Chapter II: Monastic Life
A more important official in the estimation of such inmates of the Convent as loved good cheer—and if report be true, they were not few in number—was the Cellarer. He was the father of the whole society, and as their happiness must have depended greatly upon the quality of their fare, it was good for the brotherhood when he was a man who had a fine taste in viands, and who dealt them out with a generous hand. In many a monastic chronicle the name of the Cellarer is embalmed in the gratitude of those to whom he ministered, and not unfrequently his brethren elected him to the government of the Convent itself when the Abbot's chair happened to be vacant,—a substantial token of their gratitude for the manner in which he had ministered to their wants. He had the care of everything relating to the food of the monks, and the vessels of the kitchen, the cellars, and the refectory. He was to be careful of the healthy, and especially of the sick, so that he must always have had his hands full. This was true literally as well as metaphorically. He was to weigh the bread himself daily, and to collect the spoons after dinner, carrying the Abbot's in his right hand and the others in his left. Great allowance was made for him in the discharge of his onerous duties. His work was esteemed so sacred that he was allowed absence from masses, complines, and all the hours except matins, vespers, and prime. The stranger entering the refectory soon heard the sweet music of his keys as they rattled at his belt, for it was his duty to wait on visitors: monks returning from their journeys were made welcome by his genial countenance, and when any one asked beer in reason he was to give it to him. A most admirable man was the Cellarer, and happy were they who sunned themselves in his good graces. The comfort of the whole brotherhood depended on him.
If the harmony of the Convent, out of church, rested with the judicious Cellarer, in that sacred edifice it depended upon the Precentor. He it was who ruled the choir, and who governed despotically in all musical services. His office could be filled only by one who had been brought up in the monastery from childhood, and who had been reared amid sweet sounds. He arranged all processions. He raised the solemn chant in the church. He taught the monks to sing and read,—first the Abbot, afterwards the Prior, and then all the others. If anyone hesitated re-garding an accent or pronunciation the Chanter was to rectify it. In his own department he was vested with great power. He could box the ears of the boys, pull their hair, and chastise with his hand the novices who told lies, or who were negligent in the choir. He had a sub-chanter who assisted him in maintaining order, collected the song books and put them away in their proper places.
From the solemn choir to the kitchen of the Convent is a great descent, but there was an individual who ruled that secular department as despotically as the Precentor ruled the other. The head cook or Kitchener was an official of no mean importance, and the office was never conferred on one who had not made the culinary art his study. The Abbot himself could not dare to interfere with him in certain duties of his calling. In some monasteries he was free from every weekly office except the Great Mass and that of the Virgin Mary; and the Herdsman was subject to him, in order, probably, that at his wish the larder might be suitably supplied from the flock. He was chosen by the Abbot and Chapter after deliberation that their choice might fall upon a mild and merciful man, who, being himself sober and moderate, might the more willingly afford protection to all sick and needy persons. Among his pots and pans, in pastry and boiling house, directing his monks and lay assistants, he was the principal figure and the guiding spirit.