CLUB 



1441 



CLYDE 



the Visigoths, the kingdom of Clovis extended 

 to the Pyrenees. He later became king of all 

 the Frankish tribes, and was the founder of 

 the Frankish monarchy. See FRANKS. 



CLUB, klub, a body of men or women 

 organized to promote some particular object, 

 whether literary, political or merely social. 

 The derivation of the word indicates something 

 of the nature of such an organization, for club 

 comes from an old word meaning to divide, 

 and has reference to the fact that the expenses 

 of a club are divided among the members. 



Historical Clubs. The first club that really 

 made a place for itself in history was that to 

 which Shakespeare, Raleigh, Beaumont and 

 Fletcher belonged. It met at the Mermaid 

 Tavern, in Bread Street, London, and from it 

 went forth judgments and criticisms that 

 strongly influenced the literary life of London. 

 Later came the Kit-Cat Club, named for 

 Christopher Cat, whose mutton-pies graced its 

 banquets; the Beefsteak Club, with its motto 

 of "Beef and Liberty" and its custom of calling 

 its members "Steaks"; and that famous or- 

 ganization known to its members simply as 

 ''The Club," but commonly referred to as, the 

 Literary Club. Of this organization Dr. Sam- 

 uel Johnson was the recognized head, though 

 the membership included such brilliant men 

 as Goldsmith, Garrick, Reynolds, Burke and 

 Gibbon. This club still exists in London, 

 though it no longer sways public opinion as 

 it did in its early days. 



The earliest clubs were largely social in their 

 nature, but men of like political convictions 

 tended to seek the society of one another, and 

 thus political clubs grew up. In the eighteenth 

 century many a man was made or defeated in 

 public life according as he gained the good 

 or ill will of one of these organizations. 



Modern Clubs. Practically all of these clubs, 

 whether literary, social or political, had their 

 beginnings in some tavern or coffee. house, and 

 there all future meetings were held, the land- 

 lord often finding it worth his while to neglect 

 other patrons for the sake of some such club 

 organized within his doors. Still 'there was 

 no hint of the club in its more modern sense 

 the club in which the members actually own 

 the clubhouse and its equipment. This was a 

 product of the early nineteenth century, and 

 had its beginning in associations of army and 

 navy officers who, reduced to half pay on the 

 cessation of the Napoleonic wars, found it 

 cheaper to combine their resources and live 

 under one roof. 

 91 



From that time on clubs have spread rapidly, 

 and every great city has its organizations 

 which play a more or less definite part in its 

 life. London, for instance, the original home 

 of the club, has no fewer than 100 of note 

 literary, scientific, artistic, political, athletic 

 and social ; and all of these phases of club life 

 are represented in the large cities of Canada 

 and the United States. Some of the buildings 

 possessed by these organizations are very large 

 and sumptuously appointed, and life in them is 

 luxurious in the extreme. 



These are clubs in the most formal sense, but 

 along with these have grown up thousands of 

 organizations less ambitious in purpose and 

 less wide in their scope. There are clubs for 

 women, for children, and for men who cannot 

 afford to avail themselves of the privileges of 

 the great city clubs. Some of these less formal 

 organizations are small, some of them have 

 hundreds of members. 



Related Subjects. A number of organiza- 

 tions which may be classed as clubs are treated 

 in these volumes : 



Boys' and Girls' Clubs Fraternities. College 

 Canning Clubs . Women's Clubs 



See, also, FRATERNAL SOCIETIES. 



CLUNY, kloo'ne, in modern times a hand- 

 some, though coarse and thick, strong white 

 lace made by hand in Belgium, Germany and 

 Italy. The real cluny is expensive, the price 

 varying with the width and pattern, but ma- 

 chine-made imitations are numerous. Modern 

 cluny lace is used largely for edging doilies, 

 scarfs and tablecloths. There are three ways 

 to detect imitation from real cluny. If two 

 sizes of thread are used and if they are crinkly, 

 irregular and loose, the lace is imitation, as 

 against the real, in which only one size thread, 

 straight and taut, is employed. Imitation cluny 

 is usually made of cotton; the real is made 

 of linen. 



Ancient cluny was a French net lace in which 

 the pattern was darned. This is now known 

 as antique, fillet or spider work. 



The name cluny was taken from the museum 

 of Cluny, where samples of ancient lace are 

 kept. This is in the town of Cluny or Clugny, 

 in Eastern France. At one time the most 

 celebrated Benedictine abbey in France was 

 located there, and the abbey church, destroyed 

 in the time of Napoleon, was then regarded as 

 one of the world's wonders. 



CLYDE, klide, the most important river in 

 Scotland, celebrated throughout the world for 

 the shipbuilding yards which line its banks. 



