Cropple,verb(Winchester).—To pluck; to plough—UP TOBooks. [Wykehamicéforcripple.]
Cross.To be crossed,verb. phr.—For not paying term bills to the bursar (treasurer), or for cutting chapels, or lectures, or other offences, an undergrad. can beCROSSEDat the buttery, or kitchen, or both,i.e.aCROSSis put against his name by the Don, who wishes to see him, or to punish him.
1853.Bradley(“Cuthbert Bede”),Verdant Green, pt.II.ch. x. Sir!—You will translate all your lectures; have your nameCROSSEDon the buttery and kitchen books; and be confined to chapel, hall, and college.
Crow,subs.(Stonyhurst).—A master. [From the black gown with “wings.”]
Crown(Charterhouse).—The school tuck-shop.
1900.Tod,Charterhouse, 96. At Old Charterhouse the wordCROWN, with a sort of coronet above it, was painted in large white letters on a wall near the racket courts. The story is that the Crown Inn once stood just outside this wall.... When the inn was pulled down, Lord Ellenborough, then a boy in the school, painted a crown on a wall near the place where the inn had stood. Years after, on his return from India, being touched to find his boyish work still in existence, he expressed a hope that it might never be allowed to vanish; so it has been painted again from time to time, and Merchant Taylors’ still keep it fresh. This “CROWN” was not near the tuck-shop, which was a grimy cellar under the old school, with the face of a disused clock for a signboard, and the superscription, “NO TICK HERE.” But it was thought fit that the memory of this old word should be kept up somehow and somewhere at the new school, so a large theatrical-looking crown was suspended, like a tavern sign, outside the school tuck-shop in the pavilion. In this way the name and memory of this bit of antiquity are preserved.
Crow Wood(Stonyhurst).—A wood in the Park.
1884.Stonyhurst Mag., June, p. 294. The churn was in the latter days [1834] turned by a wheel worked by water supplied from theCROW WOOD.
Crug,subs.1. (Christ’s Hospital).—At Hertford, a crust; in the London school, crust and crumb alike.
1820.Lamb,Elia(Christ’s Hospital) [Works(1852), 322]. He had his tea and hot rolls in a morning, while we were battening upon our quarter of a penny loaf—ourCRUG.
2.A Blue(q.v.); especially an “old boy.”
1877.Blanch,Blue-Coat Boys, p. 80. AllCRUGSwill well remember, &c.
Cruganaler,subs.(Christ’s Hospital).—A biscuit given on St. Matthew’s Day. [Orthography dubious. Blanch inclines to the following derivation: “The biscuit had once something to do with those nights when bread and beer, with cheese, were substituted for bread-and-butter and milk. Thence the term ‘crug and aler.’ The only argument against this is the fact that the liquid was never dignified with the name of ale, but was invariably called ‘the swipes.’ By another derivation = ‘hard as nails.’ It is then speltCRUGGYNAILER.”] Obsolete.
Cruggy,adj.(Christ’s Hospital).—Hungry. [FromCRUG(q.v.).]
Crump,subs.(Winchester).—A hard hit; a fall. Also asverb.
Cud,adj.1. (Winchester).—Pretty; handsome. [A suggested derivation is from κυδος; another is the A.S.cuð, the Scotscouthie, and whencecuðle, to cuddle (a derivative ofcuð), the meaning formerly given to a verbal usage ofCUDat Winchester.]
2. (Christ’s Hospital).—Severe. WhenceCUDDY= hard: difficult; said of a lesson. AlsoHertfordicéforPASSY(q.v.). [There is a common hard biscuit called a “cuddy-biscuit” which doubtless has this derivation.] Obsolete.
Culminate,verb(University: obsolete).—To mount a coach-box.
1803.Gradus ad Cantabrigiam, s.v.
Cup-fag,subs.(Charterhouse).—A boy whose duty it is to place the challenge cups, should his House have any, in their cases each morning, and remove them to a safe place every night. He has also to keep them clean, and for neglect of any of these duties he is fined. He receives a quarterly payment for his services, and is exempt from other forms of fagging.
Curtain.Above the curtain,phr.(Westminster).—Seequot.
1867.Collins,The Public Schools, p. 108. A curtain formerly was drawn across the school, dividing the upper forms from the lower. One day a boy was so unlucky as to tear it; and Busby’s known severity left no doubt of the punishment that would follow. The offender was in despair, when a generous schoolfellow volunteered to take the blame upon himself and suffered in his friend’s stead accordingly.... In three year’s time he was sufficiently advanced to be admitted by BusbyABOVE THE CURTAIN—that is, into the fourth class, the lowest in the upper school. Of this class, however, he says the head-master “took little or no care,” but as he rose into the higher forms he found the teaching more satisfactory.
Cuse,subs.(Winchester).—A book in which a record is kept of the “marks” in each division; aCLASSICUS PAPER(q.v.): also used for the weekly order.
Custos,subs.(Harrow).—The official who looks after all arrangements in the way of stationery, &c., keeps the keys, cuts names on the House-boards, &c.
AlsoseeAdmonishing-money.
Cut,verb(general).—To avoid; to absent oneself from:e.g.TO CUT LECTURE,TO CUT CHAPEL,TO CUT HALL,TO CUT GATES.SeeAppendix.
To cut into,verb. phr.(Winchester).—Originally to hit one with a “ground ash.” The office was exercised by Bible-clerks upon a man kicking up a row when up to Books. Now generally used in the sense of to correct in a less formal manner thanTUNDING(q.v.).
To cut in a book,verb. phr.(Winchester).—Seequot.
c.1840.Mansfield,School-Life at Winchester(1866).Cut in a book.—A method of drawing lots. A certain letter was fixed on (e.g.the first in the second line on the left page), each boy then turned over a leaf, and whoever turned over the leaf in which the corresponding letter was nearest toA, won.
Cuts,subs.(general).—Flannel trousers;SHORTS(q.v.).