KEENE, CHARLES SAMUEL(1823-1891), English black-and-white artist, the son of Samuel Browne Keene, a solicitor, was born at Hornsey on the 10th of August 1823. Educated at the Ipswich Grammar School until his sixteenth year, he early showed artistic leanings. Two years after the death of his father he was articled to a London solicitor, but, the occupation proving uncongenial, he was removed to the office of an architect, Mr Pilkington. His spare time was now spent in drawing historical and nautical subjects in water-colour. For these trifles his mother, to whose energy and common sense he was greatly indebted, soon found a purchaser, through whom he was brought to the notice of the Whympers, the wood-engravers. This led to his being bound to them as apprentice for five years. His earliest knowndesign is the frontispiece, signed “Chas. Keene,” toThe Adventures of Dick Boldhero in Search of his Uncle, &c. (Darton & Co., 1842). His term of apprenticeship over, he hired as studio an attic in the block of buildings standing, up to 1900, between the Strand and Holywell Street, and was soon hard at work for theIllustrated London News. At this time he was a member of the “Artists’ Society” in Clipstone Street, afterwards removed to the Langham studios. In December 1851 he made his first appearance inPunchand, after nine years of steady work, was called to a seat at the famous table. It was during this period of probation that he first gave evidence of those transcendent qualities which make his work at once the joy and despair of his brother craftsmen. On the starting ofOnce a Week, in 1859, Keene’s services were requisitioned, his most notable series in this periodical being the illustrations to Charles Reade’sA Good Fight(afterwards rechristenedThe Cloister and the Hearth) and to George Meredith’sEvan Harrington. There is a quality of conventionality in the earlier of these which completely disappears in the later. In 1858 Keene, who was endowed with a fine voice and was an enthusiastic admirer of old-fashioned music, joined the “Jermyn Band,” afterwards better known as the “Moray Minstrels.” He was also for many years a member of Leslie’s Choir, the Sacred Harmonic Society, the Catch, Glee and Canon Club, and the Bach Choir. He was also an industrious performer on the bagpipes, of which instrument he brought together a considerable collection of specimens. About 1863 the Arts Club in Hanover Square was started, with Keene as one of the original members. In 1864 John Leech died, and Keene’s work inPunchthenceforward found wider opportunities. It was about this time that the greatest of all modern artists of his class, Menzel, discovered Keene’s existence, and became a subscriber toPunchsolely for the sake of enjoying week by week the work of his brother craftsman. In 1872 Keene, who, though fully possessed of the humorous sense, was not within measurable distance of Leech as a jester, and whose drawings were consequently not sufficiently “funny” to appeal to the laughter-loving public, was fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of Mr Joseph Crawhall, who had been in the habit for many years of jotting down any humorous incidents he might hear of or observe, illustrating them at leisure for his own amusement. These were placed unreservedly at Keene’s disposal, and to their inspiration we owe at least 250 of his most successful drawings in the last twenty years of his connexion withPunch. A list of more than 200 of these subjects is given at the end ofThe Life and Letters of Charles Keene of “Punch.”In 1879 Keene removed to 239 King’s Road, Chelsea, which he occupied until his last illness, walking daily to and from his house, 112 Hammersmith Road. In 1881 a volume of hisPunchdrawings was published by Messrs Bradbury & Agnew, with the titleOur People. In 1883 Keene, who had hitherto been a strong man, developed symptoms of dyspepsia and rheumatism. By 1889 these had increased to an alarming degree, and the last two years of his life were passed in acute suffering borne with the greatest courage. He died unmarried, after a singularly uneventful life, on the 4th of January 1891, and his body lies in Hammersmith cemetery.
Keene, who never had any regular art training, was essentially an artists’ artist. He holds the foremost place amongst English craftsmen in black and white, though his work has never been appreciated at its real value by the general public. No doubt the main reason for this lack of public recognition was his unconventionality. He drew his models exactly as he saw them, not as he knew the world wanted to see them. He found enough beauty and romance in all that was around him, and, in hisPunchwork, enough subtle humour in nature seized at her most humorous moments to satisfy him. He never required his models to grin through a horse collar, as Gillray did, or to put on their company manners, as was du Maurier’s wont. But Keene was not only a brilliant worker in pen and ink. As an etcher he has also to be reckoned with, notwithstanding the fact that his plates numbered not more than fifty at the outside. Impressions of them are exceedingly rare, and hardly half a dozen of the plates are now known to be in existence. He himself regarded them only as experiments in a difficult but fascinating medium. But in the opinion of the expert they suffice to place him among the best etchers of the 19th century. Apart from the etched frontispieces to some of thePunchpocket-books, only three, and these by no means the best, have been published. Writing inL’Artistefor May 1891 of a few which he had seen, Bracquemond says: “By the freedom, the largeness of their drawing and execution, these plates must be classed amongst modern etchings of the first rank.” A few impressions are in the British Museum, but in the main they were given away to friends and lie hidden in the albums of the collector.Authorities.—G. S. Layard,Life and Letters of Charles Keene of “Punch”;The Work of Charles Keene, with an introduction and notes by Joseph Pennell, and a bibliography by W. H. Chesson; M. H. Spielmann,The History of “Punch”; M. Charpentier,La Vie Moderne, No. 14 (1880); M. H. Spielmann,Magazine of Art(March 1891); M. Bracquemond,L’Artiste(May 1891); G. S. Layard,Scribner’s(April 1892); Joseph Pennell,Century(Oct. 1897); George du Maurier,Harper’s(March 1898).
