KATHARINE WHEEL.
See CATHARINE WHEEL.
KATHERINE'S (SAINT)
(Ks.= Katherines, K's.= Katherine's). A hospital founded in 1148 by Matilda, wife
of King Stephen. It stood immediately E. of the Tower of Lond., on the bank of
the Thames. It received much help from Q. Eleanor and Q. Philippa, and the patronage
still remains in the hands of the Q. Consort. It was suppressed by Henry VIII,
but reconstituted by Elizabeth in 1556 for the maintenance of a master, 3 brethren,
3 sisters, and 10 bedeswomen. The ch. was a fine Gothic building, but it was pulled
down with the rest of the hospital in 1825–7 to make room for St. K's. Docks
which now occupy the site. The hospital was removed to the N.E. corner of Regent's
Park. There was, however, before the building of the present docks, a landing-place
at the E. end of the precinct, known as St. K's. Dock, and it would appear to
have been used specially by the Dutch mariners. The Precinct, or Liberty, extended
from the Tower to Radcliffe, and had the usual reputation of a waterside dist.
In Jonson's Alchemist v. 1, Face says,
"These are all broke loose Out of St. Ks., where they use to keep The better sort
of mad folks": an unkind reference to the bedesmen and women of the hospital.
In T. Heywood's I.K.M. B. 326, the
Q. says to Dr. Patty, "Though at our Court of Greenwich thou went crost In suing
to be Master of St. Ks, To do thee good seek out a better place." In Dekker's
Babylon 260, Paridel, who stands
for Dr. William Parry, says, "I did but beg of her [the Q.] the mastership Of
Santa Cataryna, 'twas denied me." In T. Heywood's Ed.
IV A. v., the Master of S. Ks. appears and brings to the King "Of poor St.
Ks., £500" as a benevolence. In Webster's Weakest
iii. 4, Bunch exclaims, "For England, for Lond.! O St. Kathern's Dock!" In
W. Rowley's New Wonder iii., Richd.
says, "This tide should bring them Into St. Catherine's Pool." In Dekker's Edmonton
iii. 1, Cuddy, going to woo Katherine, says to the Witch's dog, "Land me but
at K's. Dock, my sweet K's. Dock." Then, when he has been ducked by the spirits,
he says, "Thinking to land at K's. Dock, I was almost at Gravesend"; i.e.
I was almost killed. In Jonson's Magnetic
ii. 1, Polish says, "How now, goody Nurse, Dame Keep of Katerns? What! have
you an oar in the cockboat, 'cause you are a sailor's wife, and come from Shadwell?":
which is just beyond St. K's. In Eastward
iv. 1, Slitgut, at Cuckold's Haven, sees Winifred in the Thames, and says,
"A woman, i' faith, a woman! though it be almost at St. Ks., I discern it to be
a woman." Later in the scene the Drawer rescues Winifred and says, "I am glad
it was my good `hop to come down thus far after you to a house of my friend's
here in St. K's."
In Jonson's Devil i. 1, Iniquity
suggests to Pug to go "to St. Kathern's, To drink with the Dutch there, and
take forth their patterns": which indicates that it was pronounced Katterns.
In Wealth 288, Hance the Fleming says, "Gut naught is mot waft to sent Cafrin
to mi lanman store "; and in 299, he says, "Ic myself cumt from sent Katryns."
Cafrin and Katryn are modifications of Katharine. In Jonson's Staple
iii. 1, Thomas announces as an interesting news item: "The perpetual motion
is here found out by an ale-wife in St. K's. at the sign of the Dancing Bears."
In Jonson's Augurs, Notch and Slug, the masquers, say, "We do come from among
the brew-houses in St. K's."; and later, "Our project is that we should all
come from the Three Dancing Bears in St. K's." Then John Urson comes in with
the 3 bears and sings while they dance, "Then to put you out of fear or doubt,
We come from St. Katherine-a; These dancing 3, by the help of me, Who am the
post of the sign-a." He goes on: "To a stranger there, If any appear, Where
never before he has been, We shew the iron gate, The wheel of St. Kate, And
the place where the priest fell in." The Iron Gate is one of the gates of the
Tower, also called St. K's, Gate, just above the hospital. The wheel of St.
Kate is the Katherine wheel, the symbol of the martyrdom of the saint, who was
put to death on a jagged wheel; there was a Catharine Wheel Tavern at the W.
end of Little Tower Hill, close to the hospital. In Wager's The Longer, B. 1,
Moros says, "At St. Katherine there be good puddings at the sign of the Plough,
you never did eat better sauserlings." In Middleton's R.
G. iv. 2, Moll sings, "She says she went to the Burse for patterns; You
shall find her at St. Kathern's": i.e. in a place of bad repute. In T.
Heywood's Ed. IV A. i. Smoke
says to the rebels advancing on the E. of Lond., "See how St. Ks. smokes; wipe,
slaves, your eyes, And whet your stomachs for the good malt-pies." Dekker, in
News from Hell, says of Hell: "It stands farther off than the Indies; yet if
you have but a side wind, you may sad sooner thither than a married man can
upon St. Luke's day to Cuckolds Haven from St. Ks.," i.e. just across
the Thames. See Cuckold's Haven. Deloney, in Craft 1, 14, tells how John the
Frenchman's wife was "going toward St. Ks. to see if she could meet with some
of her countryfolks that could tell her any tidings of her husband."
