Bibliography.—The Works of Crabbe(8 vols., Murray, 1834; 1 vol., Murray, 1901), and theWorksin the Cambridge Press Classics, edited by A. W. Ward (1906), have already been referred to. The life by Crabbe’s son in one volume,The Life of the Rev. George Crabbe, LL.B., by his son the Rev. George Crabbe, A.M.(1834), has not been separately reprinted as it deserves to be. A recent biography isGeorge Crabbe and His Times, 1754-1832; A Critical and Biographical Study, by René Huchon, translated from the French by Frederick Clarke (1907). Brief biographies by T. H. Kebbel (“Great Writers†series) and by Canon Ainger (“English Men of Letters†series) also deserve attention.
Bibliography.—The Works of Crabbe(8 vols., Murray, 1834; 1 vol., Murray, 1901), and theWorksin the Cambridge Press Classics, edited by A. W. Ward (1906), have already been referred to. The life by Crabbe’s son in one volume,The Life of the Rev. George Crabbe, LL.B., by his son the Rev. George Crabbe, A.M.(1834), has not been separately reprinted as it deserves to be. A recent biography isGeorge Crabbe and His Times, 1754-1832; A Critical and Biographical Study, by René Huchon, translated from the French by Frederick Clarke (1907). Brief biographies by T. H. Kebbel (“Great Writers†series) and by Canon Ainger (“English Men of Letters†series) also deserve attention.
(C. K. S.)
CRACKER(from “crack,†a common Teutonic word, cf. Ger.krachen, Dutchkraken, meaning to break with a sharp sound), that which “cracksâ€; it is, therefore, applied (1) to a firework so constructed that it explodes with several reports and jumps at each explosion, when placed on the ground (seeFireworks); (2) to a roll of coloured and ornamented paper containing sweets, small articles of cheap jewelry, paper caps and other trifles, together with a strip of card with a fulminant which explodes with a “crack†on being pulled; (3) to a thin crisp biscuit (q.v.); in America the general name for a biscuit. In the southern states of America, “cracker†is a term of contempt for the “poor†or “mean whites,†particularly of Georgia and Florida; the term is an old one and dates back to the Revolution, and is supposed to be derived from the “cracked corn†which formed the staple food of the class to whom the term refers.
CRACOW(Pol.Krakov; Ger.Krakau), a town and episcopal see of Austria, in Galicia, 212 m. W. by N. of Lemberg by rail. Pop. (1900) 91,310, of which 21,000 were Jews, 5000 Germans and the remainder Poles. Although in regard to its population it is only the second place in Galicia, Cracow is the most interesting town in the whole of Poland. No other Polish town possesses so many old and historic buildings, none of them contains so many national relics, or has been so closely associated with the development and destinies of Poland as Cracow. And the ancient capital is still the intellectual centre of the Polish nation.
Cracow is situated in a fertile plain on the left bank of the Vistula (which becomes navigable here) and occupies a position of great strategical importance. It consists of the old inner town and seven suburbs. The only relics of the fortifications of the old town, whose place is now occupied by shady promenades, is the Florian’s Gate and the Rondell, a circular structure, built in 1498. Cracow has 39 churches—about half the number it formerly had—and 25 convents for monks and nuns. Of these the most important is the Stanislaus cathedral, in Gothic style, consecrated in 1359, and built on the Wawel, the rocky eminence to the S.W. of the old town. Here the kings of Poland were crowned, and this church is also the Pantheon of the Polish nation, the burial place of its kings and its great men. Here lie the remains of John Sobieski, of Thaddaeus Kosciuszko, of Joseph Poniatowski and of Adam Mickiewicz. Here also are conserved the remains of St Stanislaus, the patron saint of the Poles, who, as bishop of Cracow, was slain before the altar by King Boleslaus in 1079. The cathedral is adorned with many valuable objects of art, paintings and sculptures, by such artists as Veit Stoss, Guido Reni, Peter Vischer, Thorwaldsen, &c. Part of the ancient Polish regalia is also kept here. The Gothic church of St Mary, founded in 1223, rebuilt in the 14th century with several chapels added in the 15th and 16th centuries, was restored in 1889-1893, and decorated with paintings from the designs by Matejko. It contains a huge high altar, the masterpiece of Veit Stoss, who was a native of Cracow, executed in 1477-1489; a colossal stone crucifix, dating from the end of the 15th century, and several sumptuous tombs of noble families from the 16th and 17th centuries. The Dominican church, a Gothic building of the 13th century, but practically rebuilt after a fire in 1850; the Franciscan church, also of the 13th century, also much modernized; the church of St Florian of the 12th century, rebuilt in 1768, which contains the late-Gothic altar by Veit Stoss, executed in 1518, during his last sojourn in Cracow; the church of St Peter, with a colossal dome, built in 1597, after the model of that of St Peter at Rome, and the beautiful Augustinian church in the suburb of Kazimierz, are all worth mentioning. Of the principal secular buildings, the royal castle (Zamek Królowsk), a huge building, begun in the 13th century, and successively enlarged by Casimir the Great and by Sigismund I. Jagiello (1510-1533), is situated on the Wawel, and was until 1610 the residence of the Polish kings. It suffered much from fires and other disasters, and from 1846 onward was used as a barracks and a military hospital; it has now, however, been cleared out and restored. The Jagellonian university, now housed in a magnificent Gothic building erected in 1881-1887, was attended in 1901 by 1255 students, and had 175 professors and lecturers. The language of instruction is Polish. It is the second oldest university in Europe—the oldest being that of Prague—and was famous during the 15th and 16th centuries. It was founded by Casimir the Great in 1364, and completed by Ladislaus Jagiello in 1400. Its rich library is now housed in the old university buildings, erected in the 15th century, in the beautiful Gothic court of which a bronze statue of Copernicus was placed in 1900. The Polish Academy of Science, founded in 1872, is housed in the new university buildings. In the Ring-Platz, or the principal square, opposite the church of St Mary, is theTuchhaus(cloth-hall, Pol.Sukiennice), a building erected in 1257, several times renovated and enlarged, most recently in 1879, which contains the Polish national museum of art. Behind it is a Gothic tower, the only relic of the old town hall, demolished in 1820. The Czartoryski museum contains a large collection of objects of art, a rich library and a precious collection of manuscripts, relating to the history of Poland.
