To go by Weeping Cross

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

To suffer and repent of one's misdeeds. There are said to have been crosses called thus at Oxford, Shrewsbury, and Stafford.

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Common questions

What does “To go by Weeping Cross” mean?

To suffer and repent of one's misdeeds. There are said to have been crosses called thus at Oxford, Shrewsbury, and Stafford.

Is “To go by Weeping Cross” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.