KATHARINE'S (SAINT)
A ch. at Fierbois in Touraine, where Joan of Arc found her sword. In H6
A. i. 2, 100, Joan of Arc says, "Here is my keen-edged sword, The which at
Touraine, in St. K's. churchyard, Out of a great deal of old iron I chose forth."
KATHERINE'S (SAINT) FORT
A fort on St. K. Mt., an eminence 380 ft. high, E. of Rouen, between the Seine
and the Aubette. In Chapman's Trag.
Byron v. 1, one of the charges laid against Byron is "You would have brought
the king before St. K. fort, to be there slain." This was at the siege of Rouen
in 1593. The whole story is related in Florin's Montaigne 1, 23.
KATHERINE'S (SAINT) NUNNERY
Probably the Priory of the Holy Trinity is meant. St. Katherine Cree, or Christchurch,
was built on its site on the N. side of Leadenhall St., Lond. The old ch. was
taken down in 1628, and the present one built. It is here that the famous "Lion"
sermon is preached every 16th October, to commemorate the deliverance of Lord
Mayor John Gayer from the paws of a lion in Africa in 1648. In B. & F. Thomas
iv. 1, Michael says, "This morning a man of mine at St. K. N. told me he met
your mistress." The Aunt of Mons. Thomas is the Abbess of St. K. Scenes 4 and
8, Act v. take place in the Abbey of St. K.
KEDRON
A brook running on the E. of Jerusalem, down the valley between the city and the
Mt. of Olives, and falling into the Dead Sea. In T. Heywood's Prentices,
p. 101, the Sophy speaks of Jerusalem as "this place where the brook K. runs."
KEGYLLEK
A farm in the parish of St. Budock, close to the boundary of the parish of Falmouth, in S. Cornwall. In Cornish M. P. 1, 2593, Solomon gives to the Carpenter "Tregenver ha K.," i.e. Tregenver and K.
KENDAL
(more fully, KIRKBY–IN–K.) The largest town in Westmoreland, on the
E. bank of the Ken of Kent, 241 m. N.W. of, Lond. It was the head of a Barony
conferred by William the Conqueror on Node Talbois, and on a hill E. of the town
are the ruins of the castle of the old Barons. The title Earl of K. has been held
by royal and other persons. Henry Momford, Earl of K., is one of the characters
in George-a-Greene, but he is a mythical
personage. The earldom only dates from 1414, whereas the play takes place in the
reign of Edward III. In the 14th cent. Edward III established a number of Flemings
in the town, who founded the cloth-weaving industry which has been ever since
the staple industry of the place. Specially well known was the coarse green cloth
called K. green. It was used for the dress of foresters, archers, etc. In Nobody
378, Nobody says, "If my breeches had as much cloth in them as ever was drawn
betwixt K. and Canning St. they were scarce great enough to hold all the wrongs
that I must pocket." The Lond. clothiers were chiefly found in Canning, or Canwick,
St., and nearly 200 packhorses were employed in bringing to Lond. the cloth made
in K. In H4 A. ii. 4, 246, Falstaff
tells how "3 misbegotten knaves in K. green" came at his back and let drive at
him. "Why," says Prince Hal, "how couldst thou know these men in K. green, when
it was so dark thou couldst not see thy hand?" In Death
Huntington we are told "all the woods are full of outlaws that in K. green
Followed the outlawed Earl of Huntington," i.e. Robin Hood. In Downfall
Huntington iii. 2, Robin Hood says, "Baseman of K. gave us K. green." in Jonson's
Love's Welcome, six Hoods appear who "tell of ancient Robin Hood": the 1st Green-hood,
is "in K. green, As in the forest-colour seen." Laneham, in his Letter 47, tells
of a minstrel at the Kenilworth pageant who wore "a side-gown of K. green." In
Middleton's Black Book p. 25, the Devil says of a poor wretch: "His hose and doublet
being of old K. green, fitly represented a pitched field," the vermin being the
corporals! Hall in Satires iv. 6, says of the discontented countryman: "Now doth
lie inly scorn his K. green." One of the clothiers in Deloney's Reading is "Cuthbert
of K." Corpus Christi plays were kept up at K. until the reign of James I.
KENILWORTH
See KILLINGWORTH.
KENNINGTON
Dist. in Lond., on the Surrey side of the Thames, opposite the Vauxhall Bridge, and S. of Lambeth. There was a royal palace there up till the time of Henry VII. One of the oldest Masques in England was celebrated at K. in honour of the accession of Richd. II in 1377, 130 men on horseback rode from Newgate through Cheap, then over Lond. Bdge. to K., where they entertained the young King with games and dances. Alleyn, the actor, bought the manorial rights of K. in 1604, and held them for 5 years, when he sold them for nearly twice what he gave for them.
KENSINGTON
Formerly a vill. to the W. of Hyde Park; now a populous suburb of Lond. It was
a favourite resort of the citizens who wanted a day's outing in the country. In
Oldcastle iii. 2, Acton reports that
the rebels are quartered in a dozen villages round Lond., one of which is "Kenzington."