Among the manufactures of the town are machinery, agricultural implements, chemicals, soap, tobacco, &c. But Cracow is more important as a trading than as an industrial centre. Its position on the Vistula and at the junction of several railways makes it the natural mart for the exchange of the products of Silesia, Hungary and Russian and Austrian Poland. Its trade in timber, salt, textiles, cattle, wine and agricultural produce of all kinds is very considerable. In the neighbourhood of Cracow there are mines of coal and zinc, and not far away lies the village of Krzeszowice with sulphur baths. About 2½ m. N.W. lies the Kosciuszko Hill, a mound of earth 100 ft. high, thrown up in 1820-1823 on the Borislava hill (1093 ft.), in honour of Thaddaeus Kosciuszko, the hero of Poland. On the opposite bank of the Vistula, united to Cracow by a bridge, lies the town of Podgorze (pop. 18,142); near it is the Krakus Hill, smaller than the Kosciuszko Hill, and a thousand years older than it, erected in honour of Krakus, the founder of Cracow. About 8 m. S.E. of Cracow is situated Wieliczka (q.v.), with its famous salt mines.
History.—Tradition assigns the foundation of Cracow to the mythical Krak, a Polish prince who is said to have built a stronghold here aboutA.D.700. Its early history is, however, entirely obscure. In the latter part of the 10th century it was annexed to the Bohemian principality, but was recaptured by Boleslaus Chrobry, who made it the seat of a bishopric, and it became the capital of one of the most important of the principalities into which Poland was divided from the 12th century onwards. The city was practically ruined during the first Tatar invasion in 1241, but the introduction of German colonists restored its prosperity, and in 1257 it received “Magdeburg rights,â€i.e.a civic constitution modelled on that of Magdeburg. In this year theTuchhallewas built. The town, however, had yet to pass through many vicissitudes. It suffered again from Tatar invasions; in 1290 it was captured by Wenceslaus II. of Bohemia and was held by the Bohemians until, in 1305, the Polish kingLadislaus Lokietek recovered it from Wenceslaus III. Ladislaus made it his capital, and from this time until 1764 it remained the coronation and burial place of the Polish kings, even after the royal residence had been removed by Siegmund III. (1587-1632) to Warsaw. On the third partition of Poland in 1795 Austria took possession of Cracow; but in 1809 Napoleon wrested it from that power, and incorporated it with the duchy of Warsaw, which was placed under the rule of the king of Saxony. In the campaign of 1812 the emperor Alexander made himself master of this and the other territory which formed the duchy of Warsaw. At the general settlement of the affairs of Europe by the great powers in 1815, it was agreed that Cracow and the adjoining territory should be formed into a free state; and, by the Final Act of the congress signed at Vienna in 1815, “the town of Cracow, with its territory, is declared to be for ever a free, independent and strictly neutral city, under the protection of Russia, Austria and Prussia.†In February 1846, however, an insurrection broke out in Cracow, apparently a ramification of a widely spread conspiracy throughout Poland. The senate and the other authorities of Cracow were unable to subdue the rebels or to maintain order, and, at their request, the city was occupied by a corps of Austrian troops for the protection of the inhabitants. The three powers, Russia, Austria and Prussia, made this a pretext for extinguishing this independent state; and as the outcome of a conference at Vienna (November 1846) the three courts, contrary to the assurance previously given, and in opposition to the expressed views of the British and French governments, decided to extinguish the state of Cracow and to incorporate it with the dominions of Austria.
