fiery crossn.
/ˌfʌɪərɪ ˈkrɒs/, U.S. /ˌfaɪ(ə)ri ˈkrɔs/, /ˌfaɪ(ə)ri ˈkrɑs/ 1. A piece of wood, charred and dipped in blood, used among Scottish clans as a signal to summon men to arms; = fire cross n. Cf. crostarie n. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military organization > signals > [noun] > call to arms > by symbol
fire cross1523
fiery cross1587
crostarie1685
war-kettle1754
war-hatchet1760
war-post1826
war-arrow1865
1587 R. Holinshed et al. Hist. Scotl. (new ed.) 341/2 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) II He sent out messengers through all the realme, who carieng a fierie crosse in their hands, should make signe..that all they which were aboue sixteene yeares old, and vnder sixtie, should presentlie..repaire to Mussilborow.
1615 Sir D. Campbell Let. in R. Pitcairn Criminal Trials Scotl. (1833) III. 23 Sir James the traitour hes latlie directit out ane fyrie croce from the head of Lockerrane to the Tarbart.
1747 Answer to Dangerous Pamphlet (Dublin ed.) 15 'Twas its dictates that..excited in his lordship a desire of extirpating hereticks, and prompted him to order a fiery cross to be carried before his clan, when armed, and in open rebellion.
1783 G. Wallace Thoughts Origin of Feudal Tenures i. 14 They must always be ready, at the sound of the slughorn, and at the sight of the fiery cross, to march in array, even to their frontiers.
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake iii. 120 He vanished, and o'er moor and moss Sped forward with the Fiery Cross.
1855 Ulster Jrnl. Archæol. 3 205 As such a telegraph [sc. a beacon on a hill] would not always be visible in a land of mist, the usual mode of summons was by sending round the Fiery Cross.
1956 Folk-lore 67 90 One of the men is supposed to belong to a clan which is being attacked, and he is taking the fiery cross round the countryside to rouse his kinsfolk.
1999 P. Reese Sc. Commander iv. 79 The Stuarts and Robertsons had put out the fiery cross to raise the clans against the Irishman and his wild followers.
2. U.S. A burning cross used by the Ku Klux Klan as a signal to rally for a gathering or an attack, or as a means of intimidation. Cf. cross burning n. at cross n. Additions.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > symbol (general) > Christian symbols or images > [noun] > cross > burning
fiery cross1909
1905 T. Dixon Clansman iv. ii. 324 Dispatch your courier tonight with the old Scottish rite of the Fiery Cross. It will send a thrill of inspiration to every clansman in the hills.]
1909 Iola (Kansas) Daily Reg. 30 Mar. 4/6 Many of the old Scotch customs were retained by the South Carolina Klan. The cross of St. Andrew was emblazoned on the robe of every member, and the fiery cross or torch signaled from mountain top to mountain top the order for the Klan to strike.
1926 New Masses July 7/2 Three hundred klansmen are burning a fiery cross on a hillside.
1948 Chicago Tribune 2 July 1/7 A 10 foot fiery cross was set ablaze in his front yard last night.
2006 Indiana Mag. Hist. 102 339 A fiery cross, a public parade, a homemade bomb, and open vandalism—these acts threatened all of the Catholics in our community.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1587