In Brome's Couple ii. 1, Careless
expresses his willingness to escort his aunt to "Paddington, K., or any of the
city out-leaps, for a spirt and back again." In his New Academyii. 1, Valentine asks Hannah, "When shall we take coach to K. or Padington,
or to some one or other o' the city outleaps, for an afternoon, and hear the cuckow
sing?" In Deloney's Craft ii. 11, we are told of a certain merry company: "They
went to K., where they brake their fast and had good sport by tumbling on the
green grass."
KENT
(Kh.= Kentish, Kn.= Kentishmen). The county in the S.E. of England. It is the
natural landing-place for visitors from the Continent, friendly or otherwise.
Here disembarked Julius Caesar between Walmer and Thanet 55 B.C.; here Hengist
and Horsa founded the 1st Saxon kingdom in England A.D. 457; here Lewis the Dauphin
of France landed in 1216. Augustine and his monks began their missionary campaign
in Kent in 597, and Canterbury became the seat of the 1st English Bp.; and the
murder there of Thomas à Becket in 1170 gave England her most popular saint, and
indirectly one of her greatest poems, the Canterbury Tales. Wat Tyler's insurrection
in 1381, and Jack Cade's in 1450, testify to the independence and initiative of
the Kh.men; and Sir T. Wyatt began his attack on Q. Mary from Maidstone in 1554.
In Middleton's Queenborough ii. 3,
Hengist says he will make choice of his ground "About the fruitful flanks of uberous
K., A fat and olive soil; there we came in." In K.
J. iv. 2, 200, Hubert announces to John the arrival of "a many thousand warlike
French That were embattailed and ranked in K."; and in v. 1, 30, the Bastard tells
"All K. hath yielded [to the Dauphin]; nothing there holds out But Dover Castle."
In Trouble. Reign , Haz., p. 293,
a Messenger announces: "There is descried on the coast of K. an hundred sail of
ships, which of all men is thought to be the French fleet." In H6
B. iii. 1, 356, York reflects "I have seduced A headstrong Kh. man, John Cade
of Ashford, To make commotion." In iv. 1, 100, the Capt. takes Suffolk prisoner
"off the coast of K." and informs him "The commons here in K. are up in arms."
In iv. 2, 130, Stafford addresses the rebels as "Rebellious hinds, the filth and
scum of K., Marked for the gallows." In iv. 4, 57, the King exhorts Lord Say,
"Trust not the Kh. rebels." In iv. 7, 60, Dick asks Lord Say, "What say you of
K.?" and Say answers, "Nothing but this; 'tis bona terra mala gens"; and goes
on: "K., in the Commentaries Caesar writ, Is termed the civilest place of all
this isle; Sweet is the country because full of riches; The people liberal, valiant,
active, wealthy." See Caesar, De Bello Gallico v.4. Alexander Iden, "an esquire
of K.," kills Cade; and in iv. 10, 78, the dying Cade says, "Tell K. from me,
she hath lost her best man." In H6
C. i. 1, 156, Northumberland speaks of the strength of Warwick and the Yorkists
in "Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, and K."; and in i. 2, 41, York says, "You, Edward,
shall unto my lord Cobham, With whom the Kn. will willingly rise. In them I trust;
for they are soldiers, Witty, courteous, liberal, full of spirit." In iv. 8, 12,
Warwick, who has gone over to the
side of the Lancastrians, says, "Thou, son Clarence, Shalt stir up in Suffolk,
Norfolk, and in K. The knights and gentlemen to come with thee." In R3
iv. 4, 505 a messenger informs Richd.," In K. the Guildfords are in arms."
According to Hall, Chron. 393," In K. Richd. Guildford and other gentlemen collected
a great company of soldiers and openly began war." In Straw
1, the Archbp. reports: "The commons now are up in K." The reference is to
Wat Tyler's rebellion. In Trag. Richd.
II i.3, 235, Cheney reports: "The men of K. and Essex do rebel"; and in iv.
3, the High Sheriff of K. appears to protest against the King's exactions. In
Wyat, sc. xi, p. 44, Brett says,
"Wyat, for rising thus in arms with the Kh. men dangling thus at his tail, is
worthy to be hanged." In World Child
168, Manhood swears by "St. Thomas of K.," i.e. Thomas à Becket. In
170 he boasts, "Calais, K., and Cornwall have I conquered clean." The reference
is to the victory of Henry VII over the Cornish insurgents on Blackheath in K.
in 1497. In Bale's Laws ii., Infidelity
sweats "by the blessed rood of K." This was the famous rood at Bexley Abbey, called
the Rood of Grace. In Phantasie of Idolatries, the author says of it: "He was
made to juggle; His eyes would goggle, He would bend his brows and frown; With
his head he would nod Like a proper young god, His shafts would go up and down."
It was publicly exposed by Henry VIII's Commissioners in the market-place of Maidstone,
and the trick by which it was worked explained. Lyly, in Pappe with an Hatchet
(Eliz. Pamph., p. 77), tells of "one that had learned of the holy maid of K. to
lie in a trance, before he had brought forth his lie." This was Elizabeth Barton,
a servant-maid, who became a nun, and uttered revelations when in trances and
epileptic convulsions. She was hanged at Tyburn, poor wretch, in 1534.
