Chapter Cloaci na to Clym of the Clough of C by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Cloaci na to Clym of the Clough

Cloacina Goddess of sewers (Latin, cloaca, a sewer)

“Then Cloacina, goddess of the tide.
Whose sable streams beneath the city glide
Indulged the modish flame, the town she loved
A mortal scavenger she saw she loved.”
Gay Trivia ii.

Cloak and Sword Plays Modern comedy, played in the ordinary costume of modern life. The phrase was adopted by Canderon who lived in Spain while gentlemen were accustomed to wear cloaks and swords For tragedy the men actors wore either heraldic or dramatico-historic dresses. In England actors in tragedy and old comedy wore the costume of Charles II's period, till quite recently

Clock So church bells were once called (German glocke, French, cloche Mediæval Latin, cloca)

“Wel sikerer [surer] was his crowyng in his logge
Than is a clok [bell] or abbay orologge”
Chaucer The Nonne Prestes Tale (1639-40)

   Clock The tale about St. Paul's clock striking thirteen is given in Walcott's Memorials of Westminster, and refers to John Hatfield, who died 1770, aged 102. He was a soldier in the reign of William III, and was brought before a court-martial for falling asleep on duty upon Windsor Terrace. In proof of his innocence he asserted that he heard St. Paul's clock strike thirteen, which statement was confirmed by several witnesses.

Clodhopper A farmer, who hops or walks amongst the clods. The cavalry call the infantry clodhoppers, because they have to walk instead of riding horseback.

Clog Almanac A primitive almanac or calendar, originally made of a “clog,” or log of wood, with four faces or parallelograms, the sharp edge of each face or side was divided by notches into three months, every week being marked by a big notch. The face left of the notched edge contained the saints' days, the festivals, the phases of the moon, and so on in Runic characters, whence the “clog” was also called a Runic staff. These curiosities are not uncommon, and specimens may be seen in the British Museum, the Bodleian (Oxford), the Ashmolean Museum, St. John's (Cambridge), the Cheetham Library (Manchester), and other places both at home and abroad.

Cloister He retired into a cloister, a monastery. Almost all monasteries have a cloister or covered walk, which generally occupied three sides of a quadrangle.

Clootie Auld Clootie Old Nick. The Scotch call a cloven hoof a cloot, so that Auld Clootie is Old Cloven foot.

Cloridano (in Oriando Furioso) A humble Moorish youth, who joins Medoro in seeking the body of King Dardinello to bury it. Medoro being wounded, Cloridano rushed madly into the ranks of the enemy and was slai.n

Clorinda (in Jerusalem Delivered) A female knight who came from Persia to oppose the Crusaders, and was appointed by Aladine leader of all the Pagan forces. Tancred fell in love with her, but not knowing her in a night attack slew her after a most dreadful combat. Before she died she received Christian baptism at the hands of Tancred, who mourned her death with great sorrow of heart. (Book xii.)
   Senapus of Ethiopia (a Christian) was her father but her being born white alarmed her mother, who changed her babe for a black child. Arse'tës, the eunuch, was entrusted with the infant Clorinda, and as he was going through a forest he saw a tiger, dropped the child, and sought safety in a tree. The tiger took the babe and suckled, it after which Arsetes left Ethiopia with the child for Egypt.

Close as a Clam A clam is a bivalve mollusca, which burrows in sand or mud. It is about the size of a florin, and may be eaten raw or fried like an oyster. Clams are gathered only when the tide is out. When the tide is in they are safe from molestation, hence the saying “Happy as a clam at high tide”. (Anglo-Saxon clam, mud verb claem-ian, to glue German, klamm, close)