CRADDOCK, CHARLES EGBERT(1850-  ), the pen-name ofMary Noailles Murfree, American author, who was born near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on the 24th of January 1850, the great-granddaughter of Col. Hardy Murfree. She was crippled in childhood by paralysis. She attended school in Nashville and Philadelphia. Spending her summers in the mountains of eastern Tennessee, she came to know the primitive people there with whose life her writings deal. She contributed toAppleton’s Journal, and, first in 1878, toThe Atlantic Monthly. No one, apparently, suspected that the author of these stories was a woman, and her identity was not disclosed until 1885, a year after the publication of her first volume of short stories,In the Tennessee Mountains. She deals mainly with the narrow, stern life of the Tennessee mountaineers, who, left behind in the advance of civilization, live amid traditions and customs, and speak a dialect, peculiarly their own; and her work abounds in exquisite descriptions of scenery. Among her other books are:Where the Battle was Fought(1884), a novel dealing with the old aristocratic southern life;Down the Ravine(1885) andThe Story of Keedon Bluffs(1887) for young people;The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains(1885), a novel;In the Clouds(1886), a novel;The Despot of Broomsedge Cove(1888), a novel;In the “Stranger-People’s†Country(1891);His Vanished Star(1894), a novel;The Mystery of Witch-Face Mountain and Other Stories(1895);The Phantoms of the Footbridge and Other Stories(1895);The Young Mountaineers(1897), short stories;The Juggler(1897);The Story of Old Fort Loudon(1899);The Bushwhackers and Other Stories(1899);The Champion(1902);A Spectre of Power(1903);The Frontiersman(1904);The Storm Centre(1905);The Amulet(1906);The Windfall(1907); andFair Mississippian(1908).
CRADLE(of uncertain etymology, possibly connected with “crate†and “creel,â€i.e.basket; the derivation from a Celtic word, with a sense of rocking, is scouted by theNew English Dictionary), a child’s bed of wood, wicker or iron, with enclosed sides, slung upon pivots or mounted on rockers. It is a very ancient piece of furniture, but the date when it first assumed its characteristic swinging or rocking form is by no means clear. A miniature in an illuminatedHistoire de la belle Hélainein the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris (end of the 14th or beginning of the 15th century) shows an infant sleeping in a tiny four-post bed slung upon rockers. In its oldest forms the cradle is an oblong oak box without a lid—originally the rockers appear to have been detachable—but, like all other household appliances, it has been subject to changes of fashion alike in shape and adornment. It has been panelled and carved, supported on Renaissance pillars, inlaid with marqueterie or mounted in gilded bronze. The original simple shape persisted for two or three centuries—even the hood made its appearance very early. In the 18th century, however, cradles were often very elaborate—indeed in France they had begun to be so much earlier, but the richly carved and upholstered examples were used chiefly for purposes of state, being in fact miniaturelits de parade. In modern times they have become lighter and simpler, the old hood being very often replaced by a draped curtain dependent from a carved or shaped upright. About the middle of the 19th century iron cradles were introduced, along with iron bedsteads. A number of undoubted historic cradles have been preserved, together with many others with doubtful attributions. Two alleged cradles of Henry V. exist; one which claims to have been used by the unhappy earl of Derwentwater is in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; the other is at Windsor Castle. That of Henry IV. of France, now in the Château de Pau, is mounted upon a large tortoiseshell. That of the king of Rome (“Napoleon II.â€) was designed by Prud’hon, and along with that of the comte de Chambord is preserved in the Garde Meuble. In England a cradle is now often called a “bassinet†(i.e.little basket), and the “cot†has to some extent taken its place. By analogy, the word “cradle†is also applied to various sorts of framework in engineering, and to a rocking-tool used in engraving.
CRADOCK, a town of South Africa, capital of a division of the Cape province, in the upper valley of the Great Fish river, 181 m. by rail N. by E. of Port Elizabeth. Pop. (1904) 7762. It is one of the chief centres of the wool industry of the Cape, and does also a large trade in ostrich feathers, mohair, &c. The town enjoys a reputation as one of the best health resorts in the province. It stands at an altitude of 2856 ft.; the climate is very dry, the average annual rainfall being 14.50 in. The mean maximum temperature is 77.6° F. Three miles N. of the town are sulphur baths (temp. 100° F.) used for the treatment of rheumatism. In the neighbouring district survive a few herds of zebras, now protected by the game laws. The town dates from the beginning of the 19th century and is named after Sir John Cradock, governor of the Cape 1811-1813. The division has an area of 3048 sq. m. and a pop. (1904) of 18,803, of whom 41% are white.
CRAFT(a word common to Teutonic languages for strength, or power; cf. Ger.Kraft), a word confined in English only, of the Teutonic languages in which it occurs, to intellectual power, and used as a synonym of “art.†It then means skill or ingenuity, especially in the manual arts, hence its use in the expression “Arts and Crafts†(q.v.), and it is thus applied to the trade or profession in which such skill is displayed, to an association of workmen of a particular trade, a trade gild, and in particular to Freemasons, “the craftâ€; the word appears also in words such as “handicraft†or “craftsman.†Skill applied to outwit or deceive gives the common sense of cunning or trickery, and it is this meaning which is implied in such combined words as “priestcraft,†“witchcraft†and the like. A more particular use of the word is in the nautical sense of vessels of transport by water; this is probably a colloquially shortened form either of “vessels of a fisherman’s, lighterman’s &c., craft,â€i.e.“art,†or of “vessels of a heavier or lighter craft,â€i.e.burden or capacity; in both cases the qualifying words are dropped and the word comes to be used of vessels in general.
CRAG(a Celtic word, cf. Gael.creag, Manxcreg, and Welsh and modern Scotscraig), a steep rock. The word appears in many place-names in the north of England and in Scotland, and is also connected with “carrick,†a word of similar meaning, also found in place-names. In geology, the term is applied to the strata in which a shelly sand deposit is found, and, in the expression “crag and tail,†to a formation of hills, in which one side is precipitous and lofty and the other slopes or “tails†gradually away, as in the Castle Rock in Edinburgh.
