Half-crown

“ In the picture the wise infant has taken off the prickly crown that it may not pierce and rend the dream that holds the sleeper there so long; he is full of the knowledge of his triumph, half-fearful lest it should not be complete. The crown of thorns hangs on his own left arm, which he raises half in warning, half in wonder, feeling as his elbow bends the thorns upwards on his arm from what pain he has saved that beautiful but foolish youth. ”

“ The largest crown is eight-and-a-half inches in diameter, and has a splendid jewelled cross suspended from its centre, and the name of the king in large Roman letters hung by chains from its lower edge, and formed of cloisonnée gold. When I see such work done in the seventh century, and then look at modern jeweller’s work, I am tempted to think that the much vaunted progress of the world is not always in the right direction. ”

“ The essential form of the crown, then, is a circlet heightened with crosses and fleurs-de-lis alternately, from which rise two arches that spring from behind the crosses pattée and uphold the orb, which is itself surmounted by a cross.
Care is necessary in order that the curves of the arches may be kept sufficiently flat, for otherwise too much tendency to a half-circle may result.
The crosses and fleurs-de-lis offer remarkable opportunities for strong, graceful, and varied treatment, and if they are kept fairly high, and well defined, the dignity of the design is much enhanced. ”

“ Lap ends of crinoline one-fourth inch at finish, but do not turn ends under.
Square crown—
A square crown is one having a flat top, or one only slightly rounded, with the sides slightly sloping in towards the top. A crown of this type three or three and one-half inches in height would be at least one and one-half inches smaller at the top than at the bottom. Any crown made separately from the brim must be large enough to cover the headsize wire on the brim at the base. To eliminate any slashes or seams in the side crown, a paper pattern should be made. ”

“ There was a throng from the gates of the town through all the streets and market places like a raging sea, but even where the throng was thickest that day no harsh words or blows were proffered. No knife or sword was loosened from its sheath. Each person felt a restraining hand on their heart and the wildest among them let themselves be pushed into corners and dead ends without complaint.
Thus we moved on with the crown through the streets to the square in front of the Church of the Holy Ghost. ”

“ For a sceptre change my sword, my helmet for
A crown?—Go to! Am I a child, forsooth?
Think ye that I was born but yesterday?
That gold weighs more than iron, know I not?
Build me a throne! Why, 'tis to dig my grave.
Ah! Cromwell knows too well how soon one falls,
To seek to sit thereon! And, furthermore,
How quickly, 'neath the weight of carking care,
Do wrinkles gather on those weary brows,
Begirt with flowers! Each flower conceals a thorn.
The crown 's their death; black care envelopes them ”

“ The entrance to this crypt is through bronze doors, behind the altar, and gained by passing under it. On either side stood a colossal figure in bronze; kings they seemed to be, giant kings, in long black robes and with crowns of black upon their heads. One held, upon the black cushion in his hands, a crown of gold and a golden sword; the other, a globe crowned with a cross and a golden sceptre. They were so grand, and dark, and still, they gazed upon us so fixedly from out their great, grave eyes, that I felt a chill in all my bones. They guard his tomb. ”

“ The Title of the Cross.
One of the most interesting relics in connection with the holy nails is the Iron Crown of Lombardy. This, as may be seen by reference to the illustration (Fig. 1) , is a circlet of gold, ornamented with precious stones, and it is indebted for its name of “Iron” to a thin band (A) of that metal, which is inside the gold circlet. The Crown itself is of very antique form, being even devoid of rays, and is too small to go on the head. ”

“ At this moment Night-cloud, the Crow, made his appearance. 'Deign me one regard, Sire,' said he, 'the insolent enemy is at our gates; let your Majesty give the word, and I will go forth and show my valor and devotion to your Crown.'
'It were better to keep our cover,' said the Goose. 'Wherefore else builded we this fortalice? Is it not said?—
'Hold thy vantage!—alligators on the land make none afraid;
And the lion's but a jackal that hath left his forest-shade.'
But go, your Majesty, and encourage our warriors. ”