K. has been a territorial title in the English peerage since 1067. In Lear,
Shakespeare introduces an Earl of K. In Span.
Trag. i., Hieronimo tells how in the reign of English Richd., Edmund, Earl
of K., "came and razed Lisbon walls and took The King of Portingale in fight;
for which He after was created D. of York." This is a glorious muddle. In the
reign of Richd. II, Edmund, Earl of Cambridge, led an expedition into Portugal
in 1381, and was created D. of York in 1385 for his successes in Scotland. The
Earl of K. at that time was Thomas Holland. In R2
v. 6, 8, Northumberland says, "I have to Lond. sent The heads of Oxford,
Salisbury, Blunt, and K." The Earl of K. was taken at Cirencester, which he
was holding for Richard. This was Thomas Holland, who held the title 1397–1400:
the son of the last-named Thomas Holland. Edmund, Earl of K., the son of Edward
I, is one of the characters in Marlowe's Ed.
II. He was executed in 1330 for an alleged plot to restore Edward II, whom
Mortimer represented to him as still alive, in order to trap him. Spencer, F.
Q. ii. 10, 12, says, "Canute had his portion from the rest, The which he called
Canutium, for his hire, Now Cantium, which K. we commonly inquire." Canute was
one of the captains in the service of the legendary King Brute.
It was a boast of the Kn. that K. had never been conquered. In Middleton's
R. G. ii. 1, Moll says, "The purity
of your wench I would fain try, she seems like K. unconquered, And, I believe,
as many wiles are in her." Peele, in his Jests, speaks of "the fruitful county
of K." as "a climate as yet unconquered." K. is indeed equated to the whole
of Christendom beside; and "all K. and Christendom" is a common phrase for all
Europe. In Wise Men v. 4, Proberio
says to the Usurer, "Is there any man in Christendom or K. that you will trust?"
Spencer, in Shep. Calen., September, says, "Sith the Saxon king Never was wolf
seen . . . Nor in all K., nor in Christendom." In Jonson's Tub
ii. 1, Turfe says, "I love no trains of K. or Christendom, as they say."
In Old Meg p.1, we are told Herefordshire for a morris dance puts down "not
only all K., but very near . . . three quarters of Christendom." In Thersites
314, the Hero says, "I will have battle in Wales or in K." In Jonson's Tub
i. 3, Pan commends K. above Middlesex, "for there they landed All gentlemen
and came in with the Conqueror." Nash, in Lenten, p. 300, says, "William the
Conqueror, having heard the proverb of K. and Christendom, thought he had won
a country as good as all Christendom when he was enfeoffed of K." In Middleton's
Hubburd p. 83, he addresses his visitors, "My honest nest of ploughmen! the
only Kings of K." In Respublica v.
6, Avarice says, "I would have brought half K. into Northumberland, and Somersetshire
should have raught to Cumberland." Fuller, Church Hist. iii. 11, 14, calls K.
"The English land of Goshen."
The great number of travellers through K. from and to Lond. made it notorious
for highway robberies. In Hycke,
p. 104, Frewyll says, "That rock of Tyborne is so perilous a place, Young gallants
dare not venture into Kente": i.e. to repair their fortunes by robbery.
In H4 A. ii, 1, 59, the Chamberlain
tells Gadshill, "There's a franklin in the wild of K. hath brought 300 marks
with him in gold": the idea being that he will be a good subject for Gadshill's
operations. The wild of K. means the Weald of K., the dist., formerly covered
with forest, between the chalk hills and the border of Sussex. In Middleton's
Michaelmas ii. 3, one of the parties
to a deed is "Master John Blastfield, Esq., of the Wold of K." In T. Heywood's
Ed. IV A., i., Falconbridge
says, "We do not rise like Tyler, Cade, and Straw, For some common in the wield
of K. That's by some greedy cormorant enclosed." Later in the Play, it is predicted
that "Chains of gold and plate shall be as plenty As wooden dishes in the wild
of K."
The custom of Gavelkind, by which all the male children of the deceased inherited equally, prevailed in K. only. Harrison, in Descript. of England ii, 9, says, "Gavell kind is all the male children equally to inherit, and is continued to this day in K., where it is only to my knowledge retained, and no where else in England." Earle, in Microcos. viii., says of the Younger Brother: "He loves not his country for this unnatural custom [i.e. primogeniture], and would have long since revolted to the Spaniard but for K. only, which he holds is admiration."
K., being a maritime county, had considerable fishing industries. In Locrine
ii. 5, Trumpart calls on "the Colliers of Croydon, and rusticks of Royden,
and fishers of K." to lament the death of Strumbo. Kh. oysters were specially
esteemed. The chief beds are at Queenborough, Rochester, Milton, Faversham,
and Whitstable. In Cooke's Greene's
Tu Quoque, p. 571, Bubble says that his eyes are closed "as fast as a Kh.
oyster." Nash, in Wilton E. 1, tells of one who had "eyes like two Kh. oysters."