CRAGGS, JAMES(1657-1721), English politician, was a son of Anthony Craggs of Holbeck, Durham, and was baptized on the 10th of June 1657. After following various callings in London, Craggs, who was a person of considerable financial ability, entered the service of the duchess of Marlborough, and through her influence became in 1702 member of parliament for Grampound, retaining his seat until 1713. He was in business as an army clothier and held several official positions, becoming joint postmaster-general in 1715; and, making the most of his opportunities in all these capacities, he amassed a great deal of money. Craggs also increased his wealth by mixing in the affairs of the South Sea Company, but after his death an act of parliament confiscated all the property which he had acquired since December 1719. He left an enormous fortune when he died on the 16th of March 1721. It is possible that Craggs committed suicide.
His son,James Craggsthe younger (1686-1721), was born at Westminster on the 9th of April 1686. Part of his early life was spent abroad, where he made the acquaintance of George Louis, elector of Hanover, afterwards King George I. In 1713 he became member of parliament for Tregoney, in 1717 secretary-at-war, and in the following year one of the principal secretaries of state. Craggs was implicated in the South Sea Bubble, but not so deeply as his father, whom he predeceased, dying on the 16th of February 1721. Among Craggs’s friends were Pope, who wrote the epitaph on his monument in Westminster Abbey, Addison and Gay.
CRAIG, JOHN(1512?-1600), Scottish reformer, born about 1512, was the son of Craig of Craigston, Aberdeenshire, who was killed at Flodden in 1513. After an education at St Andrews, and acting as tutor to the children of Lord Darcy, the English warden of the North, he became a Dominican, but was soon in trouble as a heretic. In 1536 he made his way to England, but failing to obtain the preferment he desired at Cambridge, he went on to Italy, where the influence of Cardinal Pole, who was himself accused of heresy, secured him the post of master of the novices in the Dominican convent at Bologna. For some years he was busy travelling in the Levant in the interests of his order, but a perusal of Calvin’sInstitutesrevived his heretical tendencies, and he was condemned to be burnt. Like the English scholar and statesman, Thomas Wilson, he owed his escape to the riot which broke out on the death of Paul IV. on the 18th of August 1559, when the mob burst open the prison of the Inquisition. After various adventures he reached Vienna, where he preached, and was protected by the semi-Lutheran archduke (afterwards the emperor) Maximilian II.
In 1560 he returned to Scotland, where in 1561 he was ordained minister of Holyrood, and in 1562 Knox’s colleague in the High Church. His defence of church property and privilege against the predatory instincts of the nobles and the pretensions of the state brought him into conflict with Lethington and others; but he seems to have condoned, if he was not privy to, Riccio’s murder. At first he refused to publish the banns of marriage between Mary and Bothwell, though in the end he yielded with a protest that he “abhorred and detested the marriage.†He had been associated with Knox in various commissions for the organization of the church, but he wished to compromise between the two extreme parties. From 1571-1579 Craig was in the north, whither he had been sent to “illuminate those dark places in Mar, Buchan and Aberdeen.†In 1579 he was appointed chaplain to the young James VI., and returned to Edinburgh. In 1581 episcopacy was abolished as a result of the report of a commission on which Craig had sat; he also assisted at the composition of theSecond Book of Disciplineand the National Covenant of 1580, and in 1581 compiled “Ane Shorte and Generale Confession†called the “King’s Confession,†which was imposed on all parish ministers and graduates and became the basis of the Covenant of 1638. He approved of the Ruthven raid, and admonished James in terms which made him weep, but produced no alteration in his conduct, and before long Craig was denouncing the supremacy of Arran. But he was averse from the violence of Melville, and was willing to admit the royal supremacy “as far as the word of God allows.†James VI.,likeHenry VIII., accepted this compromise, and the oath in this form was taken by Craig, the royal chaplains and some others. In 1592 was published Craig’sCatechism. He died on the 12th of December 1600.
See T. G. Law’s Pref. to Craig’sCatechism(1885); Bain’sCal. Scottish State Papers; Reg. P. C. Scotl.; Hew Scott’sFasti Eccles.Scot.; Knox’s, Calderwood’s and Grub’sEccles. Histories; McCrie’sLife of Melville; Hay Fleming’sMary, Queen of Scots; Bannatyne’sMemorials.
See T. G. Law’s Pref. to Craig’sCatechism(1885); Bain’sCal. Scottish State Papers; Reg. P. C. Scotl.; Hew Scott’sFasti Eccles.Scot.; Knox’s, Calderwood’s and Grub’sEccles. Histories; McCrie’sLife of Melville; Hay Fleming’sMary, Queen of Scots; Bannatyne’sMemorials.
(A. F. P.)
