Crispin

“ Thus St Crispin was generally a shoemaker’s sign. At the present day, the gentle craft represented by this saint live up to the proverb, and keep to the “last;” but many publicans still have the sign of Crispin, Saint Crispin, Jolly Crispin, or Crispin and Crispian, and occasionally King Crispin, (as at Morpeth.) And well may they put their houses under the protection of this saint, since the proverb says, “Cobblers and tinkers are the best ale drinkers.” Crispin and Crispian were two Roman brothers, sons of a king ”

“ Dead heart! dead roses! but love undying.” Caliphronas was singing these words in Greek, and Crispin at once recognized the voice of the singer, a recognition which immediately confirmed his suspicions as to the identity of this gentleman.
“We will live in the woods, my beloved,
And berries will be our food;
On berries and kisses could I live always,
Till Fate destroyed us,
And robbed us of berries, and kisses, and life forever.” “I’ve heard him singing that song at Melnos,” muttered Crispin quietly to himself. “It is he! What can he be doing here?” ”

“ In safety for a time we land. Fortunately for the success of the enterprise, the sky was cloudy, so that the moon, thickly veiled by vapors, was unable to betray the adventurers by her tell-tale light. A strong breeze was blowing seaward from the land and ruffling the surface of the black water to ragged caps of white, which promised anything but a pleasant journey to Crispin and his companion. ”

“ In the Delony version—itself, in every probability, a borrowing from the popular mind of the Elizabethan period,—these things are put forth; while in trade paintings and songs the Prince Crispin is assumed to have a wife or sister, one can hardly tell which, in the person of a princess, the Princess Crispianus, and who figures as the patron of the women's branch of the shoemakers' art; Crispin himself presiding over the coarser labour for the rougher sex. ”

“ I can depend on Crispin, and as he knows Caliphronas thoroughly, that consummate scamp will hesitate before he takes any action adverse to my interests. But Justinian seems so mixed up in the affair, and apparently without any reason whatsoever. He has lived in this Greek island all his life, Englishman though he is, so why he should desire to see a complete stranger like myself I do not know. Well, the only thing I can do is to trust blindly in Crispin, for I am sure he will not fail me. ”

“ Crispin’s Day is a great holiday among the shoemakers, and the origin of it is thus explained:—Two brothers, Crispin and Crispinian, natives of Rome, having become converts to Christianity, travelled to Soissons in France about the year 303, in order to propagate the Christian faith. Being desirous, however, of rendering themselves independent they gained a subsistence by making [389] shoes, with which it is said they furnished the poor at an extremely small price, an angel, according to the legend, supplying them with leather. ”

“ Migne, vol. clviii.) He married Eva, a noble French lady (d. about 1089) , and by her was the father of Gilbert Crispin, whom, while yet ‘in a tender age,’ he handed over to be educated by Herluin at Bec. He afterwards withdrew from the world and was made a monk by Herluin about 1077, an event which he survived only a few days (ib.; Chron. Bec, ap. Migne, p. 646) .
Crispin is said to have become a perfect scholar in all the liberal arts while at Bec, whence he was called by Lanfranc to the abbey of Westminster, over which church he ruled for thirty-two years (De nob. Crisp. gen. p. 738) . ”

“ Crispin's cold eyes regarded Harkness steadily, then he moved round the table until he was close beside him.
"I will tell you something, Mr.—ah—Harkness—something that probably you do not know. There have been one or two persons as foolish and interfering as to suggest that my father is not in complete control of his faculties, even that he is dangerous to the public peace. My father is an original mind. There is no one like him in this whole world, no one who has the good of the human race at heart as he has. ”

“ Crispin was going on at Treliss just as he had done at Milton. He's taken this strange house outside the town which you'll see to-night. Quite a famous place in a way, built on the sea-cliff with a tangled overgrown wood behind it and a high white tower that you can see for miles over the country-side. At first the people liked him just as they had done at Milton and were interested in him. Then there were stories and more stories. Suddenly, only a week ago, he said he was going abroad, and to-morrow he's going.
"Now the point I want to make clear to you is that the man's mad. ”

“ Her voice sank on the last word, and the tears started again.
When Crispin answered, which was not at once, his voice was scarcely so harsh as before, though he spoke rather scoffingly.
“Women are always full of fancies. I don’t wonder your father couldn’t stand them!”
It was Freda’s turn to laugh now.
“Oh,” she cried, “then I knew him better than you after all. For he loved one woman so well that he could never bear to look at another after she died. And he left his own daughter among women, nothing but women. ”

“ Nell and Crispin’ll go to Stoop, and Nell’ll order some boots. Stoop’s got your last, and Crispin, being a man, will keep her straight. In the same way, you and I’ll go to Zyrot’s and you shall pick out some hats. They can be tried on me, and I’ll supervise your choice.”
“That’s all very well,” said David, “but I know Crispin’s ideas of humour, and——”
“I give you my word,” said his host, “I’ll do you a treat. Nell shan’t get a blinkin’ thing I wouldn’t be glad of myself. It’ll be for her, of course, to choose the engagement ring.” He turned to Eleanor. ”

“ To tell you the truth there's always such a lot to do, and when I've finished the Daily Mail there doesn't seem time for much more, except a shocker sometimes. The sort of mess we're in now wouldn't make a bad shocker, would it? Only you'd never be able to make Crispin convincing. All I know is, if I wrote a book about him I'd have him tortured at the end with little red devils and plenty of pincers. However, I get what you mean, Harkness, about being alive. ”