Keene, who never had any regular art training, was essentially an artists’ artist. He holds the foremost place amongst English craftsmen in black and white, though his work has never been appreciated at its real value by the general public. No doubt the main reason for this lack of public recognition was his unconventionality. He drew his models exactly as he saw them, not as he knew the world wanted to see them. He found enough beauty and romance in all that was around him, and, in hisPunchwork, enough subtle humour in nature seized at her most humorous moments to satisfy him. He never required his models to grin through a horse collar, as Gillray did, or to put on their company manners, as was du Maurier’s wont. But Keene was not only a brilliant worker in pen and ink. As an etcher he has also to be reckoned with, notwithstanding the fact that his plates numbered not more than fifty at the outside. Impressions of them are exceedingly rare, and hardly half a dozen of the plates are now known to be in existence. He himself regarded them only as experiments in a difficult but fascinating medium. But in the opinion of the expert they suffice to place him among the best etchers of the 19th century. Apart from the etched frontispieces to some of thePunchpocket-books, only three, and these by no means the best, have been published. Writing inL’Artistefor May 1891 of a few which he had seen, Bracquemond says: “By the freedom, the largeness of their drawing and execution, these plates must be classed amongst modern etchings of the first rank.” A few impressions are in the British Museum, but in the main they were given away to friends and lie hidden in the albums of the collector.
Authorities.—G. S. Layard,Life and Letters of Charles Keene of “Punch”;The Work of Charles Keene, with an introduction and notes by Joseph Pennell, and a bibliography by W. H. Chesson; M. H. Spielmann,The History of “Punch”; M. Charpentier,La Vie Moderne, No. 14 (1880); M. H. Spielmann,Magazine of Art(March 1891); M. Bracquemond,L’Artiste(May 1891); G. S. Layard,Scribner’s(April 1892); Joseph Pennell,Century(Oct. 1897); George du Maurier,Harper’s(March 1898).
(G. S. I.)
KEENE, LAURA(c.1820-1873), Anglo-American actress and manager, whose real name was Mary Moss, was born in England. In 1851, in London, she was playing Pauline inThe Lady of Lyons. She made her first appearance in New York on the 20th of September 1852, on her way to Australia. She returned in 1855 and till 1863 managed Laura Keene’s theatre, in which was produced, in 1858,Our American Cousin. It was her company that was playing at Ford’s theatre, Washington, on the night of Lincoln’s assassination. Miss Keene was a successful melodramatic actress, and an admirable manager. She died at Montclair, New Jersey, on the 4th of November 1873.
See John Creahan’sLife of Laura Keene(1897).
See John Creahan’sLife of Laura Keene(1897).
KEENE,a city and the county-seat of Cheshire county, New Hampshire, U.S.A., on the Ashuelot river, about 45 m. S.W. of Concord, N.H., and about 92 m. W.N.W. of Boston. Pop. (1900), 9165, of whom 1255 were foreign-born; (1910 census), 10,068. Area, 36.5 sq. m. It is served by the Boston & Maine railroad and by the Fitchburg railroad (leased by the Boston & Maine). The site is level, but is surrounded by ranges of lofty hills—Monadnock Mountain is about 10 m. S.E. Most of the streets are pleasantly shaded. There are three parks, with a total area of about 219 acres; and in Central Square stands a soldiers’ and sailors’ monument designed by Martin Milmore and erected in 1871. The principal buildings are the city hall, the county buildings and the city hospital. The Public Library had in 1908 about 16,300 volumes. There are repair shops of the Boston & Maine railroad here, and manufactures of boots and shoes, woollen goods, furniture (especially chairs), pottery, &c. The value of the factory product in 1905 was $2,690,967. The site of Keene was one of the Massachusetts grants made in 1733, but Canadian Indians made it untenable and it was abandoned from 1746 until 1750. In 1753 it was incorporated and was named Keene, in honour of Sir Benjamin Keene (1697-1757), the English diplomatist, who as agent for the South Sea Company and Minister in Madrid, and as responsible for thecommercialtreaty between England and Spain in 1750, was in high reputation at the time; it was chartered as a city in 1874.
KEEP, ROBERT PORTER(1844-1904), American scholar, was born in Farmington, Connecticut, on the 26th of April 1844. He graduated at Yale in 1865, was instructor there for two years, was United States consul at the Piraeus in Greece in 1869-1871, taught Greek in Williston Seminary, Easthampton, Massachusetts, in 1876-1885, and was principal of Norwich Free Academy, Norwich, Conn., from 1885 to 1903, the school owing its prosperity to him hardly less than to its founders. In 1903 he took charge of Miss Porter’s school for girls at Farmington, Conn., founded in 1844 and long controlled by his aunt, Sarah Porter. He died in Farmington on the 3rd of June 1904.
KEEP(corresponding to the Frenchdonjon), in architecture the inmost and strongest part of a medieval castle, answering to the citadel of modern times. The arrangement is said to have originated with Gundulf, bishop of Rochester (d. 1108), architect of the White Tower. The Norman keep is generally a very massive square tower. There is generally a well in a medieval keep, ingeniously concealed in the thickness of a wall or in a pillar. The most celebrated keeps of Norman times in England are the White Tower in London, those at RochesterArundel and Newcastle, Castle Hedingham, &c. When the keep was circular, as at Conisborough and Windsor, it was called a “shell-keep” (seeCastle). The verb “to keep,” from which the noun with its particular meaning here treated was formed, appears in O.E. ascépan, of which the derivation is unknown; no words related to it are found in cognate languages. The earliest meaning (c.1000) appears to have been to lay hold of, to seize, from which its common uses of to guard, observe, retain possession of, have developed.