The Kh. orchards were famous. In Sampson's Vow
iv. 2, 163, Mother Pratle says, "I dreamed my husband when he first came
a wooing, came i' the likeness of a Kh. twindle pippin." K. supplied a good
part of the firewood of Lond. In Middleton's Chaste
Maid i. 2, Allwit congratulates himself that he has in his backyard "a steeple
made up with Kh. faggots." The Kh. girls were famous for their beauty. Drayton,
in Dowsabel, says, "Her features all as fresh As is the grass that grows by
Dove, And lithe as lass of K." In Dekker's Northward
i. 3, Philip says, "The Kh. man loves a wagtail," i.e. a light woman.
In Spencer's Shep. Cal., February 74, Cuddie says that the dewlap of his bullock
is "as lythe as lass of K."
KENTCHURCH
(or KENDER CHURCH). Vill. in Herefordsh., 12 m. S.W. of Hereford, from which John
a Kent, the hero of Munday's John Kent,
appears to have taken his name. John a Kent's barn and John a Kent's oak are still
shown in the neighbourhood. John himself was a sort of Welsh Faust, who lived
in the early part of the 15th cent.
KENTISH TOWN
One of the N. suburbs of Lond., lying between Camden Rd. and Haverstock Hill.
In the 16th cent. it was a rustic village. In Jonson's Tub,
the heroine is the daughter of Tobias Turfe, the High Constable of K. T., and
several of the scenes are laid at his house there. Jonson makes him talk a kind
of country dialect of the Somerset type. In his Devil
i. 1, Satan, mocking the petty exploits of Pug, says, "Some good ribibe [old
woman] about K. T. or Hogsdon you would hang now for a witch." Dekker, in Rod
for Runaways (1613), speaks of K. T. as a vill. by Pancridge (i.e. St.
Pancras), and tells a story of some Londoners who took a Sunday walk out there.
KENT STREET
The present Tabard St., the name having been changed in 1877. It runs from St.
George's Ch. in the Borough, Southwark, to the Old K. Rd., and until the formation
of Gt. Dover St. was the main road from the S. into Lond. "It was ill-built,"
says Strype (B. iv. 31), "chiefly inhabited by Broom Men and Mumpers." It was
an extremely disreputable slum throughout its history. In Greene's Quip, p. 226,
he says, "When velvet was worn but in kings' caps, then Conscience was not a broom
man in K.-St., but a Courtier." In News from Hell, the Cardinal speaks of "all
the whores and thieves that live in Southwark, Bankside, and K.-St." When Harman
(Caveat ii.) had his copper stolen, he "gave warning in Southwark, K. St., and
Barmesey st., to all the tinkers there dwelling." In Three
Lords, Dods., vi. 422, Simplicity asks: "Ladies, which of ye dwelt in K. St.?"
In T. Heywood's Hogsdon. ii. 1, one
of the citizens' wives that come to the Wisewoman to have their fortunes told
dwells in K.-st. In Davenant's Plymouth
iv. 1, Topsail cries: "What's here? K. st., or Bedlam broke loose?"
KERNESDALE
An invented name for an imaginary place in Ireland, the dale of the Kerns. In
Middleton's Quiet Life iv. 1, Knavesby,
suggesting to Water-Camlet that he should go to Ireland to escape his wife's tongue,
points out on a map "K., admirable feed for cattle."
KEW
A vill. on the Thames in Surrey, 9 m. W. of St. Paul's, Lond., opposite to Brentford.
The Palace and Botanical Gardens date only from the time of George III. In Middleton's
Mad World iii. 3, Folly-wit says, "You
shall go nigh to have a dozen blyth fellows carry me away with a pair of oars,
and put in at Putney or shoot in upon the coast of Cue."
KIBDORP PORT
One of the gates of Antwerp on the S.E. of the city. In Larum
B. 4, Champaigne says, "Your army is at K. P. you say?" And later (D. 2),
Alva says, "Kibdop we assign to Lord Romero." The Rue Kipdorp still preserves
the name.
KIDCOCKS
A very curious attempt at spelling Chef de Caux, a point 3 m. below Havre, at
the mouth of the Seine in France. Henry V dropped anchor off this point in 1415,
and immediately proceeded to invest Harfleur. In Fam.
Vict., Haz., p. 357, the Archbp. of Bruges announces to the King of France
that Henry "is already landed at K. in Normandie upon the river of Seine."
KILBORN (or KILBURN)
Formerly a vill. in S.W. Hampstead, but now a large suburb of Lond. stretching
from Kensal Green to St. John's Wood. In Jonson's Tub.
i. 1, the self-styled Council of Finsbury has determined to marry Awdry Turfe
to "Clay of K., a tough young fellow and a tile-maker."
KILDARE
A county in Leinster, Ireland. In 1316 John FitzGerald was created Earl of K.
Gerald, the 8th Earl, was Lord Deputy of Ireland for 33 years, and died in 1513.
This is the Earl of K. mentioned in Ford's Warbeck
i. 1, as a supporter of Lambert Simnel. He was deprived for a time of his
office, but was reappointed in 1495. His son Gerald succeeded him, but was committed
to the Tower by Henry VIII and died a prisoner there in 1534. In H8
ii. 1, 41, one of the gentlemen speaks of "K.'s attainder, Then Deputy of
Ireland, who removed, Earl Surrey was sent thither." In S. Rowley's When
You C. 2, Brandon states: "Stout Pearcie . . . Was by the Earl of K. late
put to death." This refers to the 10th Earl, Thomas, who openly revolted on hearing
of his father's committal to the Tower, and besieged Dublin. He was subsequently
taken by treachery, and he and his 5 uncles were executed at Tyburn in 1537, The
20th Earl was created Marquess of K. and Duke of Leinster in 1761 and 1766; and
the titles still remain in the Fitzgerald family.