“ According{282} to another version of the legend, the saint stole the leather, so as to enable him to benefit the poor. Crispin's efforts, like those of so many other benefactors of their kind, were poorly rewarded. He was ordered to be beheaded, and suffered martyrdom in 287 A.D., not, however, for his shoemaking, or for his thefts, but on account of his religious tenets. Some accounts state that he and his brother were flung into a cauldron of molten lead.
CLOG, OR PATTEN.
FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
The brotherhood of the shoemakers has always included men of remarkable character and parts. ”

“ Nowhere could Freda have found a person better able to get her out of her difficulty. Even Mrs. Bean gave a sigh of relief, after the first moment of dismay at this unexpected intrusion of a stranger, on finding the burden of her responsibility thus suddenly lightened. Crispin would never dare do further harm to John Thurley while this “outsider” was about. ”

“ He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age, 44
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say, 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian';
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say, 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot, 49
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day. ”

“ Crispus had followed the group of women, and our friend Paulus had followed Crispus. In the compluvium, the innkeeper took the lantern from his wife, and begged Aglais and Agatha to follow him up the awning-covered staircase. As he began to ascend, it happened that Crispina, looking around, noticed Paulus, who had taken off his broad-rimmed hat, under one of the sconces. No sooner had her eyes rested on him than she started violently, and grasped the balustrade as if she would have fallen but for that support.
"Who are you?" said the woman. ”

“ At last Crispino gets into such desperate straits that he resolves to make way with himself. He is about to jump into a well when a fairy appears and dissuades him, at the same time giving him a purse of gold and offering to set him up in business as a doctor, telling him he must look about him whenever he has a patient, and if she is not present he will be successful. The act closes with a duet for Crispino and Annetta, “Since you have found a Fairy” (“Troffo so, basta per ova”) . ”

“ However cautiously a mushroom made its appearance, at its first rumble, old Crispin would jump from his hard bed, hastily dress himself, and, often without tasting a morsel of breakfast, be out of the house and on to the field in time to see the newcomer pop its head through the earth. ”

“ Crispus (curled, or wrinkled) , the same word which has produced our crisp; and the French crépé (applied to hair) , became a cognomen, and in late times produced Crispinus and Crispinianus, two brothers who accompanied St. Quentin when he preached the Gospel in France. They settled at Soissons, and there, while pursuing their mission, supported themselves by making shoes until their martyrdom, A.D. 287. Shoemakers, of course, adopted them as their patrons, and theirs was a universal holiday.
“Oh! that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
Who do no work to-day.” ”

“ One day this Badius walked up to the sentinels on duty before the camp gate and asked them to call Crispinus. Crispinus, on receiving the message, imagined that he had not forgotten the old ties of friendship even though public treaties were torn up, and that he wanted a friendly and familiar talk, and accordingly he went on a short distance from his comrades. As soon as they came in sight of one another Badius called out: "I, Badius, challenge you, Crispinus, to battle. Let us mount our horses and, when the others have withdrawn, decide who of us is the better fighter." ”

“ The constant shuffling of feet, the pounding of hoofs, the loud rough voices of men raised in harsh yells and commands and the accompaniment of rolling, booming thunder and bursting shells seemed in Don Hale's mind to form a part of some strange, wild fantasy rather than of actual reality. ”

“ The old château appeared very dim and shadowy; for the cold, cheerless light in the eastern sky was just beginning to steal over the mist-covered landscape. Everything was reeking with moisture; vegetation faintly glimmered; every gust of wind seemed to bring down pattering drops of water from the leaves. ”

“ Flashing jets of flame from the exploding shells cast a weird, unnatural light over the surroundings, and as if some mighty convulsion of nature was upheaving them, giant geysers of earth, mud and débris shot high in the air, while streams of iron and steel created havoc and destruction on every hand. ”

“ Occasionally the peals of thunder grew louder, but they were not yet loud enough to drown the never-ending grind and rumble of wheels, the faint rattle of harness and clinking of chains, or the voices of drivers yelling commands to their skittish horses. ”

“ The startled cries were still on their lips, when, almost as if a powerful spring had set them into motion, they began a race—a wild and furious race toward their goal—the tree-crowned ridge where the sentry stood. And each of the three ran as only people can run when the stake is the greatest in all the world—life itself. ”

“ It certainly was a wonderful sensation to the young airman when he felt the machine suddenly begin to move, slowly at first, but rapidly gathering momentum, until, like a high power motor car, it was racing at a speed which made him almost gasp for breath. ”

“ The sun had descended in the west and its cheerful rays no longer touched the earth, but every now and again one or another of the graceful flying machines caught the glow, and, as if touched by a fairy’s wand, became transformed for the moment into a flashing object of silver and gold. ”

“ Even amid the booming of the anti-aircraft batteries and the sharper staccato reports of the machine guns from various parts of the field, all blending into an unearthly din, the droning of the motors high in the air could be distinctly heard. Like a pyrotechnic display, luminous bullets, searching for the invaders, shot up into the sky, often piercing the low-hanging clouds; and mingling in with them were vicious little spurts of fire which told of the explosion of shrapnel shells. ”

“ A glare had suddenly illumined the landscape, and in the instantaneous flash the forms of three elephants at the crest of a rise showed as blurred masses of dark.
“By George! It’s enough to give a chap the creeps for fair,” thought Victor, with a shiver. ”

“ Those were terrible moments to Chase Manning. He felt cold shivers coursing through him; his heart was throbbing painfully.
Shells began bursting with fearful force close about him and his overstrained nerves threatened to give way completely.
Men were dashing past, running with all that mad haste which characterizes the actions of those fleeing for their lives.
"It's all up! It's all up!"
The words fell stutteringly from Chase Manning's lips.
The flashing fire of the exploding projectiles, the thunderous concussions and the fumes which were wafted in his face appalled him. ”