We wish, therefore, to emphasise that the song schoolmaster was not the elementary schoolmaster of the middle ages. The duty of the master of song, as set out in the Statutes of Rotherham College, was to teach the art of music and "presertim in plano et fractu cantu secundum omnes modos et formas ejusdem artis."[184] Song occupied a prominent place in the curriculum of the schools of the middle ages and it probably exercised a greater refining influence upon the nation than is commonly realised. The abolition of the schools of song was not the least disastrous of the effects of the Reformation in this country, and it is of considerable significance that the recent Royal Commission into University Education in Wales recommends that steps should be taken for the greater encouragement of the study of music, not only within the university itself but also in the schools of the Principality. One other point may also be mentioned here. It was a very frequent occurrence for the same master to be responsible for the instruction both in grammar and in song. Thus, in 1385, the same master was appointed "ad informandos pueros tam in cantu quam in gramatica,"[185] in 1440, a master was appointed "ad informandos pueros in lectura, cantu et gramatica,"[186] and in 1426, there is a record of an appointment of a master for "scola lectuali et cantuli."[187] READING. It is not easy to arrive at a decision as to the meaning of the term "reading school." The books which were read were probably the service books of the Church, and these, of course, were written in Latin. Is it possible that a reading school would be a class in which boys were taught to read Latin only, whilst in a grammar school they would not only be taught to read Latin but also to speak it? Sometimes the references to be found to schools seem to lead to the conclusion that "reading schools" and "grammar schools" were but different terms for one and the same school. Thus, the entries in various Chapter Act Books contain references to appointments to schools of grammar, side by side with references to schools of reading as if the meaning in each case was the same, _e.g._ at Howden in 1394, a master was appointed "ad informandum pueros in lectu et cantu," and again in 1401, "in lectura et cantu."[188] Sometimes the nature of the reference leads to the conclusion that the term "reading" denoted a lower grade of instruction in Latin than did the term "grammar," _e.g._ at Northallerton a master was appointed, in 1456, for the purpose "ad informandos pueros in lectura et gramatica."[189] The record of a previous appointment in 1440 was, that the master was responsible "ad informandos pueros in lectura, cantu et gramatica." As the evidence is so scanty, it scarcely seems possible to arrive at a definite conclusion, though the probability appears to be that the use of the term "reading" implies that the work of the school was not carried on to so advanced an