KEEWATIN,a district of Canada, bounded E. by Committee Bay, Fox Channel, and Hudson and James bays, S. and S.W. by the Albany and English rivers, Manitoba, Lake Winnipeg, and Nelson river, W. by the 100th meridian, and N. by Simpson and Rae straits and gulf and peninsula of Boothia; thus including an area of 445,000 sq. m. Its surface is in general barren and rocky, studded with innumerable lakes with intervening elevations, forest-clad below 60° N., but usually bare or covered with moss or lichens, forming the so-called “barren lands” of the north. With the exception of a strip of Silurian and Devonian rocks, 40 to 80 m. wide, extending from the vicinity of the Severn river to the Churchill, and several isolated areas of Cambrian and Huronian, the district is occupied by Laurentian rocks. The principal river is the Nelson, which, with its great tributary, the Saskatchewan, is 1450 m. long; other tributaries are the Berens, English, Winnipeg, Red and Assiniboine. The Hayes, Severn and Winisk also flow from the south-west into Hudson Bay, and the Ekwan, Attawapiskat and Albany, 500 m. long, into James Bay. The Churchill, 925 m., Thlewliaza, Maguse, and Ferguson rivers discharge into Hudson Bay on the west side; the Kazan, 500 m., and Dubawnt, 660 m., into Chesterfield Inlet; and Back’s river, rising near Aylmer Lake, flows north-eastwards 560 m. to the Arctic Ocean. The principal lakes are St Joseph and Seul on the southern boundary; northern part of Lake Winnipeg, 710 ft. above the sea; Island; South Indian; Etawney; Nueltin; Yathkyed, at an altitude of 300 ft.; Maguse; Kaminuriak; Baker, 30 ft.; Aberdeen, 130 ft.; and Garry. The principal islands are Southampton, area 17,800 sq. m.; Marble Island, the usual wintering place for whaling vessels; and Bell and Coats Islands, in Hudson Bay; and Akimiski, in James Bay.
A few small communities at the posts of the Hudson Bay Company constitute practically the whole of the white population. In 1897 there were 852 Indians in the Churchill and Nelson rivers district, but no figures are available for the district as a whole. The principal posts in Keewatin are Norway House, near the outlet of Lake Winnipeg; Oxford House, on the lake of the same name; York Factory, at the mouth of Hayes river; and Forts Severn and Churchill, at the mouths of the Severn and Churchill rivers respectively. In 1905 the district of Keewatin was included in the North-West Territories and the whole placed under an administrator or acting governor. The derivation of the name is from the Cree—the “north wind.”
KEF,more correctly El-Kef (the Rock), a town of Tunisia, 125 m. by rail S.S.W. of the capital, and 75 m. S.E. of Bona in Algeria. It occupies the site of the Roman colony of Sicca Veneria, and is built on the steep slope of a rock in a mountainous region through which flows the Mellegue, an affluent of the Mejerda. Situated at the intersection of main routes from the west and south, Kef occupies a position of strategic importance. Though distant some 22 m. from the Algerian frontier it was practically a border post, and its walls and citadel were kept in a state of defence by the Tunisians. The town with its half-dozen mosques and tortuous, dirty streets, is still partly walled. The southern part of the wall has however been destroyed by the French, and the remainder is being left to decay. Beyond the part of the wall destroyed is the French quarter. Thekasbah, or citadel, occupies a rocky eminence on the west side of the town. It was built, or rebuilt, by the Turks, the material being Roman. It has been restored by the French, who maintain a garrison here.
The Roman remains include fragments of a large temple dedicated to Hercules, and of the baths. The ancient cisterns remain, but are empty, being used as part of the barracks. The town is however supplied by water from the same spring which filled the cisterns. The Christian cemetery is on the site of a basilica. There are ruins of another Christian basilica, excavated by the French, the apse being intact and the narthex serving as a church. Many stones with Roman inscriptions are built into the walls of Arab houses. The modern town is much smaller than the Roman colony. Pop. about 6000, including about 100 Europeans (chiefly Maltese).
The Roman colony of Sicca Veneria appears from the character of its worship of Venus (Val. Max. ii. 6, § 15) to have been a Phoenician settlement. It was afterwards a Numidian stronghold, and under the Caesars became a fashionable residential city and one of the chief centres of Christianity in North Africa. The Christian apologist Arnobius the Elder lived here.See H. Barth,Die Küstenländer des Mittelmeeres(1849);Corpus Inscript. Lat., vol. viii.; Sombrun inBull. de la soc. de géog. de Bordeaux(1878). Also Cardinal Newman’s Callista:a Sketch of the Third Century(1856), for a “reconstruction” of the manner of life of the early Christians and their oppressors.
The Roman colony of Sicca Veneria appears from the character of its worship of Venus (Val. Max. ii. 6, § 15) to have been a Phoenician settlement. It was afterwards a Numidian stronghold, and under the Caesars became a fashionable residential city and one of the chief centres of Christianity in North Africa. The Christian apologist Arnobius the Elder lived here.
See H. Barth,Die Küstenländer des Mittelmeeres(1849);Corpus Inscript. Lat., vol. viii.; Sombrun inBull. de la soc. de géog. de Bordeaux(1878). Also Cardinal Newman’s Callista:a Sketch of the Third Century(1856), for a “reconstruction” of the manner of life of the early Christians and their oppressors.
KEHL,a town in the grand-duchy of Baden, on the right bank of the Rhine, opposite Strassburg, with which it is connected by a railway bridge and a bridge of boats. Pop. 4000. It has a considerable river trade in timber, tobacco and coal, which has been developed by the formation of a harbour with two basins. The chief importance of Kehl is its connexion with the military defence of Strassburg, to the strategic area of which it belongs. It is encircled by the strong forts Bose, Blumenthal and Kirchbach of that system. In 1678 Kehl was taken from the imperialists by the French, and in 1683 a new fortress, built by Vauban, was begun. In 1697 it was restored to the Empire and was given to Baden, but in 1703 and again in 1733 it was taken by the French, who did not however retain it for very long. In 1793 the French again took the town, which was retaken by the Austrians and was restored to Baden in 1803. In 1808 the French, again in possession, restored the fortifications, but these were dismantled in 1815, when Kehl was again restored to Baden. In August 1870, during the Franco-German War, the French shelled the defenceless town.
