United States or Sri Lanka ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Grand joints of beef came up in clouds of vapour, and plum puddings smoked in their rear, to be eaten with them, after the fashion of these days, when of summer vegetables there were few, and of winter vegetables none. The choirmen and boys, indeed all the Cathedral clergy who were unmarried, were dining there too, but the Dean and his wife waited on the table where the poorest were.
He reads the lessons in what he calls a devotional way, which consists in reciting all episodes alike, the song of Deborah or the victories of Gideon, as if they were melancholy and pathetic reflections. He is fond of Gregorians and plain-song. The choirmen consist of a scrofulous invalid, his own gardener and coachman, and a bankrupt carpenter, given to drink and profuse repentance.
I am conscious of all the details of the ceremony: the sly old cure perfunctorily bearing a small reliquary; four choirmen opening their mouths to bawl forth vacantly the Latin words which convey nothing to them; two mischievous serving-boys in frayed cassocks; a score of little girls, young girls and old maids in white, all starched and flounced, followed by six or seven village notables in baggy frockcoats.
The steps stopped at the gate and turned in, and one of the choirmen came to the door. There were little movements and soft grumblings inside the shawl in the organist's arms, and he turned quite cold with apprehension. 'Anyone at home? sounded Millet's jovial voice at the open door. ''Evening, Mr Robins are you there? All in the dark, eh? I wanted a couple of words with you about that song.
The season it was a hot summer turned sickly on a sudden. Dr. Ayloff was one of the first to go, with some affection of the muscles of the thorax, which took him painfully at night. And at many services the number of choirmen and boys was very thin. Meanwhile the pulpit had been done away with. Ayloff's protest.
Word Of The Day