CRAIG, SIR THOMAS(c. 1538-1608), Scottish jurist and poet, was born about 1538. It is probable that he was the eldest son of William Craig of Craigfintray, or Craigston, in Aberdeenshire, but beyond the fact that he was in some way related to the Craigfintray family nothing regarding his birth is known with certainty. He was educated at St Andrews, where he took the B.A. degree in 1555. From St Andrews he went to France, to study the canon and the civil law. He returned to Scotland about 1561, and was admitted advocate in February 1563. In 1564 he was appointed justice-depute by the justice-general, Archibald, earl of Argyll; and in this capacity he presided at many of the criminal trials of the period. In 1573 he was appointed sheriff-depute of Edinburgh, and in 1606 procurator for the church. He never became a lord of session, a circumstance that was unquestionably due to his own choice. It is said that he refused the honour of knighthood which the king wished to confer on him in 1604, when he came to London as one of the Scottish commissioners regarding the union between the kingdoms—the only political object he seems to have cared about; but in accordance with James’s commands he has always been styled and reputed a knight. Craig was married to Helen, daughter of Heriot of Lumphoy in Midlothian, by whom he had four sons and three daughters. His eldest son, Sir Lewis Craig (1569-1622), was raised to the bench in 1604, and among his other descendants are several well-known names in the list of Scottish lawyers. He died on the 26th of February 1608.
Except his poems, the only one of Craig’s works which appeared during his lifetime was hisJus feudale(1603; ed. R. Burnet, 1655; Leipzig, 1716; ed. J. Baillie 1732). The object of this treatise was to assimilate the laws of England and Scotland, but, instead of this, it was an important factor in building up and solidifying the law of Scotland into a separate system. Other works wereDe unione regnorum Britanniae tractatus, De jure successionis regni AngliaeandDe hominio disputatio. Translations of the last two have been published, and in 1910 an edition of theDe Unioneappeared, with translation and notes by C. S. Terry. Craig’s first poem, anEpithalamiumin honour of the marriage of Mary queen of Scots and Darnley, appeared in 1565. Most of his poems have been reprinted in theDelitiae poëtarum Scotorum.
See P. F. Tytler,Life of Craig(1823); Life prefixed to Baillie’s edition of theJus feudale.
See P. F. Tytler,Life of Craig(1823); Life prefixed to Baillie’s edition of theJus feudale.
CRAIGIE, PEARL MARY TERESA(1867-1906), Anglo-American novelist and dramatist, who wrote under the pen-name of “John Oliver Hobbes,†was born at Boston, U.S.A., on the 3rd of November 1867. She was the elder daughter of John Morgan Richards, and was educated in London and Paris. When she was nineteen she married Reginald Walpole Craigie, by whom she had one son, John Churchill Craigie: but the marriage proved an unhappy one, and was dissolved on her petition in July 1895. She was brought up as a Nonconformist, but in 1892 was received into the Roman Catholic Church, of which she remained a devout and serious member. Her first little book, the brilliant and epigrammaticSome Emotions and a Moral, was published in 1891 in Mr Fisher Unwin’s “Pseudonym Library,†and was followed byThe Sinner’s Comedy(1892),A Study in Temptations(1893),A Bundle of Life(1894),The Gods, Some Mortals, and Lord Wickenham.The Herb Moon(1896), a country love story, was followed byThe School for Saints(1897), with a sequel,Robert Orange(1900). Mrs Craigie had already written a one-act “proverb,â€Journeys end in Lovers Meeting, produced by Ellen Terry in 1894, and a three-act tragedy, “Osbern and Ursyne,†printed in theAnglo-Saxon Review(1899), when her successful piece,The Ambassador, was produced at the St James’s Theatre in 1898.A Repentance(oneact, 1899) andThe Wisdom of the Wise(1900) were produced at the same theatre, andThe Flute of Pan(1904) first at Manchester and then at the Shaftesbury theatre; she was also part author ofThe Bishop’s Move(Garrick Theatre, 1902). Later books areThe Serious Wooing(1901),Love and the Soul Hunters(1902),Tales about Temperament(1902),The Vineyard(1904). Mrs Craigie died suddenly of heart failure in London on the 13th of August 1906.
CRAIK, DINAH MARIA(1826-1887), English novelist, better known by her maiden name of Mulock, and still better as “the author ofJohn Halifax, Gentleman,†was the daughter of Thomas Mulock, an eccentric religious enthusiast of Irish extraction, and was born on the 20th of April 1826 at Stoke-upon-Trent, in Staffordshire, where her father was the minister of a small congregation. She settled in London about 1846, determined to obtain a livelihood by her pen, and, beginning with fiction for children, advanced steadily untilJohn Halifax, Gentleman(1857), placed her in the front rank of the women novelists of her day.A Life for a Life(1859), though inferior, maintained a high position, but she afterwards wrote little of importance except some very charming tales for children. Her most remarkable novels, after those mentioned above, wereThe Ogilvies(1849),Olive(1850),The Head of the Family(1851),Agatha’s Husband(1853). There is much passion and power in these early works, and all that Mrs Craik wrote was characterized by high principle and deep feeling. Some of the short stories inAvillion and other Talesalso exhibit a fine imagination. She published some poems distinguished by genuine lyrical spirit, narratives of tours in Ireland and Cornwall, andA Woman’s Thoughts about Women. She married Mr G. L. Craik, a partner in the house of Macmillan & Company, in 1864, and died at Shortlands, near Bromley, Kent, on the 12th of October 1887.
