The meaning seems to
breathe all through Byrd's harmonies. I did not know until I read Sir
George Grove's article upon him, that Byrd secretly remained a Roman
Catholic, but I long ago made up my mind, on my own judgment, that his
most pathetic anthem, "Bow thine ear," was a wail over the iconoclasm
in St. Paul's. He died in extreme old age in 1623. Morley was another
organist of St. Paul's, the author of a fine setting of the Burial
Service. Paul Hentzner, who visited St. Paul's in 1598, says in his
_Itinerary_, "It has a very fine organ, which at evensong, accompanied
with other instruments, makes excellent music."
Concerning the dramatic performances which went on in the cathedral at
certain times, there is nothing peculiar to St. Paul's that I know
of to mention. These performances were originally intended for
instruction, pictorial representations of scenes from the Bible and
Church History, but often degenerating into coarse buffoonery and
horseplay. The "Boy Bishop" was for many generations an established
institution. One ceremony there was, peculiar to St.
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