intent upon preferment poring over his Missal, if he did not sometimes
emulate the frivolous feats of Chaucer's "Jolly Absolon."

At early dawn he sallied forth to perform his earliest duty of opening
the church doors and ringing the day-bell. The ringing of bells seems to
have been a fairly constant employment of the clerk, though in some
churches this duty was mainly performed by the sexton, but the aid of
the clerk was demanded whenever it was needed. According to the
constitution of the parish clerks at Trinity Church, Coventry, made in
1462, he was ordered every day to open the church doors at 6 a.m., and
deliver to the priest who sang the Trinity Mass a book and a chalice and
vestment, and when Mass was finished to see that these goods of the
church be deposited in safety in the vestry. He had to ring all the
people in to Matins, together with his fellow-clerk, at every
commemoration and feast of IX lessons, and see that the books were ready
for the priest. Again for High Mass he rang and sang in the choir. At 3
p.m. he rang for Evensong, and sang the service in the south side of the
choir, his assistant occupying the north side. On weekdays they sang the
Psalms and responses antiphonally, and on Sundays and holy-days acted as
_rectores chori_, each one beginning the verses of the Psalms for his
own side. He had to be very careful that the books were all securely
locked up in the vestry, and the church locked at a convenient hour,
having searched the building to see lest any one was lying in any seat
or corner. On Sundays and holidays he had to provide a clerk or "dekyn"
to read the gospel at High Mass. The sweeping of the floor of the
church, the cleaning of the leaden roofs, and sweeping away the snow
from the gutters "leste they be stoppyd," also came under his care. The
bells he also kept in order, examining the clappers and bawdricks and
ropes, and reporting to the churchwardens if they required mending. His
assistant had to grease the bells when necessary, and find the