EkAard Poore, 1217—1229. 



241 



He further knew nothing about the antiphons — nor of the singing 

 of hymns — not even of the well-known one " Nocte surgentes" — 

 nothing of the "Divine office" — nothing whatever of the psalter 

 by heart, 1 though the ability to repeat the psalter was then required 

 of every deacon before his admission to the order of the priesthood. 

 Asked by whom and in what he was examined before his ordination 

 as a Priest, Simon could not remember, and in the end, contented 

 himself by protesting against the unbecoming course adopted by the 

 Dean of examining one already ordained at all. Notwithstanding 

 his protest the Dean — and no wonder — took a decided course, and 

 pronounced him to be "sufficiently unlearned" {sufficienter illiteratus 

 est). 



In like manner the chaplains of Hurst, Sandhurst, Roscomb, 

 and Erburgh — all then dependencies of Sunning — were examined. 

 Several at the first entered into a private agreement among them- 

 selves not to reply at all to the questions of the Dean, and only did 

 so on his stoutly insisting upon it {ad magnam instaaciam Dni 

 Decani) . They were found sadly incompetent — -one could neither 

 read nor sing — another, after floundering about a little while, refused 

 to attempt any further answer, and was promptly suspended from his 

 functions — a third, old and blind withal, could neither see nor repeat 

 by heart the words of the canon or of the gospel, and he was for- 

 bidden to officiate any more. Vitalis himself, the Perpetual Vicar 

 of Sunning, was therefore admonished that, unless he obtained the 

 services of more efficient " capellani " — in these days we should call 

 them ff Assistant Curates " — the Dean would take the benefices into 

 his own hands. 



The extracts bearing on these matters from the Old Register are 

 very interesting, as they contain an enumeration of the " ornaments, " 

 both of the churches and ministers. Of course there were examina- 

 tions in which the candidates were declared to be " sufficiently 

 learned" {sufficienter literati), but they were the exception rather 



1 S^e Rock's Church of our Fathers, iii., 5. A Vicar Choral of Sarum, when 

 admitted a probationer, took an oath to the same effect : — " Psalterium bene 

 addiscam infra annum." See Cath. Com. Rep., p. 382. 



