Chiefly Sc. Also 6 crone, 8–9 crune. [f. CROON v.]
1. A loud, deep sound, such as the bellow of a bull or the boom of a large bell. Sc. or north. dial.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, XII. xii. 56. Lyke as twa bustuus bullis … Ruschand togiddir with cronys and feirfull granis.
1785. Burns, Halloween, xxvi. The Deil, or else an outler Quey, Gat up an’ gae a croon.
1813. Hogg, Queen’s Wake, 204. The bittern mounts the morning air, And rings the sky with quavering croon.
1858. M. Porteous, Souter Johnny, 14. The bell’s last croon.
2. A low murmuring or humming sound, as of a tune hummed in an undertone.
1725. Ramsay, Gentle Sheph., II. ii. She [a witch] can o’ercast the night, and cloud the moon, And mak the deils obedient to her crune.
1837. R. Nicoll, Poems (1843), 82. The cushat’s croon.
1866. Kingsley, Herew., I. xii. 249. She thought over the old hag’s croon.