KILKENNY
A town in Ireland, capital of Co. Kilkenny, 61 m. S.W. of Dublin. In B. & F. Coxcomb
ii. 3, Antonio comes in disguised as an Irish footman, and the servant introduces
him as "a K. ring." Nobody seems to have found any meaning for this phrase. I
would suggest that it is a misprint for "K. rug." Shirley, in Mart.
Soldier ii. 3, speaks of "larrones, rugs, and vagabonds": where it seems
to mean a fellow in a rough frieze cloak. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 11, 43, tells of
the "stubborn Newre whose waters gray By fair K. and Rosseponte boord." Bale's
Baptyste and Temptation were acted
at K. on August 20th, 1553, the day on which Q. Mary was proclaimed.
KILLINGWORTH
(now spelt KENILWORTH). A vill. in Warwicksh., between Warwick and Coventry, 5
m. S. of the latter and abt. 15 m. from Stratford-on-Avon. The castle was a residence
of the Anglo-Saxon kings, but was destroyed in the Danish wars. It was rebuilt
in the reign of Henry I by Geoffrey de Clinton, and was given by his grandson
to King John. Simon de Montfort had it for a time, and his forces rallied there
after the battle of Evesham, when it was besieged and taken by Henry III. He gave
it to his son Edmund. Edward II was imprisoned there before his removal to Berkeley.
In Marlowe's Ed. II iv. 6, Leicester says,
"Your Majesty must go to K."; and Act V, Sc. 1, takes place there. Leicester tries
to comfort the King: "Imagine K. Castle were your court And that you lay for pleasure
here a space."
Next it came into the hands of John of Gaunt, and Henry IV made it a royal
residence, which it continued to be till 1562, when Elizabeth granted it to
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. In H6
B. iv. 4, 39, on the news of Cade's rebellion Buckingham advises the King
to "retire to K. Until a power be raised to put them down." Leicester entertained
Elizabeth here with a series of magnificent pageants in 1575. The description
of them may be read in Laneham's Letter, or in Scott's Kenilworth. There is
little doubt that Shakespeare, then a lad of 11, would be taken by his father,
who had recently been Chief Alderman of Stratford, and as a prominent local
personage would be likely to receive an invitation to be present, to see this
great show; and Oberon's description of the place whence Puck is to fetch the
"little western flower" is a reminiscence of one of the pageants (M.
N. D. ii. 2, 148–168). Elizabeth is "the fair vestal throned by the
west" at whom Cupid shot his darts in vain; and the little western flower on
which the bolt of Cupid fell is poor Amy Robsart. Jonson's Owls was presented
at K. in 1626; and he says that Capt. Cox, who acts as prelocutor, "was foaled
in Q. Elizabeth's time, When the great Earl of Lester In this castle did feast
her." He would seem to have taken part in the Hox Tuesday Play which the Q.
saw at Coventry at the time of this visit to K.; for Jonson goes on: "Being
a little man When the skirmish began 'Twixt the Saxon and the Dane, For thence
the story was ta'en, He was not so well seen As he would have been of the Q."
The gatehouse of the castle is in perfect condition, and is used as a dwelling
house; Caesar's Tower is also well preserved, and there are extensive ruins
of the other portions of the Castle.
KIMBOLTON
A town in Hunts., 11 m. W. of Huntingdon and 63 N. of Lond. Its ancient castle,
now the seat of the D. of Manchester, was the residence of Catharine of Aragon
after her divorce from Henry VIII, and she died there on 8th January, 1536. In
H8 iv. 1, 34, one of the gentlemen
says of Catharine: "Since [the divorce] she was removed to K., Where she remains
now sick." The scene of iv. 2 is laid at K. The Ff. spell it Kymmalton.
KING STREET
Originally ran from Charing Cross, Lond., to the Palace of Westminster: all that
is now left of it is a small fragment at the S. end, from Charles St. to Gt. George
St. Though it was the main thoroughfare from the Court of St. James's to Westminster,
it was narrow and ill-paved. Here lived Lord Howard of Effingham and the mother
of Oliver Cromwell, and according to Jonson, Conversations with Drummond, the
poet Spenser died "for lack of bread in K. St." Donne, Satire iv. (1597) 80, says
of Westminster Abbey "The way to it is K.'s st." In Jonson's Staple
iii. 2, Mrs. Tattle boasts that she has all the news from "the conduits in
Westminster; long and round Wool-staple, with K.'s-st. and Canon-Row to boot."
Middleton, in his Black Book, p. 25, tells of "black cloth snatched off the rails
in K.'s St. at the Q.'s funeral." Glapthorne's Wit
was "Printed by Io. Okes for F. C. and are to be sold at his shops in Kings-st.
at the sign of the Goat, and in Westminster Hall. 1640." So was Brome's Sparagus
in the same year. In Cowley's Cutter [a.k.a. Guardian]
i. 6, Worm says that Cutter was "Cromwell's agent for all the taverns between
K.'s-st. and the Devil at Temple Bar." In B. & F. Hum.
