† ˈcradden, -on, n. and a. Obs. exc. dial.
Also 6–7 Sc. crau-, crawdoun; 8–9 dial. craddant.
[Derivation uncertain: possibly the same word as crathon, but app. associated in Sc. with craw to crow and down; several quots. refer to or suggest a cock that will not fight.]
A craven, a coward.
| 1513 Douglas æneis xi. Prol. 119 Becum thow cowart, craudoun recryand, And by consent cry cok, thi deid is dycht. 1571 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 158 Neither must you..have him [the cock] a Craddon, for he must sometime stand in the defence of his wife and children. 1606 W. Birnie Kirk-Buriall (1833) 23 It wold make our craw-down fedrum fal. 1825–79 Jamieson, Cradden, a dwarf. Lanarks. |
Hence † craddenly a., cowardly.
| 1674 Ray N.C. Words, Crassantly, as a crassantly lad, a coward. Chesh. In Lancashire they say craddantly. So 1692–1732 in Coles. 1742–1800 Bailey, A Craddantly Lad, a Coward. Lancash. 1787 Grose Prov. Gloss., Craddenly, cowardly. North. 1847–78 Halliwell, Craddantly. |