to mount the cockade
Preserved but no longer current.
To become a soldier. Cockaigne, Land of (kok anO- An imaginary land of idleness and luxury, famous in mediaeval story, and the subject of more than one poem, one of which, an early translation of a 13th-century French work, is given in Ellis's Specimens of Early English Poets. In this "the houses were made of barley sugar and cakes, the streets were paved with pastry, and the shops supplied goods for nothing.
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 mount the cockade” mean?
To become a soldier. Cockaigne, Land of (kok anO- An imaginary land of idleness and luxury, famous in mediaeval story, and the subject of more than one poem, one of which, an early translation of a 13th-century French work, is given in Ellis's Specimens of Early English Poets. In this "the houses were made of barley sugar and cakes, the streets were paved with pastry, and the shops supplied goods for nothing.
Is “to mount the cockade” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.