Page:The histories of Launceston and Dunheved, in the county of Cornwall.djvu/44

 28 LAUNCESTON. Stephen-the-Martyr, viz. on the morrow of the Nativity of the Lord, at the high altar of the Mother Church of St. Stephen- the-Martyr in Middlehill, by turns and alternately, viz. at the feast of St. Stephen next after the date of these presents in the Mother Church of St. Stephen in Middlehill aforesaid, and the other, yearly, at the same feast on the high altar of the Conventual Church, and so thenceforth alternately from year to year : Also, that the inhabitants aforesaid, or two principal imagekeepers or guardians of the said Chapel, shall, yearly, in the said Chapel, at the feast of the Translation of St. Thomas-the-Martyr, offer to the curate there, at the high altar of the said Chapel of St. Thomas-the-Martyr, 2 shillings of lawful money: Also that the water carrier, or a clerk of the aforesaid Chapel to be chosen by the Prior, shall lie down or sleep in a certain chamber of the tower of the Convent Church, to which it is easy for any person to go, so that such clerk, if it become necessary, may forthwith go to arouse the curate of the Chapel, that he may rise to administer the necessary sacraments. (The Bishop appended his seal.) John Carlian, a sub-prior of the Convent, was, on the 10th September, 1507, elected to the priorate. We are told that nine Canons voted on the occasion, and that on the 7th January, 1509, the Bishop of Exeter granted him and his successors a licence to wear, during divine service and in processions, amices of grey fur, such as the Canons in Exeter Cathedral and other Collegiate Churches were accustomed to wear. We shall see how, in a few years, the then reigning king (Henry VIII.) treated these ostentatious externals and their wearers. In August, 1 52 1, John Baker was elected Prior. Our beautiful parish church [chapel] of St. Mary Magdalene was then in course of erection. In the proper place we shall show grants by Prior Baker in connection with this church. It is said that Prior Baker resigned his office, but we have not ascertained the cause, or the exact time, of his resig- nation. On the 6th June, 1 53 1, John Sheyr was elected Prior. He is probably the John Shere mentioned in Bishop