KEIGHLEY(locallyKeithley), a municipal borough in the Keighley parliamentary division of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, 17 m. W.N.W. of Leeds, on branches of the Great Northern and Midland railways. Pop. (1901), 41,564. It is beautifully situated in a deep valley near the junction of the Worth with the Aire. A canal between Liverpool and Hull affords it water communication with both west and east coasts. The principal buildings are the parish church of St Andrew (dating from the time of Henry I., modernized in 1710, rebuilt with the exception of the tower in 1805, and again rebuilt in 1878), and the handsome Gothic mechanics’ institute and technical school (1870). A grammar school was founded in 1713, the operations of which have been extended so as to embrace a trade school (1871) for boys, and a grammar school for girls. The principal industries are manufactures of woollen goods, spinning, sewing and washing machines, and tools. The town was incorporated in 1882, and the corporation consists of a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors.
KEI ISLANDS[Ke,Key,Kii, &c.; native,Ewab], a group in the Dutch East Indies, in the residency of Amboyna, between 5° and 6° 5′ S. and 131° 50′ and 133° 15′ E., and consisting of four parts: Nuhu-Iut or Great Kei, Roa or Little Kei, the Tayanda, and the Kur group. Great Kei differs physically in every respect from the other groups. It is of Tertiary formation (Miocene), and has a chain of volcanic elevations along the axis, reaching a height of 2600 ft. Its area is 290 sq. m., the total land area of the group being 572 sq. m. All the other islands are of post-Tertiary formation and of level surface. The group has submarine connexion, under relatively shallow sea, with the Timorlaut group to the south-west and the chain of islands extending north-west towards Ceram; deep water separates it on the east from the Aru Islands and on the west from the inner islands of the Banda Sea. Among the products are coco-nuts, sago, fish, trepang, timber, copra, maize, yamsand tobacco. The population is about 23,000, of whom 14,900 are pagans, and 8300 Mahommedans.
The inhabitants are of three types. There is the true Kei Islander, a Polynesian by his height and black or brown wavy hair, with a complexion between the Papuan black and the Malay yellow. There is the pure Papuan, who has been largely merged in the Kei type. Thirdly, there are the immigrant Malays. These (distinguished by the use of a special language and by the profession of Mohammedanism) are descendants of natives of the Banda islands who fled eastward before the encroachments of the Dutch. The pagans have rude statues of deities and places of sacrifice indicated by flat-topped cairns. The Kei Islanders are skilful in carving and celebrated boat-builders.
See C. M. Kan, “Onze geographische kennis der Keij-Eilanden,” inTijdschrift Aardrijkskundig Genootschap(1887); Martin, “Die Kei-inseln u. ihr Verhältniss zur Australisch-Asiatischen Grenzlinie,” ibid. part vii. (1890); W. R. van Hoëvell, “De Kei-Eilanden,” inTijdschr. Batavian. Gen.(1889); “Verslagen van de wetenschappelijke opnemingen en onderzoekingen op de Keij-Eilanden” (1889-1890), by Planten and Wertheim (1893), with map and ethnographical atlas of the south-western and south-eastern islands by Pleyte; Langen,Die Key- oder Kii-Inseln(Vienna, 1902).
See C. M. Kan, “Onze geographische kennis der Keij-Eilanden,” inTijdschrift Aardrijkskundig Genootschap(1887); Martin, “Die Kei-inseln u. ihr Verhältniss zur Australisch-Asiatischen Grenzlinie,” ibid. part vii. (1890); W. R. van Hoëvell, “De Kei-Eilanden,” inTijdschr. Batavian. Gen.(1889); “Verslagen van de wetenschappelijke opnemingen en onderzoekingen op de Keij-Eilanden” (1889-1890), by Planten and Wertheim (1893), with map and ethnographical atlas of the south-western and south-eastern islands by Pleyte; Langen,Die Key- oder Kii-Inseln(Vienna, 1902).
KEIM, KARL THEODOR(1825-1878), German Protestant theologian, was born at Stuttgart on the 17th of December 1825. His father, Johann Christian Keim, was headmaster of a gymnasium. Here Karl Theodor received his early education, and then proceeded to the Stuttgart Obergymnasium. In 1843 he went to the university of Tübingen, where he studied philosophy under J. F. Reiff, a follower of Hegel, and Oriental languages under Heinrich Ewald and Heinrich Meier. F. C. Baur, the leader of the new Tübingen school, was lecturing on the New Testament and on the history of the church and of dogma, and by him in particular Keim was greatly impressed. The special bent of Keim’s mind is seen in his prize essay,Verhältniss der Christen in den ersten drei Jahrhunderten bis Konstantin zum römischen Reiche(1847). His first published work wasDie Reformation der Reichstadt Ulm(1851). In 1850 he visited the university of Bonn, where he attended some of the lectures of Friedrich Bleek, Richard Rothe, C. M. Arndt and Isaak Dorner. He taught at Tübingen from June 1851 until 1856, when, having become a pastor, he was made deacon at Esslingen, Württemberg. In 1859 he was appointed archdeacon; but a few months later he was called to the university of Zürich as professor of theology (1859-1873), where he produced his important works. Before this he had written on church history (e.g.Schwäbische Reformationsgeschichte bis zum Augsburger Reichstag, 1855). His inaugural address at Zürich on the human development of Jesus,Die menschliche Entwicklung Jesu Christi(1861), and hisDie geschichtliche Würde Jesu(1864) were preparatory to his chief work,Die Geschichte Jesu von Nazara in ihrer Verkettung mit dem Gesamtleben seines Volkes(3 vols., 1867-1872; Eng. trans.,Jesus of Nazareth, and the National Life of Israel, 6 vols.), 1873-1882. In 1873 Keim was appointed professor of theology at Giessen. This post he resigned, through ill-health, shortly before his death on the 17th of November 1878. He belonged to the “mediation” school of theology.
