In UK churches, a quire is where the choir sits / perches. “Quite” is still the right word to put in a guidebook. Writing something like “moving east we enter the quire from which we can clearly see the original bosses” would seem strained with the ‘choir’ spelling.
Tim B Although nearly four years have passed, something does not seem “quite” right about your comment
Astoria:
January 1st, 2021 at 4:43 pm
I was under the impression that such stalls were common long before the 16th century and were used in monastic churches for monks, not singers. I know they can also be called monks’ stalls. Was the term quire stalls simply not in use for these? Or were they named in Latin only and for some reason named as if they were purposed for singers, even when used for monks?
Back then monks were some of the only literate people and it wasn’t uncommon to also have a scriptorum in a church for copying books. I always assumed that the term somehow derived from the word quire, but I could never figure how (the number of stalls, use of small books in the stalls, etc). The term simply coming into use later would make more sense.
It also makes more sense to me that these stalls were designed for monks who go to church several times a day. Absent a pandemic, I don’t know why a choir would need separate stalls. A choir is a group effort.
Leonard White:
May 13th, 2021 at 6:03 pm
Why is ‘choir’ more Latinized than ‘quire’?
Andy Z:
June 30th, 2021 at 11:04 pm
For more evidence of the use of quire in the 16th and 17th century, you can look at the second book of Cornelius Agrippa’s 3 Books of Occult Philosophy when translated by John French in the 1650s. When talking about the 9 groups of angels instead of being called choirs like today, they are called quires.
Rosemary Holloway:
July 27th, 2021 at 8:57 pm
Thank you.
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Tim B:
November 30th, 2014 at 8:20 am
In UK churches, a quire is where the choir sits / perches. “Quite” is still the right word to put in a guidebook. Writing something like “moving east we enter the quire from which we can clearly see the original bosses” would seem strained with the ‘choir’ spelling.
Bob:
May 23rd, 2017 at 1:09 pm
Quire means two dozen sheets of paper
Brian R:
May 20th, 2018 at 8:01 am
Tim B Although nearly four years have passed, something does not seem “quite” right about your comment
Astoria:
January 1st, 2021 at 4:43 pm
I was under the impression that such stalls were common long before the 16th century and were used in monastic churches for monks, not singers. I know they can also be called monks’ stalls. Was the term quire stalls simply not in use for these? Or were they named in Latin only and for some reason named as if they were purposed for singers, even when used for monks?
Back then monks were some of the only literate people and it wasn’t uncommon to also have a scriptorum in a church for copying books. I always assumed that the term somehow derived from the word quire, but I could never figure how (the number of stalls, use of small books in the stalls, etc). The term simply coming into use later would make more sense.
It also makes more sense to me that these stalls were designed for monks who go to church several times a day. Absent a pandemic, I don’t know why a choir would need separate stalls. A choir is a group effort.
Leonard White:
May 13th, 2021 at 6:03 pm
Why is ‘choir’ more Latinized than ‘quire’?
Andy Z:
June 30th, 2021 at 11:04 pm
For more evidence of the use of quire in the 16th and 17th century, you can look at the second book of Cornelius Agrippa’s 3 Books of Occult Philosophy when translated by John French in the 1650s. When talking about the 9 groups of angels instead of being called choirs like today, they are called quires.
Rosemary Holloway:
July 27th, 2021 at 8:57 pm
Thank you.