CRAIK, GEORGE LILLIE(1798-1866), English man of letters, the son of a schoolmaster, was born at Kennoway, Fifeshire, in 1798. He studied at the university of St Andrews with the intention of entering the church, but, altering his plans, became the editor of a local newspaper, and went to London in 1824 to devote himself to literature. He became connected with a short-lived literary paper called theVerulam; in 1831 he published hisPursuit of Knowledge under Difficultiesamong the works of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge; he contributed a considerable number of biographical and historical articles to thePenny Cyclopaedia; and he edited thePictorial History of England, himself writing much of the work. In 1844 he published hisHistory of Literature and Learning in England from the Norman Conquest to the Present Time, illustrated by extracts. Craik is best known for his abridged version of this work,The History of English Literature and the English Language(1861), which passed through several editions. In the next year appeared hisSpenser and his Poetry, an abstract of Spenser’s poems, with historical and biographical notes and frequent quotations; and in 1847 hisBacon, his Writings and his Philosophy, a work of a similar kind. The two last-mentioned works appeared amongKnight’s Weekly Volumes. Two years later Craik obtained the chair of history and English literature at Queen’s College, Belfast, a position which he held till his death, which took place on the 25th of June 1866. He had married Miss Jeannette Dempster (d. 1856) in 1826, and his daughter, Georgiana Marion Craik (Mrs A. W. May), wrote over thirty novels, of whichLost and Won(1859) was the best. Besides the works already noticed, Craik published theHistory of British Commerce from the Earliest Times(1844),Romance of the Peerage(1848-1850) andThe English of Shakespeare(1856).
CRAIL(formerlyKarel), a royal and police burgh of Fifeshire, Scotland, 2 m. from Fife Ness, the most easterly point of the county, and 11 m. S.E. of St Andrews by the North British railway, but 2 m. nearer by road. Pop. (1901) 1077. It is said to have been a town of some note as early as the 9th century; and its castle, of which there are hardly any remains, was the residence of David I. and other Scottish kings. It was constituted a royal burgh by a charter of Robert Bruce in 1306, and had its privileges confirmed by Robert II. in 1371, by Mary in 1553, and by Charles I. in 1635. Of its priory, dedicated to St Rufus, a few ruins still exist. The church of Maelrubha, the patron saint of Crail, is an edifice of great antiquity. Many of the ordinary houses are massive and quaint. The public buildings include a library and reading-room and town hall. The chief industries comprise fisheries, especially for crabs, shipping and brewing. It is growing in favour as a summer resort. It unites with St Andrews, the two Anstruthers, Kilrenny, Pittenweem and Cupar in returning one member to parliament.
Balcomie Castle, about 2 m. to the N.E., dates from the 14th century. Here Mary of Guise landed in 1538, a few days before her marriage to James V. in St Andrews cathedral. In the 18th century it passed through the hands of various proprietors and was ultimately shorn of much of its original size and grandeur. The East Neuk is a term applied more particularly to the country round Fife Ness, and more generally to all of the peninsula east of an imaginary line drawn from St Andrews to Elie. For fully half the year the cottages of its villages are damp with the haar, or dense mist, borne on the east wind from the North Sea.
CRAILSHEIM, orKrailsheim, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Württemberg, on the Jagst, a tributary of the Neckar, at the junction of railways to Heilbronn and Fürth. Pop. (1900) 5251. There are two Evangelical churches and a Roman Catholic church, and a handsome town hall, with a tower 225 ft. high. The industrial establishments include extensive tanneries and machine workshops, and there is a brisk trade in cattle and agricultural produce.
Crailsheim was incorporated as a town in 1338, successfully withstood a siege by the forces of several Swabian imperial cities (1379-1380), a feat which is annually celebrated, passed later into the possession of the burgraves of Nuremberg, and came in 1791 to Prussia, in 1806 to Bavaria and 1810 to Württemberg.
CRAIOVA,orKrajova, the capital of the department of Doljiu, Rumania, situated near the left bank of the river Jiu, and on the main Walachian railway from Verciorova to Bucharest. Pop. (1900) 45,438. A branch railway to Calafat facilitates the export trade with Bulgaria. Craiova is the chief commercial town west of Bucharest; the surrounding uplands are very rich in grain, pasturage and vegetable products, and contain extensive forests. The town has rope and carriage factories, and close by is a large tannery, worked by convict labour, and supplying the army. The principal trade is in cattle, cereals, fish, linen, pottery, glue and leather. In the town, which is the headquarters of the First Army Corps, there are military and commercial academies, an appeal court and a chamber of commerce, besides many churches, Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant, with synagogues for the Jews.
Craiova, which occupied the site of the Roman Castra Nova, was formerly the capital of Little Walachia. Its ancientbansor military governors were, next to the princes, the chief dignitaries of Walachia, and the district is still styled the banat of Craiova. Among the holders of this office were Michael the Brave (1593-1601), and several members of the celebrated Bassarab family (q.v.). The bans had the right of coining money stamped with their own effigies, and hence arose the name ofbani(centimes). The Rumanian franc, orleu(“lionâ€), so called from the image it bore, came likewise from Craiova. In 1397 Craiova was the scene of a victory won by Prince Mircea over Bayezid I. sultan of the Turks; and in October 1853, of an engagement between Turks and Russians.