Chief works, besides the above:Reformationsblätter der Reichsstadt Esslingen(1860);Ambrosius Blarer, der Schwäbische Reformator(1860);Der Übertritt Konstantins d. Gr. zum Christenthum(1862); his sermons,Freundesworte zur Gemeinde(2 vols., 1861-1862); andCelsus’ wahres Wort(1873). In 1881 H. Ziegler published one of Keim’s earliest works,Rom und das Christenthum, with a biographical sketch. See also Ziegler’s article in Herzog-Hauck,Realencyklopädie.
Chief works, besides the above:Reformationsblätter der Reichsstadt Esslingen(1860);Ambrosius Blarer, der Schwäbische Reformator(1860);Der Übertritt Konstantins d. Gr. zum Christenthum(1862); his sermons,Freundesworte zur Gemeinde(2 vols., 1861-1862); andCelsus’ wahres Wort(1873). In 1881 H. Ziegler published one of Keim’s earliest works,Rom und das Christenthum, with a biographical sketch. See also Ziegler’s article in Herzog-Hauck,Realencyklopädie.
KEITH,the name of an old Scottish family which derived its name from the barony of Keith in East Lothian, said to have been granted by Malcolm II., king of Scotland, to a member of the house for services against the Danes. The office of great marishal of Scotland, afterwards hereditary in the Keith family, may have been conferred at the same time; for it was confirmed, together with possession of the lands of Keith, to Sir Robert Keith by a charter of King Robert Bruce, and appears to have been held as annexed to the land by the tenure of grand serjeanty. Sir Robert Keith commanded the Scottish horse at Bannockburn, and was killed at the battle of Neville’s Cross in 1346. At the close of the 14th century Sir William Keith, by exchange of lands with Lord Lindsay, obtained the crag of Dunnottar in Kincardineshire, where he built the castle of Dunnottar, which became the stronghold of his descendants. He died about 1407. In 1430 a later Sir William Keith was created Lord Keith, and a few years afterwards earl marishal, and these titles remained in the family till 1716. William, fourth earl marishal (d. 1581), was one of the guardians of Mary queen of Scots during her minority, and was a member of her privy council on her return to Scotland. While refraining from extreme partisanship, he was an adherent of the Reformation; he retired into private life at Dunnottar Castle about 1567, thereby gaining the sobriquet “William of the Tower.” He was reputed to be the wealthiest man in Scotland. His eldest daughter Anne married the regent Murray. His grandson George, 5th earl marishal (c.1553-1623), was one of the most cultured men of his time. He was educated at King’s College, Aberdeen, where he became a proficient classical scholar, afterwards studying divinity under Theodore Beza at Geneva. He was a firm Protestant, and took an active part in the affairs of the kirk. His high character and abilities procured him the appointment of special ambassador to Denmark to arrange the marriage of James VI. with the Princess Anne. He was subsequently employed on a number of important commissions; but he preferred literature to public affairs, and about 1620 he retired to Dunnottar, where he died in 1623. He is chiefly remembered as the founder in 1593 of the Marischal College in the university of Aberdeen, which he richly endowed. From an uncle he inherited the title of Lord Altrie about 1590. William, 7th earl marishal (c.1617-1661), took a prominent part in the Civil War, being at first a leader of the covenanting party in north-east Scotland, and the most powerful opponent of the marquess of Huntly. He co-operated with Montrose in Aberdeenshire and neighbouring counties against the Gordons. With Montrose he signed the Bond of Cumbernauld in August 1640, but took no active steps against the popular party till 1648, when he joined the duke of Hamilton in his invasion of England, escaping from the rout at Preston. In 1650 Charles II. was entertained by the marishal at Dunnottar; and in 1651 the Scottish regalia were left for safe keeping in his castle. Taken prisoner in the same year, he was committed to the Tower and was excluded from Cromwell’s Act of Grace. He was made a privy councillor at the Restoration and died in 1661. Sir John Keith (d. 1714), brother of the 7th earl marishal, was, at the Restoration, given the hereditary office of knight marishal of Scotland, and in 1677 was created earl of Kintore, and Lord Keith of Inverurie and Keith-Hall, a reward for his share in preserving the regalia of Scotland, which were secretly conveyed from Dunnottar to another hiding-place, when the castle was besieged by Cromwell’s troops, and which Sir John, perilously to himself, swore he had carried abroad and delivered to Charles II., thus preventing further search. From him are descended the earls of Kintore.
George, 10th earl marishal (c.1693-1778), served under Marlborough, and like his brother Francis, Marshal Keith (q.v.), was a zealous Jacobite, taking part in the rising of 1715, after which he escaped to the continent. In the following year he was attainted, his estates and titles being forfeited to the Crown. He lived for many years in Spain, where he concerned himself with Jacobite intrigues, but he took no part in the rebellion of 1745, proceeding about that year to Prussia, where he became, like his brother, intimate with Frederick the Great. Frederick employed him in several diplomatic posts, and he is said to have conveyed valuable information to the earl of Chatham, as a reward for which he received a pardon from George II., and returned to Scotland in 1759. His heir male, on whom, but for the attainder of 1716, his titles would have devolved, was apparently his cousin Alexander Keith of Ravelston, to whom the attainted earl had sold the castle and lands of Dunnottar in 1766. From Alexander Keith was descended, through the female line, Sir Patrick Keith Murray of Ochtertyre, who sold the estates of Dunnottar and Ravelston. After the attainderof 1716 the right of the Keiths of Ravelston to be recognized as the representatives of the earls marishal was disputed by Robert Keith (1681-1757), bishop of Fife, a member of another collateral branch of the family. The bishop was a writer of some repute, his chief work,The History of the Affairs of the Church and State of Scotland(Edinburgh, 1734), being of considerable value for the reigns of James V., James VI., and Mary Queen of Scots. He also published aCatalogue of the Bishops of Scotland(Edinburgh, 1755), and other less important historical and theological works.
