68 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS 
In 1595 she issued a similar commission it seems to Nathaniel 
os 
‘ 
Gyles, then Master of the Children of St. Georges Chapel at 
Windsor.? 
These precedents all provided for the taking up of children for 
singing. But the Chapel Children had been employed in dramatic 
representations apparently as early as Edward IV,” and possibly 
finde and like of and the same 
Childe and Children by vertue here- 
of for the vse and service afoure- 
saide, with them or anye of them 
to bringe awaye, withoute anye yo" 
lett®* contradiccions staye or inter- 
ruptions to the contrarie Charginge 
and commaundinge you and everie 
of you to be aydinge helpinge and 
assisting vnto the aboue named 
Thomas Gyles and his deputie and 
deputies in and aboute the due ex- 
ecucion of the premisses for the 
more spedie effectuall & bettar ac- 
complisshing thereof from tyme to 
tyme as you and everie of you doe 
tendar our will and pleasure and 
will aunswere for doinge the con- 
trarye at yo" perill°* Youen vnder 
our Signet at our Mano” of Grene- 
wich the 26th Day of Aprill in the 
27th yere of our reign. 
To all and singules Deanes, 
Provostes, Maisters and War- 
dens of Collegies and all Ec- 
clesiasticall persons and myn- 
isters and to all other o* 
officers mynisters and sub- 
iect®* to whome in this case 
it shall apperteyne and to 
everye of them greetinge 
*This document has not yet been 
discovered. But from the reference 
to it in the Appointment of Na- 
thaniel Gyles by the Dean and Can- 
ons of St. George, coupled with the 
fact that Gyles served at Windsor 
accordingly for thirty-nine years 
(cf. supra, 58°), it was doubtless 
granted. 
The Appointment of the Dean 
and Canons of St. George is a rare 
document in that it recognizes the 
acting-function of the choir-chil- 
dren. It also throws a side-light 
on the present history. 
“The Dean and Canons of St. 
George’s Chapel, Windsor, by deed 
dated 1 Oct. 1595, nominate Na- 
thaniel Gyles, B. M. to be Clerk in 
the Chapel, and one of the players 
on the organs there, and also to be 
master, instructor, tutor, and crean- 
sor, or governor, of the ten chor- 
isters, agreeing to give him an an- 
nuity of »8il. 6s, 84, "andi 
dwelling-house within the Castle, 
called the Old Commons, wherein 
John Mundie did lately inhabit, 
with all appertenances, as one Rich- 
ard Farrante enjoyed the same. 
The stipend to be paid monthly by 
the treasurer, over and besides all 
other gifts, rewards, or benevo- 
lence that may be given to the chor- 
isters for singing of ballads, plays, 
or the like: 
leave of absence as the statutes al- 
low, except when Her Majesty shall 
be resident, or an installation or 
funeral of any noble person shall 
be solemnized: on condition that 
the said Nathaniel Gyles shall pro- 
cure meet and apt choristers within 
the space of three months after 
avoidance (Her Majesty’s Commis- 
sion for the taking of. children be- 
ing allowed unto him), and that 
he shall find them sufficient meat 
and drink, apparel, bedding and 
lodging at his own costes within 
the New Commons lately appointed 
for them; and that he shall find a 
sufficient deputy during the time of 
sickness and absence.”—Bodl. Lib., 
Ashmolean MSS., No. 1125-33; 
printed in The Old Cheque-Book 
(u. s., 62°), 198. 
*This statement has no. surer 
foundation than the known dra- 
matic activity of the Master of the 
Children, Gilbert Banester, author 
of The Miracle of St. Thomas, and 
the possible use of the Boys by him 
182 
also such reasonable » 