CRAMBO,an old rhyming game which, according to Strutt (Sports and Pastimes), was played as early as the 14th century under the name of theABC of Aristotle. In the days of the Stuarts it was very popular, and is frequently mentioned in the writings of the time. Thus Congreve’sLove for Love, i. 1, contains the passage, “Get the Maids to Crambo in an Evening, and learn the knack of Rhiming.†Crambo, or capping the rhyme, is now played by one player thinking of a word and telling the others what it rhymes with, the others not naming the actual word they guess but its meaning. Thus one says “I know a word that rhymes withbird.†A second asks “Is it ridiculous?†“No, it is not absurd.†“Is it a part of speech?†“No, it is not a word.†This proceeds until the right word is guessed.
InDumb Crambothe guessers, instead of naming the word, express its meaning by dumb show, a rhyme being given them as a clue.
CRAMER, JOHANN BAPTIST(1771-1858), English musician, of German extraction, was born in Mannheim, on the 24th of February 1771. He was the son of Wilhelm Cramer (1743-1799). a famous London violinist and musical conductor, one of a numerous family who were identified with the progress of music during the 18th and 19th centuries. Johann Baptist was brought to London as a child, and it was in London that the greater part of his musical efforts was exercised. From 1782 to 1784 he studied the pianoforte under Muzio Clementi, and soon became known as a professional pianist both in London and on the continent; he enjoyed a world-wide reputation, and was particularly appreciated by Beethoven. He died in London on the 16th of April 1858. Apart from his pianoforte-playing Cramer is important as a composer, and as principal founder in 1824 of the London music-publishing house of Cramer & Co. He wrote a number of sonatas, &c., for pianoforte, and other compositions; but hisÉtudesis the work by which he lives as a composer. These “studies†have appeared in numerous editions, from 1810 onwards, and became the staple pieces in the training of pianists.
CRAMER, JOHN ANTONY(1793-1848), English classical scholar and geographer, was born at Mitlödi in Switzerland. He was educated at Westminster and Christ Church, Oxford. He resided in Oxford till 1844, during which time he held many important offices, being public orator, principal of New Inn Hall (which he rebuilt at his own expense), and professor of modern history. In 1844 he was appointed to the deanery of Carlisle, which he held until his death at Scarborough on the 24th of August 1848. His works are of considerable importance:A Dissertation on the Passage of Hannibal over the Alps, published anonymously with H. L. Wickham (2nd ed., 1828), “a scholar-like work of first-rate abilityâ€; geographical and historical descriptions ofAncient Italy(1826),Ancient Greece(1828),Asia Minor(1832);Travels of Nicander Nucius of Corcyra[Greek traveller of the 16th century]in England(1841);Catenae Graecorum Patrum in Novum Testamentum(1838-1844);Anecdota Graeca(from the MSS. of the royal library in Paris, 1839-1841).
CRÄMER, KARL VON(1818-1902), Bavarian politician, had a very remarkable career, rising gradually from a mere workman in a factory at Doos near Nuremberg to the post of manager, and finally becoming part proprietor of the establishment. Leaving business in 1870 he devoted his time entirely to politics. From 1848 he had been a member of the Bavarian second chamber, at first representing the district of Erlangen-Fürth, and afterwards Nuremberg, which city also sent him after the war of 1866 as its deputy to the German customs parliament, and from 1871 to 1874 to the first GermanReichstag. He sat in these bodies as a member of the Progressive party (Fortschrittspartei), and in Bavaria was one of the leaders of the Liberal (Freisinnige) party. His eloquence had a great hold upon the masses. As a parliamentarian he was very clear-headed, and thoroughly understood how to lead a party. For many years he was the reporter of the finance committee of the chamber. In 1882, on account of his great services in connexion with the Bavarian National Exhibition of Nuremberg, the order of the crown of Bavaria was conferred upon him, carrying with it the honour of nobility. He died at Nuremberg on the 31st of December 1902.
CRAMP, CHARLES HENRY(1828-  ), American shipbuilder, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the 9th of May 1828, of German descent, his family name having been Krampf. He was the eldest of eleven children of William Cramp (1807-1869), a pioneer American shipbuilder, who in 1830 established shipyards on the Delaware river near Philadelphia. The son was educated at the Philadelphia Central high school, after which he was employed in his father’s shipyards and made himself master of every detail of ship construction. He showed especial aptitude as a naval architect and designer, and after becoming his father’s partner in 1849 it was to that branch of the work that he devoted himself. His inventive capacity and resourcefulness, together with the complete success of his innovations in naval construction, soon gave him high rank as an authority on shipbuilding, and made his influence in that industry widely felt. In the Mexican War he designed surf boats for the landing of troops at Vera Cruz; during the Civil War he designed and built several ironclads for the United States navy, notably the “New Ironsides†in 1862, and the light-draught monitors used in the Carolina sounds; and after 1887 constructed wholly or in part from his own designs many of the most powerful ships in the “new†navy, including the cruisers “Columbia,†“Minneapolis†and “Brooklyn,†and the battleships “Indiana,†“Iowa,†“Massachusetts,†“Alabama†and “Maine.†In every progressive step in ocean shipbuilding, in the transformation from sail to steam, and from wood to iron and steel, Cramp had a prominent part. His fame as a shipbuilder extended to Europe, and he built warships for several foreign navies, among others the “Retvizan†and the “Variag†for the Russian government. He also constructed a number of freight and passenger steamships for several trans-Atlantic lines.
