THE QUEEN'S CHORISTEBS.

Evening Star, Issue 10903, 11 April 1899, Page 3

THE QUEEN'S CHORISTEBS.

Boys are not, as a rule, given to being proud of their • clothes, but a lad whose Sunday suit costs £BO, and is of so striking a character that it is not considered safe for him to go out walking in it alone, might perhaps be excused for being a trifle lifted up. There are ten boys in London who are thus expensively and brilliantly habited every Sunday, and on State occasions beside. They are the ten choristers belonging; to Her Majesty's private chapel in St. James's Palace, and truly gorgeous they are when arrayed in their " State suits." Scarlet cloth is the foundation of the costume; and bands of royal purple between rows of heavy gold lace are the adorning of it. Grandest' of all, old lace ruffles are worn at the neck and wrists; but these are so valuable and difficult to replace that it has to be a special occasion on which they are donned, white lawn bands being substi- j tuted as a rule. A boy has to take care of his State suit, for it must last him three years, while his undress suit is replaced every eight months. The choir of the Chapel Royal, St. James's, is one of the historical institutions of England, and many of its old-time customs—including the dress of the boys—are retained to this day. It has numbered among its singers Sir Arthur Sullivan, Edward Lloyd, Sir John Goss, Dr E. J. Hopkins, the veteran organist ouhe Temple Church, and many other famous English musicians. ' Borne curious customs, peculiar to Bt. James's choristers, are mentioned by Mx F Klickman, in the * Strand Musical Magazine.' The most interesting of these, perhaps, is the right of the head boy to.demand one guinea, as "spurmoney, from any officer entering the chapel wearmg sours It is said that when Sullivan was Ed "boythe Mce of Wellington always <£me to the chapel ui his wars, in order to hare the pleasure of paying theforfeit to his favorite chorister. A new boy at St. James's has some of the same sort ot experiences that come to all new bow, only from the nature of things his mistakesare apt to be a little more laughable, Ih&t seems to be a nice old gentleman,' one such new-comer to an older boy, as tee two stood in a corridor after the service, and were greeted with: "A happy New Year to you, my lads," by the old gentleman in question. " A nice old gentleman,

indeed! Don't you know who' he' was the response. " "Well, you must be a, greenhorn! I say, you fellows, he doesn t eVen know•;Mr Gladstone V and tfoe, nine waxed derisive over the mistake of the unlucky new boy. This unfortunate wight still further impaired his reputation when, a few days later, he meekly inquired why they had all raised their hats to a certain officer whom they had passed on horseback in the street. The head boy merely ejaculated: "Who in the world does the duffer know, if he doesn't know the Prince of Wales?"