Lieut. iv. 4, Leonatus mentions a K.-st. in the Capital of Greece, in which
the scene is laid.
KING'S ARMS
A bookseller's sign in Lond. T. Heywood's Maidenhead
was "Printed by Nicholas Okes for John Jackson and Francis Church, and are
to be sold at the K. A. in Cheapside. 1634."
KING'S BENCH
An ancient Lond. prison, on the E. side of Borough High St., Southwark, immediately
N. of the White Lion prison and some 20 houses S. of the Marshalsea. Layton's
Buildings now occupy the site. It was removed in 1755 to the junction of Blackman
St. and Newington Causeway. In 1879 it was sold and the site cleared. During the
Commonwealth it was known as the Upper Bench Prison. In Skelton's Colin Clout,
the judges of the preacher against the prelates cry "The K. B. or Marshalsy, Have
him thither by-and-by." In Hycke,
p. 94, Frewyll says, "At the K. b., Sirs, I have you sought." In Straw
ii., Newton reports "They [the rebels] have spoiled all Southwark, broke up
the Marshalsea and the K. B." In Eastward
ii. 2, Quicksilver advises Sir Petronel, whose creditors have laid to arrest him,
"Let 'em take their choice; either the K. B. or the Fleet, or which of the 2 Counters
they like best." Taylor, in Works i. 91, says, "The Ocean that Suretyship sails
in is the spacious Marshalsea; sometimes she anchors at the K. B., sometimes at
the gulph of the Gate-house." In Middleton's Inner Temp. 70, Christmas bequeaths
to "my 2nd son, In-and-In, his perpetual lodging in the K. B." In T. Heywood's
Ed. IV B. 120, Jane Shore asks:
"Have you bestowed our benevolence on the poor prisoners in the common gaol of
the White Lion and the King's B.?" In Middleton's Hubburd, p. 79, we are told
of "decayed gentlemen's wives whose husbands lie for debt in the K. B." In B.
& F. Wit Money, i. 1, Lance, warning
his young master against wasting his estate says, "The K. B. is enclosed, there's
no good riding.''
KING'S BRIDGE
The gangway leading to the stairs just E. of Westminster Hall from the Palace
Yard. There were several of these so-called bridges, which did not cross the river,
but were merely approaches to the various landing-stages. In Look
about v., Skink, who is being pursued by, the watch, says, "At K. B. I durst
not enter a boat."
KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
Founded by Henry VI in 1441 under the title of "The Kyng's C. of our Lady and
Seynt Nicholas." It stands on the W. side of Trumpington St., between Caius and
St. Catherine's. The chapel, the finest example of perpendicular Gothic in the
world, was completed in the early part of the reign of Henry VIII, the late King
having left a large sum of money for that purpose. The original design of the
C. was on a magnificent scale, but it was never fully carried out. Nash, in Lenten,
p. 299, speaks of "the imperfect works of K. C. in Cambridge, which have too costly
large foundations to be ever finished." Thomas Preston, the author of Cambises,
was fellow of K. in 1556. Elizabeth visited Cambridge in 1564, and various entertainments
were given. The 1st was a performance of the Aulularia of Plautus on Sunday, August
6th, in K.'s C. Chapel; on Monday a tragedy, Dido, by Edward Halliwell, a Fellow
of K., was played in the C.; and on Tuesday Udall's Ezechias in English. In 1608
the performance of a lost play by Phineas Fletcher in K. was the occasion of "foul
and great disorder": probably the students disapproved of the play and expressed
their feeling with emphasis.
KING'S HEAD
A common tavern sign in Lond.:
(1) There was a K. H. in New Fish St., the site of which is marked by K. H. Court,
Fish St. Hill. In News Barthol. Fair, in the list of Lond. taverns, we have "K.
H. in New Fish-st., where roysters do range." In Prodigal
ii. 4, Lancelot says to Oliver, "Let's meet at the K. H. in Fish st."
(2) Another K. H. was in Fleet St., near Temple Bar. It used to be identified
with the house at the W. corner of Chancery Lane, destroyed in 1799. This, however,
was known as the Harrow, and in Hogarth's Burning of the Rumps, the sign of
Henry VIII's Head is shown on the S. side of Fleet St., close to Temple Bar,
with a Puritan hanging in effigy from it. It was certainly on the N. side of
the st., for it was opposite the Queen's Head, which was between the Temple
Gates, but probably close to Temple Bar. In Barry's Ram
v. 1, Smallshanks says that Throate "hath not a member in his palsy body
but is more limber than a K. H. pudding took from the pot half sod." Ram Alley
is off Fleet St., so that the Fleet St. K. H. is probably intended. In T. Heywood's
Lucrece ii. 5, Valerius' list of
taverns begins: "The gentry to the K. H." In Jonson's Magnetic
iii. 4, Rut advises Sir Moth, "Have your diet-drink Ever in bottles ready,
which must come From the K. H." Probably the Fleet St. tavern is meant in both
passages, but it is impossible to be certain. In Middleton's Hubburd, p. 79,
we read of "decayed gentlemen's wives whose husbands lying for debt in the K.
Bench they go about to make monsters in the K. H. Tavern," i.e. to make
cuckolds of their husbands.
