Christ-Crosse A.—In Tatham's Fancie's Theater, 12mo., 1640, is a poem in praise of sack, wherein the following lines occur:
"The very children, ere they scarce can say
Their Pater Noster, or their Christ-crosse A,
Will to their Parents prattle, and desire
To taste that Drinke which Gods doe so admire."
Can any of your readers inform me the meaning of "Christ-Crosse A" here mentioned? Does it allude to some alphabet then in use?
Cato.
[The alphabet was so designated, because in the old primers a cross was prefixed to it. Nares tells us that in French it was called Croix de par Dieu; and upon reference to Cotgrave for an expression of that term we find, "The Christ's-cross-row; or the hornbook wherein a child learns it.">[
Apple-pie Order.—Spick and Span new.—My wife very much grudges my spending threepence a week for the "Notes and Queries", and threatens me with stopping the allowance unless I obtain from some of your correspondents answers to the two following Queries:—
1. What is the origin of the phrase "Apple-pie order?"