“ They formed a vast crown, outlined with a delicate halo of fire. A veil of misty green fluttered down from its base, and, instantly, tiny crowns, composed of every brilliant color, with a tracery of fire defining every separate one, began to chase one another back and forth with bewildering rapidity. ”

“ One more sword-stroke completed the severance of the tonsured crown from the skull. ‘Let us begone,’ cried Hugh of Horsea, scattering the brains on the pavement; ‘this man will rise up no more.’
The corpse was buried next day in the crypt without any religious service, as none could be held in the desecrated church till it was formally reconciled. ”

“ As soon as any accident happens to the crown, such as being smashed off by lightning, the branches beneath the wound, no matter how situated, seem to be excited, like a colony of bees that have lost their queen, and become anxious to repair the damage. Limbs that have grown outward for centuries at right angles to the trunk begin to turn upward to assist in making a new crown, each speedily assuming the special form of true summits. ”

“ CROWNING. The finishing part of some knots on the end of a rope, to prevent the ends of the strands becoming loose. They are more particularly useful in all kinds of stoppers. (See Wall-knot and Crown.)
CROWN-WORK. In fortification, the largest definite form of outwork, having for its head two contiguous bastioned fronts, and for its sides two long strait faces, flanked by the artillery fire of the place. Or a detached [226] work, according to the circumstances of the ground, requiring such advanced occupation. ”

“ An exception occurs in the case of the crest of Every-Halstead ["Out of a mural coronet chequy or and azure, a demi-eagle ermine beaked or."]
Care should be taken to distinguish the mural crown from the "battlements of a tower." This originated as a modern "fakement" and is often granted to those who have been using a mural coronet, and desire to continue within its halo, but are not qualified to obtain in their own persons a grant of it. It should be noticed that the battlements of a tower must always be represented upon a wreath. ”

“ The crown of St Edward, with which the sovereigns were crowned, had a narrow circlet from which rose alternately four crosses and four fleurs-de-lys, and from the crosses sprang two arches, which at their crossing supported an orb and cross. These arches must have been a later addition, and possibly were first added for the coronation of Henry IV. (vide supra) . Queen Edith’s crown had a plain circlet with, so far as can be determined, four crosses of pearls or gems on it, and a large cross patée rising from it in front, and arches of jewels or pearls terminating in a large pearl at the top. ”

“ He taketh the sword that lay at his side and lifteth the windingsheet to rend it at the seam, then taketh the knight by the head to lift him upward, and findeth him so heavy and so ungain that scarce may he remove him. He cutteth off the half of the cloth wherein he is enshrouded, and the coffin beginneth to make a crashing so passing loud that it seemed the chapel were falling. When he hath the piece of the cloth and the sword he closeth the coffin again, and forthwith cometh to the door of the chapel and seeth mount, in the midst of the grave-yard as it seemed him, great knights. ”

“ Perpetual state I was now compelled to keep, and never for an instant permitted to leave my throne or doff my royal robes, except for one short hour in the morning to perform ablutions in the regal tub, and even then I was not allowed to remove my crown. Seated on my throne from morning until night, overburdened by the weight of my crown and the heavily brocaded and bejewelled robes, I felt as lonely as a stranded limpet in the middle of the Sahara desert. ”

“ He also balanced the sword and plate in like manner, with a crown-piece placed edge-wise between the point of the sword and the knife; and afterwards with two crown-pieces, and then with a key. These feats were accompanied by the jokes and grimaces of a clown, and succeeded by an acrobatic performance by boys, and a hornpipe by the lady of the company. ”

“ The king and two nobles are in the immediate foreground, in flight, while far away the sun is going down in a red glare behind the smoke of battle, the lurid flames of the burning town, and the royal standard just fluttering down from the battlements of a castle lost by the royal arms at the very close of Cromwell's "crowning mercy." Through the smoke of the middle distance can be dimly seen dusky forms in flight, or in the last hopeless conflict. Each of the nobles at the side of the fugitive king is heavily armed, with sword in hand, mounted on heavy, galloping horses, going at high speed ”