(3) In Killigrew's Parson ii.
3, Wanton speaks of "the sign of the K. H. in the butchery." There was a K.
H. on the W. side of W. Smithfield.
KINGSTON–ON–HULL
The full name of Hull (q.v.) given to it by Edward I.
KINGSTON–ON–THAMES
A town in Surrey, on the S. bank of the Thames, 12 m. W. of Lond. It is a very
ancient town, and many Roman remains have been found there. It is held by many
that Caesar crossed the Thames at this point. From 901 to 978 the English Kings
were crowned here on the stone which now stands in the market-place, whither it
was removed in 1850 from the Chapel of St. Mary. There was a castle which was
taken by Henry III, but has now entirely disappeared. Throughout our period Kingston
Bdge. was the first bdge. over the Thames above Lond. In Peele's Ed.
I , p. 71, Elinor, after sinking at Charing Cross and coming up at Potter's
Hive, says, "I will straight To Kings-town to the Court And there repose me."
In Jonson's Tub i. 2, Pan tells how
Julius Caesar crossed the Thames at Hammersmith, "vore either Lond., ay, or K.
bdge., I doubt, were kursined." The present stone bdge. was erected in 1827 to
replace a wooden one which had been there since at least the 14th cent. In Middleton's
Five Gallants iii. 2, Tailby goes
to K. to see his mistress and is robbed in Coombe Park on the way. In B. & F.
Prize i. 3, Petronius says to Petruchio,
who proposes to tame his shrewish daughter, "To-morrow we shall have you look
like St. George at K., running a-foot back from the furious dragon." In W. Rowley's
Match Mid. i., Randall sees Carvegut
and Bottom "come prancing down the hill from K." Later Bottom laments that they
have missed the man whom they meant to rob: "This was staying in K. with our unlucky
hostess that must be dandled and made drunk next her heart." This was probably
the hostess of the George. Herrick, in Tears to Thamesis (1647), recalls his pleasant
trips up the Thames, "To Richmond, K., and to Hampton Court."
KIRIATHAIM
(now KUREIYAT). An ancient town in Moab, on the E. of the Dead Sea, 12 m. N.E. of the mouth of the Amon. According to Gen. xiv. 5, it was originally a town of the Emims, a legendary giant race. In Milton, S. A. 1081, Harapha draws his descent from a stock of giants "renowned As Og, or Anak, or the Emims old That K. held."
KIRSENDOM
See CHRISTENDOM.
KISHON
(now EL–MUKATTA). A river in Palestine, rising in the mtns. of Gilboa, and flowing in a N.W. direction through the plain of Esdraelon, until it reaches the Mediterranean just N. of Mt. Carmel. After rain the fords are difficult and the plain is reduced quickly to a quagmire. Milton, in Trans. Ps. lxxxiii. 37, says, "Do to them . . . as is told Thou didst to Jabin's host, When at the brook of K. old They were repulsed and slain." See Judges v. 19–22.
KNAVES ACRE
(otherwise PULTENEY ST.). Lond., a little N. of Piccadilly Circus, and S. of Golden
Sq., running from Glasshouse St. to Wardour St. The W. end of it is now Brewer
St. Strype describes it as "but narrow, and chiefly inhabited by those that deal
is old goods and glass bottles." In Marlowe's Faustus
iv. 18, the Clown says, "How, how, knaves-acre! Ay, I thought that was all the
land his father left him."
KNIGHTRIDER STREET
Lond., running E. from Addle Hill to Q. Victoria St. The present st. includes Gt. and Little K. Sts. and Old Fish St. Stow derives the name from the knights who rode along it from the Tower to the jousts in Smithfield. In the Stone House in this st. lived the famous Linacre, court physician to Henry VII, and founder of the Royal College of Physicians.
KNIGHTSBRIDGE
A rural dist. near Hyde Park Corner, so called from the stone bdge. which crossed
the Westbourn at what is now the Albert Gate of Hyde Park. It was notorious for
highway robberies, and its loneliness made it a favourite resort of duellists.
The Chapel of the Holy Trinity E. of the Albert Gate marks the site of an old
lazar house or hospital. In Shirley's Hyde
Park iv. 3, when Lord Bonvile insults Venture, Rider says, "Come to K.," sc.
to fight it out. In Long Meg ix., we are told how "Harry the ostler . . . would
needs to K. a shroving, where they had good cheer and payed frankly."
KNIGHTS' WARD
In the Counters and the Fleet prison, q.v. In Middleton's Chaste
Maid v. 4., Yellowhammer says of Sir Walter: "He lies i' th' K.' w." In T.
Heywood's F. M. Exch. 24, the Cripple
asks "Didst thou lie in the K. W. or on the Master's side!" In Chapman's Bussy
i. 2, 135, Barrisor says jestingly, "Here's a sudden transmigration with D'Ambois–out
of the k. w. into the duchess' bed." See also under COUNTER, HOLE, TWOPENNY WARD.
KNOCKERS–HOLE
Vill. in Cornwall. In Brome's City Wit
iii. 1, Jane Tryman leaves in her will to the poor of the parish of K.-H. "£10,
and £40 towards the reparation of their ch."
KULLAINE
See COLOGNE.
KYMMALTON
See KIMBOLTON.