Robert Keith(d. 1774), descended from a younger son of the 2nd earl marishal, was British minister in Vienna in 1748, and subsequently held other important diplomatic appointments, being known to his numerous friends, among whom were the leading men of letters of his time, as “Ambassador Keith.” His son, Sir Robert Murray Keith (1730-1795), was on Lord George Sackville’s staff at the battle of Minden. He became colonel of a regiment (the 87th foot) known as Keith’s Highlanders, who won distinction in the continental wars, but were disbanded in 1763; he was then employed in the diplomatic service, in which he achieved considerable success by his honesty, courage, and knowledge of languages. In 1781 he became lieutenant-general; in 1789 he was made a privy councillor.
From the Keith family through the female line was descended George Keith Elphinstone, Baron Keith of Stonehaven, Marishal and afterwards Viscount Keith (q.v.), whose titles became extinct at the death of his daughter Margaret, Baroness Keith, in 1867.
SeeCalendar of Documents relating to Scotland, edited by J. Bain (4 vols., Edinburgh, 1881-1888); Peter Buchan,An Account of the Ancient and Noble Family of Keith(Edinburgh, 1828);Memoirs and Correspondence of Sir Robert Murray Keith, edited by Mrs. Gillespie Smyth (London, 1849); John Spalding,Memorialls of the Trubles in Scotland, 1624-1645(2 vols., Spalding Club Publ. 21, 23, Aberdeen, 1850-1851); Sir Robert Douglas,The Peerage of Scotland(Edinburgh, 1813); G.E.C.,Complete Peerage, vol. iv. (London, 1892).
SeeCalendar of Documents relating to Scotland, edited by J. Bain (4 vols., Edinburgh, 1881-1888); Peter Buchan,An Account of the Ancient and Noble Family of Keith(Edinburgh, 1828);Memoirs and Correspondence of Sir Robert Murray Keith, edited by Mrs. Gillespie Smyth (London, 1849); John Spalding,Memorialls of the Trubles in Scotland, 1624-1645(2 vols., Spalding Club Publ. 21, 23, Aberdeen, 1850-1851); Sir Robert Douglas,The Peerage of Scotland(Edinburgh, 1813); G.E.C.,Complete Peerage, vol. iv. (London, 1892).
(R. J. M.)
KEITH, FRANCIS EDWARD JAMES(1696-1758), Scottish soldier and Prussian field marshal, was the second son of William, 9th earl marishal of Scotland, and was born on the 11th of June 1696 at the castle of Inverugie near Peterhead. Through his careful education under Robert Keith, bishop of Fife, and subsequently at Edinburgh University in preparation for the legal profession, he acquired that taste for literature which afterwards secured him the esteem of the most distinguished savants of Europe; but at an early period his preference for a soldier’s career was decided. The rebellion of 1715, in which he displayed qualities that gave some augury of his future eminence, compelled him to seek safety on the Continent. After spending two years in Paris, chiefly at the university, he in 1719 took part in the ill-starred expedition of the Pretender to the Highlands of Scotland. He then passed some time at Paris and Madrid in obscurity and poverty, but eventually obtained a colonelcy in the Spanish army, and, it is said, took part in the siege of Gibraltar (1726-27). Finding his Protestantism a barrier to promotion, he obtained from the king of Spain a recommendation to Peter II. of Russia, from whom he received (1728) the command of a regiment of the guards. He displayed in numerous campaigns the calm, intelligent and watchful valour which was his chief characteristic, obtaining the rank of general of infantry and the reputation of being one of the ablest officers in the Russian service as well as a capable and liberal civil administrator. Judging, however, that his rewards were not commensurate with his merits, he in 1747 offered his services to Frederick II. of Prussia, who at once gave him the rank of field marshal, in 1749 made him governor of Berlin, and soon came to cherish towards him, as towards his brother, the 10th earl marishal, a strong personal regard. In 1756 the Seven Years’ War broke out. Keith was employed in high command from the first, and added to his Russian reputation on every occasion by resolution and promptitude of action, not less than by care and skill. In 1756 he commanded the troops covering the investment of Pirna, and distinguished himself at Lobositz. In 1757 he commanded at the siege of Prague; later in this same campaign he defended Leipzig against a greatly superior force, was present at Rossbach, and, while the king was fighting the campaign of Leuthen, conducted a foray into Bohemia. In 1758 he took a prominent part in the unsuccessful Moravian campaign, after which he withdrew from the army to recruit his broken health. He returned in time for the autumn campaign in the Lausitz, and was killed on the 14th of October 1758 at the battle of Hochkirch. His body was honourably buried on the field by Marshal Daun and General Lacy, the son of his old commander in Russia, and was shortly afterwards transferred by Frederick to the garrison church of Berlin. Many memorials were erected to him by the king, Prince Henry, and others. Keith died unmarried, but had several children by his mistress, Eva Mertens, a Swedish prisoner captured by him in the war of 1741-43. In 1889 the 1st Silesian infantry regiment No. 22 of the German army received his name.
See K. A. Varnhagen von Ense,Biographische Denkmale, part 7 (1844);Fragment of a Memoir of Field-Marshal James Keith, written by himself(1714-1734; edited by Thomas Constable for the Spalding Club, 1843); T. Carlyle,Frederick the Great, passim; V. Paczynaski-Tenczyn,Leben des G. F. M. Jakob Keith(Berlin, 1889); Peter Buchan, Account of the Family of Keith (Edinburgh, 1878); Anon.,Memoir of Marshal Keith(Peterhead, 1869); Pauli,Leben grosser Helden, part iv.
