requital:
_£ s. d._
Master of the children, for his wages
and board wages 30 0 0
Gospeller, for wages, 13 6 8
Epistoler, " " 13 6 8
Verger, " " 20 0 0
Yeomen of the Vestry {10 0 0
{10 0 0
Children of the Chapel, ten 56 13 4
Another ordinance states that "The Gentlemen of the Chapell, Gospeller,
Episteller, and Sergeant of the Vestry shall have from the last day of
March forward for their board wages, everie of them, 10_d._ per diem;
and the Yeomen and Groomes of the Vestry, everie of them, 2_s._ by the
weeke." When not on board wages, they had "Bouche of Court," like the
physicians. "Bouche of Court" signified the daily livery or allowance of
food, drink, and fuel, and this, in the case of the Master of the
Children, exceeded that of the surgeons to the value of about £1 1_s._
per annum. Thus it will be seen that the style "Gentlemen," as applied
to the grown-up members of the choir, was not merely complimentary, but
indicative of their actual status.
Meals were served at regular hours. "It is ordeyned that the household,
when the hall is kept, shall observe certyne times for dinner and souper
as followeth: that is to say, the first dynner in eating dayes to begin
at tenn of the clock, or somewhat before; and the first souper at foure
of the clock on worke dayes."
The duties of the choir also are plainly laid down: "Forasmuch as it is
goodly and honourable that there should be alwayes some divine service
in the court ... when his grace keepeth court and specially in riding
journeys: it is ordeyned that the master of the children and six men ...
shall give their continual attendance in the King's court, and dayly in
the absence of the residue of the chappell, to have a masse of our Lady
before noone, and on Sundayes and holy dayes masse of the day besides
our Lady masse, and an anthem in the afternoone."
It was part of the business of the Master of the Children to instruct
his young charges in "grammar, songes, organes, and other vertuous
things"; and, on the whole, the lot of the choristers might have been
deemed enviable. It is evident, however, that it was not always regarded
in that light, for a custom existed of impressing children. This
practice was authorized by a precept of Henry VI. in 1454, and one of
its victims was Thomas Tusser, afterwards author of "Five Hundred Points
of Good Husbandry," who thus alludes to the matter:
There for my voice I must (no choice)
Away of force, like posting horse;
For sundry men had placards then
Such child to take.
Moreover, it has been shrewdly suspected that the whipping-boy, who
vicariously atoned for the sins of a prince of the blood--in other
words, was thrashed, when he did wrong--was picked from the Children of
the Chapel. Certainly Charles I. had such a whipping-boy named Murray;
and judging from this instance the expedient was not commended by its
results.
Members of the choir were expected to be persons of exemplary life and
conversation, to ensure which state of things there was a weekly
visitation by the Dean. Every Friday he sought out and avoided from
office "all rascals and hangers upon thys courte." The tone of
discipline, to conclude from the poems of Hugh Rhodes, was undoubtedly
high; and, whatever difficulties he may have encountered in training the
boys to his own high standards, his "Book of Nurture" must always
possess considerable value as a reflex of the moral and social ideals of
a Master of the Children in the sixteenth century.
Rhodes's successor in the days of Elizabeth was Richard Edwards, a man
of literary taste and the compiler of a "Paradise of Dainty Devices."
The Master had now a salary of forty pounds a year; the Gentlemen
nineteen pence a day, in addition to board and clothing; and the
Children received largesse at high feasts and on occasions when their
services were used for purposes apart from their ordinary duties. In
this way the Chapel Royal is closely connected with the rise of the
English drama. Edwards wrote light pieces for the children to act before
Her Majesty, and, encouraged by success, fell to composing set comedies,
which were also performed by the boys, under his instructions, in the
presence of the Court.
We have limited our retrospect mainly to the Tudor period. As an
extension of the subject would call for more space than we have at our
disposal, those who desire more information concerning the "Children of
the Chapel" will do well to consult a recent work entitled "The King's
Musick" (edited by H. C. de Lafontaine: Novello & Co.), which carries on
the record into the age of the Stuarts. Entries cited in this excellent
compilation relate to eminent English composers. In December, 1673, for
example, there was a "warrant to pay Henry Purcell, late one of the
children of his Majesty's Chappell Royall, whose voyce is changed and
gone from the Chappell, the sum of £30 by the year, to commence
Michaelmas, 1673." This was in consequence of the sensible custom of
retaining as supernumeraries boys who had given evidence of musical
ability. Such is certainly true of Purcell, who, at the early age of
eleven, had shown promise of his future career by an ode called "The
Address of the Children of the Chapel Royal to the King and their
Master, Captain Cooke, on His Majestie's Birthday, A.D. 1670, composed
by Master Purcell, one of the Children of the said Chapel."
ECCLESIASTICAL