seisesn.

1845 R. Ford Hand-bk. Travellers in Spain I. ii. 255 At this Octave and at Corpus, the Quiresters or Seises (formerly they were six in number) dance before the high altar [of Seville Cathedral] with castanets and with plumed hats on their heads... They are dressed as pages of the time of Philip III. They wear blue and white for the Virgin, red and white for Corpus.

1885 E. de Amicis Spain & Spaniards ix. 324 The most curious privilege..of the Seville Cathedral, is the..dance of los seises, which takes place every evening.., for eight consecutive days, after the festival of Corpus Domini.

1903 A. Symons Cities 128 I returned to the Cathedral to see the dance of the Seises... The sixteen boys..came forward and knelt before the altar.

1926 J. B. Trend Music Spanish Hist. to 1600 v. 85 The ten little Seises who dance, sing, and clack their castanets before the high altar of Seville Cathedral for the festivals of Corpus Christi and the Immaculate Conception.

1938 B. Schönberg tr. C. Sachs World Hist. Dance vii. 337 The classical number of participants in the Morris Dance, six, was once the same for the Spanish cathedral dance..—and even today, although there are ten performers, they are still known as los seises, ‘the sixes’.

1941 G. Chase Music of Spain xvi. 256 The seises (choirboys) of Seville Cathedral, who every year, during the octave of Corpus Christi, dressed in quaint costumes of the time of Carlos III.., dance before a special altar to the sound of their own castanets and the accompaniment of an orchestra.

1969 S. Sitwell Gothic Europe xii. 132 Dancing with castanets before the high altar..is performed by the seises or choristers.