>quire 2 (kwr)
>n. & v. Archaic
>Variant of choir.
Quotation by Abraham Cowley
Even Lust the Master of a hardned Face,
Blushes if thou beest in the place,
To darkness' Curtains he retires,
In Sympathizing Night he rowls his smoaky Fires.
When, Goddess, thou liftst up thy wakened Head,
Out of the Mornings purple bed,
Thy
Quire of Birds about thee play,
And all the joyful world salutes the rising day.
Abraham Cowley (1618–1667), British poet. Hymn: To Light (l. 57–64). . .
Seventeenth-Century Verse and Prose, Vols. I–II. Vol. I: 1600–1660; Vol. II: 1660–1700. Helen C. White, Ruth C. Wallerstein, and Ricardo Quintana, eds. (1951, 1952) The Macmillan Company.
Quiristers
Winchester, The Pilgrim’s School (Quiristers)
Late fourteenth century origins
On 28 March 1394 William of Wykeham formally opened his college at Winchester with 70 poor scholars, a warden, headmaster and second master, ten priest-fellows, three chaplains, three lay clerks, 10 commoners (that is, those who paid for their commons)
and 16 quiristers. The latter lived in a very small house in Chamber Court. The statutes were issued in their final form in 1400. Concerning the quiristers they must be paupers and they should be under 12 years old, well mannered and with an ability to sing. They were to be eligible for Winchester college scholarships and would have a free education under a chaplain or other teacher in return for their singing.
For many years they served in the college, helping the servants to make the fellows’ beds and waiting at table. Each quirister was given cloth for a gown and they must not wear hats. For about 150 years Wykeham’s plans worked smoothly and each year four or five quiristers were admitted to the college as scholars.
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