See K. A. Varnhagen von Ense,Biographische Denkmale, part 7 (1844);Fragment of a Memoir of Field-Marshal James Keith, written by himself(1714-1734; edited by Thomas Constable for the Spalding Club, 1843); T. Carlyle,Frederick the Great, passim; V. Paczynaski-Tenczyn,Leben des G. F. M. Jakob Keith(Berlin, 1889); Peter Buchan, Account of the Family of Keith (Edinburgh, 1878); Anon.,Memoir of Marshal Keith(Peterhead, 1869); Pauli,Leben grosser Helden, part iv.
KEITH, GEORGE(c.1639-1716), British divine, was born at Aberdeen about 1639 and was educated for the Presbyterian ministry at Marischal College in his native city. In 1662 he became a Quaker and worked with Robert Barclay (q.v.). After being imprisoned for preaching in 1676 he went to Holland and Germany on an evangelistic tour with George Fox and William Penn. Two further terms of imprisonment in England induced him (1684) to emigrate to America, where he was surveyor-general in East New Jersey and then a schoolmaster at Philadelphia. He travelled in New England defending Quakerism against the attacks of Increase and Cotton Mather, but after a time fell out with his own folk on the subject of the atonement, accused them of deistic views, and started a community of his own called “Christian Quakers” or “Keithians.” He endeavoured to advance his views in London, but the Yearly Meeting of 1694 disowned him, and he established a society at Turner’s Hall in Philpot Lane, where he so far departed from Quaker usage as to administer the two sacraments. In 1700 he conformed to the Anglican Church, and from 1702 to 1704 was an agent of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in America. He died on the 27th of March 1716 at Edburton in Sussex, of which parish he was rector. Among his writings wereThe Deism of William Penn and his Brethren(1699);The Standard of the Quakers examined; or, an Answer to the Apology of Robert Barclay(1702);A Journal of Travels(1706). Gilbert Burnet, bishop of Salisbury, a fellow-Aberdonian, speaks of him as “the most learned man that ever was in that sect, and well versed in the Oriental tongues, philosophy and mathematics.”
KEITH, GEORGE KEITH ELPHINSTONE,Viscount(1746-1823), British admiral, fifth son of the 10th Lord Elphinstone, was born in Elphinstone Tower, near Stirling, on the 7th of January 1746. Two of his brothers went to sea, and he followed their example by entering the navy in 1761, in the “Gosport,” then commanded by Captain Jervis, afterwards Earl St Vincent. In 1767 he made a voyage to the East Indies in the Company’s service, and put £2000 lent him by an uncle to such good purpose in a private trading venture that he laid the foundation of a handsome fortune. He became lieutenant in 1770, commander in 1772, and post captain in 1775. During the war in America he was employed against the privateers, and with a naval brigade at the occupation of Charleston, S.C. In January 1781, when in command of the “Warwick” (50), he captured a Dutch 50-gun ship which had beaten off an English vessel of equal strength a few days before. After peace was signed he remained on shore for ten years, serving in Parliament as member first for Dumbartonshire, and then for Stirlingshire. When war broke out again in 1793 he was appointed to the “Robust” (74), in which he took part in the occupation of Toulon by lord Hood. Heparticularly distinguished himself by beating a body of the French ashore at the head of a naval brigade of English and Spaniards. He was entrusted with the duty of embarking the fugitives when the town was evacuated. In 1794 he was promoted rear-admiral, and in 1795 he was sent to occupy the Dutch colonies at the Cape of Good Hope and in India. He had a large share in the capture of the Cape in 1795, and in August 1796 captured a whole Dutch squadron in Saldanha Bay. In the interval he had gone on to India, where his health suffered, and the capture at Saldanha was effected on his way home. When the Mutiny at the Nore broke out in 1797 he was appointed to the command, and was soon able to restore order. He was equally successful at Plymouth, where the squadron was also in a state of effervescence. At the close of 1798 he was sent as second in command to St Vincent. It was for a long time a thankless post, for St Vincent was at once half incapacitated by ill-health and very arbitrary, while Nelson, who considered that Keith’s appointment was a personal slight to himself, was peevish and insubordinate. The escape of a French squadron which entered the Mediterranean from Brest in May 1799 was mainly due to jarrings among the British naval commanders. Keith followed the enemy to Brest on their retreat, but was unable to bring them to action. He returned to the Mediterranean in November as commander-in-chief. He co-operated with the Austrians in the siege of Genoa, which surrendered on the 4th of June 1800. It was however immediately afterwards lost in consequence of the battle of Marengo, and the French made their re-entry so rapidly that the admiral had considerable difficulty in getting his ships out of the harbour. The close of 1801 and the beginning of the following year were spent in transporting the army sent to recover Egypt from the French. As the naval force of the enemy was completely driven into port, the British admiral had no opportunity of an action at sea, but his management of the convoy carrying the troops, and of the landing at Aboukir, was greatly admired. He was made a baron of the United Kingdom—an Irish barony having been conferred on him in 1797. On the renewal of the war in 1803 he was appointed commander-in-chief in the North Sea, which post he held till 1807. In February 1812 he was appointed commander-in-chief in the Channel, and in 1814 he was raised to a viscounty. During his last two commands he was engaged first in overlooking the measures taken to meet a threatened invasion, and then in directing the movements of the numerous small squadrons and private ships employed on the coasts of Spain and Portugal, and in protecting trade. He was at Plymouth when Napoleon surrendered and was brought to England in the “Bellerophon” by Captain Maitland (1777-1839). The decisions of the British government were expressed through him to the fallen Emperor. Lord Keith refused to be led into disputes, and confined himself to declaring steadily that he had his orders to obey. He was not much impressed by the appearance of his illustrious charge, and thought that the airs of Napoleon and his suite were ridiculous. Lord Keith died on the 10th of March 1823 at Tullyallan, his property in Scotland, and was buried in the parish church. A portrait of him by Owen is in the Painted Hall in Greenwich. He was twice married: in 1787 to Jane Mercer, daughter of Colonel William Mercer of Aldie; and in 1808 to Hester Maria Thrale, who is spoken of as “Queenie” in Boswell’sLife of Johnsonand Mme. D’Arblay’sDiary. He had a daughter by each marriage, but no son. Thus the viscounty became extinct on his death, but the English and Irish baronies descended to his elder daughter Margaret (1788-1867), who married the Comte de Flahault de la Billarderie, only to become extinct on her death.
