C — Credence Table to Crillon (Part 2 of 3)

Cresset A beacon-light; properly "a little cross." So called because originally it was surmounted by a little cross. (French, croisette.)

Cressida daughter of Calchas the Grecian priest, was beloved by Troilus, one of the sons of Priam. They vowed eternal fidelity to each other, and as pledges of their vow Troïlus gave the maiden a sleeve, and Cressid gave the Trojan prince a glove. Scarce had the vow been made when an exchange of prisoners was agreed to. Diomed gave up three Trojan princes, and was to receive Cressid in lieu thereof. Cressid vowed to remain constant, and Troïlus swore to rescue her. She was led off to the Grecian's tent, and soon gave all her affections to Diomed - nay, even bade him wear the sleeve that Troilus had given her in token of his love.

"As false
As air, as water, wind, or sandy earth,
As fox to lamb, as wolf to heifer's calf,
Pard to the hind, or step-dame to her son;
`Yea,' let them say, to stick the heart of false-hood,
`As false as Cressid."'
Shakespeare: Troilus and Cressida, iii. 2.

Cresswell (Madame). A woman of infamous character who bequeathed 10 for a funeral sermon, in which nothing ill should be said of her. The Duke of Buckingham wrote the sermon, which was as follows: "All I shall say of her is this - she was born well, she married well, lived well, and died well; for she was born at Shad-well, married to Cress-well, lived at Clerken-well, and died in Bride-well."

Cressy (Battle of). Won by Edward III. and the Black Prince over Philippe VI. of France, August 26, 1346.

"Cressy was lost by kickshaws and soup meagre." Fenton: Prol. to Southern's Spartan Dame.

Crestfallen Dispirited. The allusion is to fighting cocks, whose crest falls in defeat and rises rigid and of a deep red colour in victory.

"Shall I seem crest-fallen in my father's sight?" Shakespeare: Richard II., i.1.

Crete Hound of Crete. A blood-hound.

"Coupe le gorge, that's the word. I thee defy again, O hound of Crete."
Shakespeare: Henry V., ii. 1.

   The Infamy of Crete. The Minotaur.

"There lay stretched
The infamy of Crete, detested brood
Of the feigned heifer."
Dante: Hell, xii. (Cary's translation).

Creticus Metellus, the Roman general, was so called because he conquered Crete (Candia).

Cretinism Mental imbecility accompanied by goître. So called from the Crétins of the Alps. The word is a corruption of Christian (Chrétien), because, being baptised, and only idiots, they were "washed from original sin," and incapable of actual sin. Similarly, idiots are called innocents. (French crétin, crétinisme.)

Crex White bullace. (Dutch, kriecke, cherry; Latin, cerasum.)

Crib (A). Slang for a house or dwelling, as a "Stocking Crib" (i.e. a hosiery), a "Thimble Crib" (i.e. a silversmith's). Crib is an ox - stall. (Anglo-Saxon, crib, a stall, a bed, etc.)

"Where no oxen are, the crib is clean." - Prov. xiv. 4.

   A child's crib is a child's bed. (See preceding column.)

Crib (A). A petty theft; a literal translation of some foreign work, stealthily employed to save trouble.

"We are glad to turn from the choruses of Æschylus, or the odes of Horace, confected in English verse by some petty scholar, to the original text, and the homely help of a school boy's crib." -Balzac's Shorter Stories: Prefatory Notice, p.16.

Crib To steal small articles. (Saxon, crybb; Irish, grib; our grab, grapple, grip, gripe, etc.)

Cricket
   The diminutive of the Anglo-Saxon cric, a staff or crutch. In the Bodleian library is a MS. (1344) picture of a monk bowling a ball to another monk, who is about to strike it with a cric. In the field are