“ These were the nine locks that guarded the crown of a Holy Roman Emperor. This drawbridge was lowered and these locks were opened for no-one else normally apart from the king and the guardians of the crown. Men in armour with drawn swords kept watch here day and night. ”

“ The flames grow less, the death-song ceases. In silence they gather the ashes in the sacred urn, lay the shield on the ground, the urn upon it, and his armour above it.
Many lay upon the sacred heap what is held most dear, hunting spear or battle-axe. And now the whole tribe sets hand to the work.
"We will build," they said, "a grave which neither man can destroy nor storms and tempests wash away."
And they heaped rock on rock, and levelled whole hills to the plain to pile up the giant grave to a giant king, and called it the Hero's Grave. ”

“ On the inside there is a circlet of iron, said to be formed from a nail used at the Crucifixion, given by Pope Gregory I. to the Lombard Princess Theodelinda. Before the twelfth century it was called the golden crown. ”

“ CROWN. A common denomination in most parts of Europe for a silver coin, varying in local value from 2s. 6d. sterling to 8s. (See also Prerogative.) —Crown of an anchor. The place where the arms are joined to the shank, and unite at the throat.—Crown of a gale. Its extreme violence.—In fortification, to crown is to effect a lodgment on the top of; thus, the besieger crowns the covered way when he occupies with his trenches the crest of the glacis.
CROWN, or Double Crown. A knot; is to pass the strands of a rope over and under each other above the knot by way of finish. (See Knot.) ”

“ The crowning of the dead was not so common among the Romans as among the Greeks. But a law of the Twelve Tables enacted that a person who had obtained an honorary crown in his lifetime might have it placed upon him in the funeral procession. (Cic. de Ley. 2.2. 4, 60; Plin. Nat. 21.7.) Garlands of flowers were also placed upon the bier and the funeral pyre (Plin. Nat. 21.10; Dionys. A. R. 11.39) . Pliny (ib. § 11) says that crowns were used in honour of sepulchres and the manes. ”

“ And in order that it may be easily distinguishable now and for all time, there shall be set upon the shrine ten gold crowns of the king, to which shall be added a cobra exactly as on all the crowns adorned with cobras which are upon the other shrines, in the centre of them shall be the double crown which he put on when he went into the temple at Memphis to perform therein the ceremonies for assuming the kingship ”

“ While fully appreciating the fact that the forms of modern coronets only date from the time of Charles II., it is still interesting to inquire by what methods peers of earlier date marked their dignity pictorially, and it seems that this was done by means of the use of a crest-chapeau, and the use of a helmet under it. But in sculpture certain forms of coronets also appear. Crowns and coronets are placed immediately upon the top of the shield. Over the crown or coronet comes the helmet, and over the helmet the crest. ”

“ In the crumpled and tasselled top of the velvet cap, and in the ermine border visible below the rim, the high conical form of the cap of maintenance proper can be still traced in the cap of a peer's coronet, and that the velvet cap contained in the crown of the sovereign and in the coronet of a peer is the survival of the old cap of dignity there can be no doubt. ”

“ Pictorial representations in early manuscripts, and the rude effigies on their coins, are not very helpful in deciding as to the form of crown worn by the Anglo-Saxon and Danish kings of England before the Norman Conquest. In some cases it would appear as if the diadem studded with pearls had been worn, and in others something more of the character of a crown. We reach surer ground after the Conquest, for then the great seals, monumental effigies, and coins become more and more serviceable in determining the forms the crown took. ”

“ Below the veil they saw in luminous characters, traced on an iron plate—"Lasciate agni speranza."
The lady then sat down on a throne, shining with gold and precious stones, which was before the altar, and made the two friends place themselves on each side of her, their visors lowered, and their hands upon their swords. "You will lift the visors of your helmets," said she, "at the moment I call upon you to bear witness; but make no other motion, and keep the strictest silcnce." Having made a sign with her wand, the Negress struck with a hammer upon a bell placed at the foot of the throne. ”