See A. C. Buel,Memoirs of C. H. Cramp(Philadelphia, 1906).
See A. C. Buel,Memoirs of C. H. Cramp(Philadelphia, 1906).
CRAMP,a painful spasmodic contraction of muscles, most frequently occurring in the limbs, but also apt to affect certain internal organs. This disorder belongs to the class of diseases known as local spasms, of which other varieties exist in such affections as spasmodic asthma and colic. The cause of these painful seizures resides in the nervous system, and operates either directly from the great nerve centres, or, as is generally the case, indirectly by reflex action, as, for example, when attacks are brought on by some derangement of the digestive organs.
In its most common form, that of cramp in the limbs, this disorder comes on suddenly, often during sleep, the patient being aroused by an agonizing feeling of pain in the calf of the leg or back of the thigh, accompanied in many instances with a sensation of sickness or faintness from the intensity of the suffering. During the paroxysm the muscular fibres affected can often be felt gathered up into a hard knot. The attack in general lasts but a few seconds, and then suddenly departs, the spasmodic contraction of the muscles ceasing entirely, or, on the other hand, relief may come more gradually during a period of minutes or even hours. A liability to cramp is often associated with a rheumatic or gouty tendency, but occasional attacks are common enough apart from this, and are often induced by some peculiar posture which a limb has assumed during sleep. Exposure of the limbs to cold will also bring on cramp, and to this is probably to be ascribed its frequent occurrence in swimmers. Cramp of the extremities is also well known as one of the most distressing accompaniments of cholera. It is likewise of frequent occurrence in the process of parturition, just before delivery.
This painful disorder can be greatly relieved and often entirely removed by firmly grasping or briskly rubbing the affected part with the hand, or by anything which makes an impression on the nerves, such as warm applications. Even a sudden and vigorous movement of the limb will often succeed in terminating the attack.
What is termed cramp of the stomach, or gastralgia, usually occurs as a symptom in connexion with some form of gastric disorder, such as aggravated dyspepsia, or actual organic disease of the mucous membrane of the stomach.
The disease known asWriter’s Cramp, orScrivener’s Palsy, is a spasm which affects certain muscles when engaged in the performance of acts, the result of education and long usage, and which does not occur when the same muscles are employed in acts of a different kind. This disorder owes its name to the relative frequency with which it is met in persons who write much, although it is by no means confined to them, but is liable to occur in individuals of almost any handicraft. It was termed by Dr DuchenneFunctional Spasm.
The symptoms are in the first instance a gradually increasing difficulty experienced in conducting the movements required for executing the work in hand. Taking, for example, the case of writers, there is a feeling that the pen cannot be moved withthe same freedom as before, and the handwriting is more or less altered in consequence. At an early stage of the disease the difficulty may be to a large extent overcome by persevering efforts, but ultimately, when the attempt is persisted in, the muscles of the fingers, and occasionally also those of the forearm, are seized with spasm or cramp, so that the act of writing is rendered impossible. Sometimes the fingers, instead of being cramped, move in a disorderly manner and the pen cannot be grasped, while in other rare instances a kind of paralysis affects the muscles of the fingers, and they are powerless to make the movements necessary for holding the pen. It is to be noted that it is only in the act of writing that these phenomena present themselves, and that for all other movements the fingers and arms possess their natural power. The same symptoms are observed and the same remarks applymutatis mutandisin the case of musicians, artists, compositors, seamstresses, tailors and many mechanics in whom this affection may occur. Indeed, although actually a rare disease, no muscle or group of muscles in the body which is specially called into action in any particular occupation is exempt from liability to this functional spasm.
The exact pathology of writer’s cramp has not been worked out, but it is now generally accepted that the disease is not a local one of muscles or nerves, but that it is an affection of the central nervous system. The complaint never occurs under thirty years of age, and is more frequent in males than females. Occasionally there is an inherited tendency to the disease, but more usually there is a history of alcoholism in the parents, or some neuropathic heredity. In its treatment the first requisite is absolute cessation from the employment which caused it. Usually, however, complete rest of the arm is undesirable, and recovery takes place more speedily if other actions of a different kind are regularly practised. If a return to the same work is a necessity, then Sir W. R. Gowers insists on some modification of method in performing the act, as writing from the shoulder instead of the wrist.
CRAMP-RINGS,rings anciently worn as a cure for cramp and “falling-sickness†or epilepsy. The legend is that the first one was presented to Edward the Confessor by a pilgrim on his return from Jerusalem, its miraculous properties being explained to the king. At his death it passed into the keeping of the abbot of Westminster, by whom it was used medically and was known as St Edward’s Ring. From that time the belief grew that the successors of Edward inherited his powers, and that the rings blessed by them worked cures. Hence arose the custom for the successive sovereigns of England each year on Good Friday formally to bless a number of cramp-rings. A service was held; prayers and psalms were said; and water “in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost†was poured over the rings, which were always of gold or silver, and made from the metal that the king offered to the Cross on Good Friday. The ceremony survived to the reign of Queen Mary, but the belief in the curative powers of similar circlets of sacred metal has lingered on even to the present day.