RELIGIOUS HOUSES It may be mentioned that the sacrist had six regular assistants under him for the charge of the great church and keeping it clean, namely, the sub-sacrist, the master of the high altar, and four servants. The first two of these were always monks ; the last four were probably originally lay brothers and so continued for some time, but later they were paid servants, receiving a wage of nearly £z each, in addition to a certain amount of board. Though somewhat fewer in number and a good deal shorter than those of the sacrist, the rolls of the precentor come next in general interest as affecting the story of the church. The earliest is for the year 1283, the next is for 1314. There are twenty-seven more of the fourteenth century, upwards of fifty of the next century, and seven of the sixteenth. A most interesting item of the precentor's receipts, which begins to occur on the rolls towards the end of the fourteenth century, is that for sealing. In 1385 the using the common seal brought in 36;. 8^.; in 1395, i8f. i^d. ; in 1407, 56/. Zd. ; in 1427, qqs. ; in 1437, 6i. 8^. ; and in 147 1 the seal 'ad causas ' 20a'., and the common seal 3^. Zd. The charges for sealing were paid to the pre- centor by the parties in whose favour the seal was used. The roll of 1477 shows to what documents the common seal was appended for that year, the charge on each occasion being 6j. 8(3'., viz. the presentations to the three vicarages of Catton, Bamburgh, and Hindringham, the con- firmation of the priors of Birsett and ' Kyrle,' and a document relative to King's College, Cambridge. It was the precentor's duty to see that due care was taken of the actual seals; in 1386 mending the matrix of the common seal cost is. ; in 1425 silk cases were made for the seals at a charge of td. Special wax was bought by the precentor for making the seals, such as 4 lb. in 1354 at 2J. Occasionally red lead was bought for mixing with the wax, at other times it was bought ready prepared as red wax. Again, green wax was sometimes bought, but oftener verdigris for mixing in the wax to produce the green. This green wax was used for spreading over the tabulae or tables suspended in the church or cloister whereon were inscribed the names of the different brethren on the rota of the masses, or other instructions as to the services. Thus in 1447 wax 'vertegrees' was bought ' pro tabula ' at 4^., and the same in 1457 for the great tables at %d. The precentor was similarly responsible for the supply of ink for the convent ; at one time he bought galls, gum, and vitriol for its manufacture ; at another prepared ink, as in 131 5, when it cost 6j. dd. One of his chief duties, abundantly illustrated in these rolls, was the care of the quire and ser- vice books, as well as the books of the general library. The entries are almost continuous for general binding and repair and the purchase of chains with staples and locks, and so forth. But the chief duty of the precentor was to regulate the singing and music of the quire. There are many entries of small sums for the recreation or refreshment of chanters or choristers at the three great feasts of Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. The boys of the Blessed Mary had breakfasts given them on various occasions, and at other times small gifts of money. Now and again a special singer was hired ; thus, in 148 1, 2j. was given to William Glover at Christmas for singing in the quire and at the Lady Mass. There are many references to both great organs and quire organs and their repair. The usual annual fee to a servant for organ-blowing was zd. (once C)d. and latterly i6(^.), but his services were only required at the three great festivals, at other times one of the monks or lay brothers must have officiated in that capacity. In 1381, at some special function, both great and small organs were placed in the Lady Chapel at an expense of 20j., and at the same time 3;. d. was paid to two organ-blowers for five days. Payment was also made to one of the brethren in 1530 for making the bellows of the organs with six calf-skins. In 1383, when Richard II and his queen visited Norwich, a gratuity of shoes, costing 8j., was given to those who cleaned the quire against their coming. No doubt there was extra music, as the precentor took Zs. bd. out of his own fund for his labour in the quire. There was a contribution of 40J. from the precentor's fund towards the entertaining of royalty. The earliest infirmarer's roll is that of 1313 ; the next is for 1345, and then consecutively to 1350, and there is also one for 1394 ; there are twenty-one to 1530, and there is also one for 1394 ; there are twenty-one rolls of the fifteenth century and five of the sixteenth. The receipts for 1313 were j/^37 14J. 2d., and the expenses ^27 14^ 4^. The receipts during that century kept up well, on two occasions reaching j^43 ; and the expenses were always less than the receipts. The infirmary had its own garden, the use of which seems to have been chiefly confined to the growing of herbs and medicinal plants, such as rhubarb, peonies (the roots, flowers, and seeds were all used in the mediaeval pharmacy), fennel, and squills. Seeds for the garden are often entered among the expenses, without specifying the kinds bought ; but on one occasion they were the seeds of the white (opium) poppy. In 1400, lod. was paid for ' weding ' in the garden and for ' wedingyrnis.' In 1461, 2od. was paid for planting saffron (croci). Fruit was also grown in the infirmary garden, probably apples and pears, which would as a rule be used by the inmates; but one year (1496) there must have been a surplus of fruit, for $s. 8^d. is entered among the receipts for fruit growing in the 323