There is a panegyricalLife of Lord Keithby Alex. Allardyce (Edinburgh, 1882); and biographical notices will be found in John Marshall’sRoyal Naval Biography, i. 43 (1823-1835), and theNaval Chronicle, X. 1.
There is a panegyricalLife of Lord Keithby Alex. Allardyce (Edinburgh, 1882); and biographical notices will be found in John Marshall’sRoyal Naval Biography, i. 43 (1823-1835), and theNaval Chronicle, X. 1.
(D. H.)
KEITH,a police burgh of Banffshire, Scotland, on the Isla, 53¼ m. N.W. of Aberdeen by the Great North of Scotland railway. Pop. (1901), 4753. A branch of the Highland railway also gives access to Elgin, and there is a line to Buckie and Portessie on the Moray Firth. The burgh includes Old Keith and New Keith on the east bank of the Isla, and Fife-Keith on the west bank. Though Old Keith has a charter dating from William the Lion it fell into gradual decay; New Keith, founded in the 18th century by the second earl of Seafield, being better situated for the growth of a town. Fife-Keith has sprung up since 1816. The principal public buildings include the Turner memorial hospital, the Longmore hall, and the Institute. In the Roman Catholic church there is a painting of the “Incredulity of St Thomas,” presented by Charles X. of France. The industries include manufactures of tweeds, blankets, agricultural implements, and boots and shoes; there are also distilleries, breweries, flour mills, and lime and manure works. But the main importance of Keith lies in the fact that it is the centre of the agricultural trade of the shire. The “Summer Eve Fair” held in September is the largest cattle and horse fair in the north of Scotland; the town is also the headquarters of the dressed-meat trade in the north.
KEJ,orKech, the chief place in a district of the province of Makran in Baluchistan, which has given its name to Kej-Makran, as distinguished from Persian Makran. There is no town, but a number of small villages dominated by a fort built upon a rock, on the eastern bank of the Kej River. This fort, like many others similarly placed throughout the country, is supposed to be impregnable, but is of no strength except against the matchlocks of the surrounding tribes. Kej (or Kiz) was an important trade centre in the days of Arab supremacy in Sind, and the rulers of Kalat at various times marched armies into the province with a view to maintaining their authority. At the beginning of the 19th century it had the reputation of a commercial centre, trading through Panjgur with Kandahar, with Karachi via Bela, and with Muscat and the Persian Gulf by the seaport of Gwadar, distant about 80 m. The present Khan of Kalat exercises but a feeble sway over this portion of his dominion, although he appoints a governor to the province. The principal tribe residing around Kej is that of the Gichki, who claim to be of Rajput origin, and to have settled in Makran during the 17th century, having been driven out of Rajputana. The climate during summer is too hot for Europeans. During winter, however, it is temperate. The principal exports consist of dates, which are considered of the finest quality. A local revolt against Kalat rendered an expedition against Kej necessary in 1898. Colonel Mayne reduced the fortress and restored order in the surrounding districts.
KEKULÉ, FRIEDRICH AUGUST(1829-1896), German chemist, was born at Darmstadt on the 7th of September 1829. While studying architecture at Giessen he came under the influence of Liebig and was induced to take up chemistry. From Giessen he went to Paris, and then, after a short sojourn in Switzerland, he visited England. Both in Paris and in England he enjoyed personal intercourse with the leading chemists of the period. On his return to Germany he started a small chemical laboratory at Heidelberg, where, with a very slender equipment, he carried out several important researches. In 1858 he was appointed professor of chemistry at Ghent, and in 1865 was called to Bonn to fill a similar position, which he held till his death in that town on the 13th of June 1896. Kekulé’s main importance lies in the far-reaching contributions which he made to chemical theory, especially in regard to the constitution of the carbon compounds. The doctrine of atomicity had already been enunciated by E. Frankland, when in 1858 Kekulé published a paper in which, after giving reasons for regarding carbon as a tetravalent element, he set forth the essential features of his famous doctrine of the linking of atoms. He explained that in substances containing several carbon atoms it must be assumed that some of the affinities of each carbon atom are bound by the affinities of the atoms of other elements contained in the substance, and some by an equal number of the affinities of the other carbon atoms. The simplest case is when two carbon atoms are combined so that one affinity of the one is tied to one affinity of the other; two, therefore, of the affinities of the two atoms are occupied in keeping the two atoms together, and only the remaining six are available for atoms of other elements. The next simplest case consists in the mutual interchange of two affinity units, and so on. This conception led Kekulé to his “closed-chain” or “ring” theory of the constitutionof benzene which has been called the “most brilliant piece of prediction to be found in the whole range of organic chemistry,” and this in turn led in particular to the elucidation of the constitution of the “aromatic compounds,” and in general to new methods of chemical synthesis and decomposition, and to a deeper insight into the composition of numberless organic bodies and their mutual relations. Professor F. R. Japp, in the Kekulé memorial lecture he delivered before the London Chemical Society on the 15th of December 1897, declared that three-fourths of modern organic chemistry is directly or indirectly the product of Kekulé’s benzene theory, and that without its guidance and inspiration the industries of the coal-tar colours and artificial therapeutic agents in their present form and extension would have been inconceivable.