The Nebuly Coat · Chapter
Chapter VI explained
The chapter describes the daily evensong service at Cullerne Minster, led by the elderly curate Mr.
What happens
The chapter describes the daily evensong service at Cullerne Minster, led by the elderly curate Mr. Noot, with the organist Mr. Sharnall and a diminished choir. On a warm autumn Saturday, a stranger enters the church and joins the choir, singing the tenor part with skill and precision. His presence revitalizes the choir, and after the service, Mr. Sharnall plays a fugue as a tribute. The chapter also recounts the history of Richard Vinnicomb, who saved the abbey church from destruction and endowed its daily service, and how subsequent rectors, including Canon Parkyn, have reduced the endowment.
Themes in this chapter
Decay and Preservation
The diminished choir and reduced endowment contrast with Richard Vinnicomb's original generous provision, highlighting the gradual decay of the church's musical tradition.
Religion and Hypocrisy
Canon Parkyn's disapproval of the singing foundation while accepting its emoluments illustrates religious hypocrisy.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Sharnall
The organist plays the service and later performs a fugue as a tribute to the unknown tenor.
- Mr. Noot
The elderly curate reads the lesson and leads the weekday service.
- Clerk Janaway
Heads the procession with a silver-headed mace and later has a dispute with Mr. Milligan.
- Lord Blandamer
The stranger who enters the church and joins the choir, singing the tenor part with skill.
- Canon Parkyn
Mentioned as having reduced the endowment for the daily service and avoided attending weekday services.
- Richard Vinnicomb
Historical figure who saved the abbey church and endowed its daily service; his story is recounted.
Key passages
“He was a man of much taste and resource, and, as the echoes of the singing rolled round the vaulted roofs, a generous critic thought little of cracked voices and leaky bellows and rattling trackers, but took away with him an harmonious memory of sunlight and coloured glass and eighteenth-century music.”
Mr. Sharnall was skilled and creative, making the most of the poor organ and choir, so that a listener might overlook the flaws and remember only the beauty of the music and the setting.
Describes Sharnall's musical talent and the atmospheric effect of the service.
“Thus it was that the church which Westray had to restore was preserved at a critical period of its history.”
This is how the church that Westray was tasked with restoring was saved at a crucial time.
Summarizes the historical significance of Richard Vinnicomb's preservation of the abbey.