Cromleoh, a huge flat and oblong stone, placed in a sloping position, and supported by pillars of un- hewn and perpendicular stones. There were many of them at one time in Ireland, and they are supposed to have been Druidic altars for sacrifice. Their mass- iveness has defied the ravages of time and revolutions, while the simplicity of their structure bespeaks for them a high antiquity. There is one of them yet in Glansworth, Ireland, which forms a chamber of 26 feet long and 6 feet wide. Mr. Moore (History of Ireland) says that remotely they were called in Irish ** Bothals, houses of God.'* The Druids in ancient Ireland had no temples. Instead of them, on a hill, in an oaken grove, and, if possible, near a flowing stream, they en- closed a circle, having a diameter of 70 or 100 feet, and in the centre of it raised the cromlech, around which, on certain days, the people marched, and always in the direction of the sun. See Dbdids; Ai^tab.
Crook-baoked C|^A, gibben% gibbous), a hunch- backed or deformed person (Lev. xxi, 21). See Blem- ish.
Crop (nK'niD, murah^ implying fuU feeding), the craw of a bird (Lev. i, 16). See Sacbificb. ^ ,
CroBier (or Cbozieb), properly an archbishop's staff, terminating at the top in a floriated cross, as shown in the sul^oined illustration of archbishop War- ham's crosier (1520) in the cathedral -_ of Canterbury, England. It is gilt, l| |l sometimes even of gold. The term crosier is also applied to the bishop's staff, which is surmounted by a crook or curved circular head. Thb * * pas- toral staff," in the Roman Church, is carried before bishops, abbots, and abbesses as an ensign, expressive of their dignity while they are exercis- ing the functions of their ofi3ce, and the figure of which is also found in Croalers.
their coat of arms. The origin of the crosier is the shepherd's crook, the bishops being regarded as the pastors of their dioceses. By degrees this humble emblem became greatly adorned, and was made of costly materials. Some suppose the crosier to have been originally only a simple staff, which, from the earliest times, was given to judges, kings, etc., as an emblem of authority. St. Isidore says bishops bear the staff because it is their duty to correct the erring and to support the weak.
Cross (ffravpog, a pointed stake, prob. from larrfpt, to stand upright), in the New. Test., signifies properly
CROSS
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CROSS
the instmment of cracifixion ; and hence (by metony- my) crocifixion itself, namely, that of Christ (Eph. ii, 16; Heb.xii,2; 1 Cor. i, 17, 18 ; GaLv,ll; vi, 12,14; Phil, ill, 18). It is also put figuratively (in the phrases " take up [or bear] the cross," etc.) for any severe suf- fering, including the idea of exposure to contumely and death (Matt. X, 88 ; xvi,24; Markvlii,84; x,21; Luke ix, 28 ; xiv, 27). (See below.)
I. DeHffnatioru. — incept the Latin crux there was no word definitively and invariably applied to this instru- ment of punishment. The Greek word aravpoQ prop- erly, like (jKoko^^ means merely a stake (Homer, Od. xiv, 11 ; n, xxiv, 458). So Eustathius and Hesychius both define it. The Greeks use the word to translate both pahu and crux; e. g. aravptf Tcpoehlv in Dion. Cass, (xlix, 22) is exactly equivalent to the Latin ad pedum deligttre. In Livy even crux means a mere stake (xxviii, 29), Just as ffice vertA the fathers use <tcoXo>//, and even stipety of a cross proper. In consequence of this vagueness of meaning, impaling (Herod, ix, 76) is sometimes spoken of, loosely, as a kind of crucifixion, and dva(TKo\owil^Hv is nearly equivalent to dpacrav- povv (Seneca, Consol. ad Marc, xx ; and Ep. xiv). Oth- er words occasionally applied to the cross are patibulum «nd /krca, pieces of wood in the shape of H or Y and A respectively {Dig. 48, tit. 13; Plautus Mil, GL ii, 47; and Sallust, tr. ap. Non. iv, 355, seems clearly to im- ply crucifixion). After the abolition of this mode of death by Constantino, Trebonianus substituted /urcd fgendos for crucifigendoM wherever the word occurred. Hore generally &e cross is called arbor infelix (Livy, i, 26 ; Seneca, Ep. 101), or tigrum infelix (Cicero, pro Rab. 3) ; and in Greek IvXov (Sept. at Deut. xxi, 22) : comp. "the accursed tree." The fSathers in contro- versy used to quote the words 6 Kvpto^ i^(ri\ivoiVj " The Lord reigned" (dirb rov ^vXov), from Psa. xiv, 10, or Psa. xcvi, as a prophecy of the cross ; but these words are a gloss (aduUerina et Chritticmd devotions adilita\ though Genebrardus thought them a prophetic addition of the Sept., and Agellius conjectures that they read j'? for CjK (Schleusner's Thetaur.). The Hebrews had no word for a cross more definite than ]^5, ** wood" (Gen. xl, 19, etc.), and so they called the transverse beams DIJI Titt), " warp and woof* (Pear- son. On the Creed, art iv), like ^vXov oiovfiov, of the Sept. Crux is the root of cnicio^ and is often used proverbially for what is most painful (as Colum. i, 7 ; Terence, Phorm. ill, 3, 11), and as a nickname for vil- lains (Plautus, Pcm. ii, 5, 17). Rarer terms aro ucpiov (Eusebius, viii, 8), odvig (?), and gabahu (Varro ap. Kon. ii, 373 ; Macrinus ap. Capitol. Macr. 11). This last word is derived from PSIV, ''to complete."