Introduction

Waits were civic musicians, employed by towns and cities to provide music during feasts and processions. They were also employed as 'vigilators' or watchmen. In Norfolk the most famous waits were employed in Norwich and King's Lynn, two of the richest places in the area. What is shown here is something of the development of the office of wait, which some believe may have grown out of the office of watchman to include playing music, rather than the two being separate entities. Also included is one of the earliest mentions in the country of a 'wait' (1362/3), disproving the idea that the term was not in use until the fifteenth century. A group of waits would have consisted of a small number of musicians (four or five perhaps) playing instruments such as sackbuts, shawms, howbyes, cornets, clarions and recorders. They were expected to play at most civic functions, sound the night watch and to play through the town between certain times of the year. Waits were well paid and provided with liveries, part of which in Norwich and King's Lynn included valuable chains or 'collars' of office, which were made of silver. These were annually recalled by the civic authorities, to insure against the sale or theft of these expensive items. The same was true of their instruments, causing one Norwich wait, Benjamin Holdernes, to be exposed as having sold his sackbut "to a man [...] whose name he remembereth not for iij li. xs".

For further reading please see the individual sections or visit The Waits Website.

Lucienne Cummings August, 2002