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John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.

10434 Appendix John Bartlett

 
NUMBER:10434
AUTHOR:Appendix
QUOTATION:Gentle craft.
ATTRIBUTION:According to Brady (“Clavis Calendaria”), this designation arose from the fact that in an old romance a prince of the name of Crispin is made to exercise, in honour of his namesake, Saint Crispin, the trade of shoemaking. There is a tradition that King Edward IV., in one of his disguises, once drank with a party of shoemakers, and pledged them. The story is alluded to in the old play of “George a-Greene” (1599):—
Marry, because you have drank with the King,
And the King hath so graciously pledged you,
You shall no more be called shoemakers;
But you and yours, to the world’s end,
Shall be called the trade of the gentle craft.
 


Contents -AUTHOR INDEX -CONCORDANCE INDEX -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD