The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 274

KIRBY, WILLIAM, entomologist, born in Suffolk; distinguished as the author of "Monographia Apium Angliae," and "Introduction to Entomology"; was rector of Barham, Suffolk, for 68 years (1759-1850).

KIRGHIZ, a nomadic Turkish people occupying the Kirghiz steppes, an immense tract E. of the Ural River and the Caspian Sea, numbering 2 millions, adventurous, witty, and free-spirited; refuse to settle; retain ancient customs and characteristics, and are Moslems only in name.

KIRK SESSION, an ecclesiastical court in Scotland, composed of the minister and elders of a parish, subject to the Presbytery of the district.

KIRKCALDY (27), a manufacturing and seaport town in Fifes.h.i.+re, extending 4 m. along the north sh.o.r.e of the Forth, known as the "lang toon." It was the birthplace of Adam Smith, and one of the scenes of the schoolmasters.h.i.+p period of Thomas Carlyle's life; manufactures textile fabrics and floorcloth; is a busy town.

KIRKCUDBRIGHT (40), a Scottish county on the Solway sh.o.r.e between Wigtown and Dumfries, watered by the rivers Nith, Dee, and Cree; has Mount Merrick on the NW. border, and Loch Dee in the middle; one-third of its area cultivated, the rest chiefly hill pasturage. County town KIRKCUDBRIGHT (3), on the Dee, 6 m. from the Solway; held St.

Cuthbert's church.

KIRKDALE CAVE, a cave in the vale of Pickering, Yorks.h.i.+re, discovered by Buckland to contain the remains of a number of extinct species of mammals.

KIRKE'S LAMBS, the soldiers of Colonel Kirke, an officer of the English army in James the Second's time, distinguished for their acts of cruelty inflicted on the Monmouth party.

KIRKINTILLOCH (10), a town on the Forth and Clyde Ca.n.a.l, 7 m. N. of Glasgow, manufactures chemicals, has calico works, and mines of coal and iron.

KIRKWALL (4), capital of Orkney, in the E. of Mainland, 35 m. NE. of Thurso; has a fine cathedral named St. Magnus, and some s.h.i.+pping trade; it was in mediaeval times subject to Norway, and was the residence of the jarls.

KIRRIEMUIR (4), a small Forfars.h.i.+re town, 5 m. NW. of Forfar, native place of J. M. Barrie, and the "Thrums" of his books; manufactures brown linens.

KIRSCHWa.s.sER (cherry water), a liqueur formed from ripe cherries with the stones pounded in it after fermentation and then distilled.

KISFALUDY, KAROLY, Hungarian dramatist, brother of the following, was founder of the national drama, and with his brother ranks high in the literature of the country (1788-1830).

KISFALUDY, SANDOR, a Hungarian lyric poet, "Himfy's Loves" his chief work, was less distinguished as a dramatist (1772-1844).

KISSINGEN (4), Bavarian watering-place on the Saale, 65 m. E. of Frankfort-on-the-Main, visited for its saline springs by 14,000 people annually; its waters are used both internally and externally, and are good for dyspepsia, gout, and skin-diseases.

KITCAT CLUB, founded in 1688 ostensibly to encourage literature and art, and named after Christopher Catt, in whose premises it met; became ultimately a Whig society to promote the Hanoverian succession; Marlborough, Walpole, Congreve, Addison, and Steele were among the thirty-nine members.

KITCHENER OF KHARTOUM, HORATIO HERBERT, LORD, son of Col. Kitchener; joined the Royal Engineers, and was first engaged in survey work in Palestine and Cyprus; became a major of cavalry in the Egyptian army 1882, served in the 1884 expedition, was governor of Suakim 1886, and after leading the Egyptian troops at Handub 1888 was made aide-de-camp to the Queen, C.B., and adjutant-general in the Egyptian army; he was appointed Sirdar, commander-in-chief of that army, in 1892, organised and led the expedition of 1898 which overthrew the Khalifa at Omdurman, and for which he was awarded a peerage and received many honours, the freedom of the cities of London and Edinburgh, &c.; a gift of 30,000 was voted by the Government in 1899; _b_. 1850.

KIZIL (red river), the ancient Halys, the largest river in Asia Minor, which flows into the Black Sea 40 m. E. of Sinope after a course of 450 m.

KLAPKA, a Hungarian patriot, distinguished in arms against the Austrians during the revolution, and for his heroic defence of Komorn in the end (1820-1892).

KLAPROTH, JULIUS VON, Orientalist and philologist; was an accomplished Chinese scholar; explored Siberia and Caucasia (1783-1835).

KLAUS, PETER, the German prototype of Rip Van Winkle, a goat-herd who slept for the same number of years and at the end had similar experiences.

KLAUSTHAL (9), in Hanover, 25 m. NE. of Gottingen, is the chief mining town of the northern Hartz Mountains, and the seat of the German mining administration, surrounded by silver, copper, lead, and zinc mines.

KLeBER, JEAN BAPTISTE, French general, born at Strasburg; originally an architect, served with distinction in the Revolutionary army, accompanied Bonaparte to Egypt, and was left by him in command, where, after a bold attempt to regain lost ground and while in the act of concluding a treaty with the Turks, he was a.s.sa.s.sinated by an Arab fanatic (1753-1800).

KLEIST, HEINRICH VON, German dramatist and poet, born at Frankfort-on-the-Oder; entered the army, but afterwards devoted himself to literature; slow recognition and other trials preyed on his mind, and he shot himself near Potsdam (1777-1811).

KLONDIKE, a small section of Yukon, a territory in the extreme NW.

of N. America, and a present-day centre of pilgrimage by gold-seekers since the recent discovery of the gold-fields there.

KLOPSTOCK, FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB, German poet, born at Quedlinburg; distinguished as the author of an epic poem ent.i.tled the "Messiah," which is his chief work, his treatment of which invested him with a certain sense of sanct.i.ty, and the publication of which did much to quicken and elevate the literary life of Germany (1724-1803).

KNARESBOROUGH (5), Yorks.h.i.+re market-town, 14 m. W. of York; manufactures woollen rugs, grinds flour, and trades in corn.

KNELLER, SIR G.o.dFREY, portrait-painter, born at Lubeck; studied under Rembrandt and at Italy, came to England in 1674, and was appointed court painter to Charles II., James II., William III., and George I.; practised his art till he was seventy, and made a large fortune (1646-1723).

KNICKERBOCKER, the imaginary author of the fict.i.tious "History of New York," by Was.h.i.+ngton Irving.

KNIGHT, CHARLES, London publisher and editor, publisher for the Useful Knowledge Society, of "Library of Entertaining Knowledge," of the "Penny Magazine," and the "Penny Cyclopaedia," &c., as well as a "Pictorial Shakespeare," edited by himself (1791-1873).

KNIGHTHOOD, a distinction granted to commoners, ranking next to baronet, now bestowed by the crown; formerly knighthood was a military order, any member of which might create new knights; it was originally the highest rank of CHIVALRY (q. v.); it was an order of many subdivisions developed during the crusades, and in full flower before the Norman conquest of England.

KNIGHTS OF LABOUR, an American labour organisation, founded in 1869, resembling a union of all trades, male and female; in 1886 had 730,000 members, which have since disagreed and fallen off.

KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE, King Arthur's knights, so called from the round table at which they sat, so that when seated there might seem no precedency, numbered popularly at twelve, though reckoned by some at forty.

KNIGHTS OF THE s.h.i.+RE, English gentry representing a middle cla.s.s between the barons and the peasants, acting as members of Parliament for the county they belonged to.