KIRCHHOFF, JOHANN WILHELM ADOLF(1826-1908), German classical scholar and epigraphist, was born in Berlin on the 6th of January 1826. In 1865 he was appointed professor of classical philology in the university of his native city. He died on the 26th of February 1908. He is the author ofDie Homerische Odyssee(1859), putting forward an entirely new theory as to the composition of theOdyssey; editions of Plotinus (1856), Euripides (1855 and 1877-1878). Aeschylus (1880), Hesiod (Works and Days, 1889), Xenophon,On the Athenian Constitution(3rd ed., 1889);Über die Entstehungszeit des Herodotischen Geschichtswerkes(2nd ed., 1878);Thukydides und sein Urkundenmaterial(1895).
The following works are the result of his epigraphical and palaeographical studies:Die Umbrischen Sprachdenkmäler(1851);Das Stadlrecht von Bantia(1853), on the tablet discovered in 1790 at Oppido near Banzi, containing a plebiscite relating to the municipal affairs of the ancient Bantia;Das Gotische Runenalphabet(1852);Die Fränkischen Runen(1855);Studien zur Geschichte des Griechischen Alphabets(4th ed., 1887). The second part of vol. iv. of theCorpus Inscriptionum Graecarum(1859, containing the Christian inscriptions) and vol. i. of theC. I. Atticarum(1873, containing the inscriptions before 403) with supplements thereto (vol. iv. pts. 1-3, 1877-1891) are edited by him.
The following works are the result of his epigraphical and palaeographical studies:Die Umbrischen Sprachdenkmäler(1851);Das Stadlrecht von Bantia(1853), on the tablet discovered in 1790 at Oppido near Banzi, containing a plebiscite relating to the municipal affairs of the ancient Bantia;Das Gotische Runenalphabet(1852);Die Fränkischen Runen(1855);Studien zur Geschichte des Griechischen Alphabets(4th ed., 1887). The second part of vol. iv. of theCorpus Inscriptionum Graecarum(1859, containing the Christian inscriptions) and vol. i. of theC. I. Atticarum(1873, containing the inscriptions before 403) with supplements thereto (vol. iv. pts. 1-3, 1877-1891) are edited by him.
KIRGHIZ,a large and widespread division of the Turkish family, of which there are two main branches, the Kara-Kirghiz of the uplands and the Kirghiz-Kazaks of the steppe. They jointly number about 3,000,000, and occupy an area of perhaps the same number of square miles, stretching from Kulja westwards to the lower Volga, and from the headstreams of the Ob southwards to the Pamir and the Turkoman country. They seem closely allied ethnically to the Mongolians and in speech to the Tatars. But both Mongols and Tatars belonged themselves originally to one racial stock and formed part of the same hordes or nomadic armies: also the Western Turks have to a large extent lost their original physique and become largely assimilated to the regular “Caucasian” type. But the Kirghiz have either remained nearly altogether unmixed, as in the uplands, or else have intermingled in the steppe mainly with the Volga Kalmucks in the west, and with the Dzungarian nomads in the east, all alike of Mongol stock. Hence they have everywhere to a large extent preserved the common Mongolian features, while retaining their primitive Tatar speech. Physically they are a middle-sized, square-built race, inclined to stoutness, especially in the steppe, mostly with long black hair, scant beard or none, small, black and oblique eyes, though blue or grey also occur in the south, broad Mongoloid features, high cheekbones, broad, flat nose, small mouth, brachycephalous head, very small hands and feet, dirty brown or swarthy complexion,often yellowish, but also occasionally fair. These characteristics, while affiliating them directly to the Mongol stock, also betray an admixture of foreign elements, probably due to Finnish influences in the north, and Tajik or Iranian blood in the south. Their speech also, while purely Turkic in structure, possesses, not only many Mongolian and a few Persian and even Arabic words, but also some terms unknown to the other branches of the Mongolo-Tatar linguistic family, and which should perhaps be traced to the Kiang-Kuan, Wu-sun, Ting-ling, and other peoples of South Siberia partly absorbed by them.
The Kara-Kirghiz.—The Kara or “Black” Kirghiz, so called from the colour of their tents, are known to the Russians either as Chernyie (Black) or Dikokammenyie (Wild Stone or Rocky) Kirghiz, and are the Block Kirghiz of some English writers. They are on the whole the purest and best representatives of the race, and properly speaking to them alone belongs the distinctive national name Kirghiz or Krghiz. This term is commonly traced to a legendary chief, Kirghiz, sprung of Oghuz-Khan, ninth in descent from Japheth. It occurs in its present form for the first time in the account of the embassy sent in 569 by the East Roman emperor Justin II. to the Uighur Khan, Dugla-Ditubulu, where it is stated that this prince presented a slave of the Kirghiz tribe to Zemark, head of the mission. In the Chinese chronicles the word assumes the form Ki-li-ki-tz’, and the writers of the Yuan dynasty (1280-1367) place the territory of these people 10,000 li north-west of Pekin, about the headstreams of the Yenisei. In the records of the T’ang dynasty (618-907) they are spoken of under the name of Kha-kia-tz’ (pronounced Khaka, and sometimes transliterated Haka), and it is mentioned that these Khakas were of the same speech as the Khoei-khu. From this it follows that they were of Mongolo-Tatar stock, and are wrongly identified by some ethnologists with the Kiang-Kuan, Wu-sun, or Ting-ling, all of whom are described as tall, with red hair, “green” or grey eyes, and fair complexion, and must therefore have been of Finnish stock, akin to the present Soyotes of the upper Yenisei.
The Kara-Kirghiz are by the Chinese and Mongolians calledBurut, whereutis the Mongolian plural ending, as in Tangut, Yakut, modified toyatin Buryat, the collective name of the Siberian Mongolians of the Baikal district. Thus the termBuris the common Mongolian designation both of the Baikal Mongols and of the Kara-Kirghiz, who occupied this very region and the upper Yenisei valley generally till comparatively recent times. For the original home of their ancestors, the Khakas, lay in the south of the present governments of Yeniseisk and Tomsk, stretching thence southwards beyond the Sayan range to the Tannuola hills in Chinese territory. Here the Russians first met them in the 17th century, and by the aid of the Kazaks exterminated all those east of the Irtish, driving the rest farther west and south-westwards. Most of them took refuge with their kinsmen, the Kara-Kirghiz nomad highlanders, whose homes, at least since the 13th century, have been the Ala-tau range, the Issyk-kul basin, the Tekes, Chu and Talass river valleys, the Tian-shan range, the uplands draining both to the Tarim and to the Jaxartes and Oxus, including Khokand, Karateghin and Shignan southwards to the Pamir table-land, visited by them in summer. They thus occupy most of the uplands along the Russo-Chinese frontier, between 35° and 50° N. lat. and between 70° and 85° E. long.The Kara-Kirghiz are all grouped in two main sections—the On or “Right” in the east, with seven branches (Bogu, Sary-Bagishch, Son-Bagishch, Sultu or Solye, Cherik, Sayak, Bassinz), and the Sol or “Left” in the west, with four branches (Kokche or Kûchy, Soru, Mundus, Kitai or Kintai). The Sol section occupies the region between the Talass and Oxus headstreams in Ferghana (Khokand) and Bokhara, where they come in contact with the Galchas or Highland Tajiks. The On section lies on both sides of the Tian-shan, about Lake Issyk-kul, and in the Chu, Tekes and Narin (upper Jaxartes) valleys.The total number of Kara-Kirghiz exceeds 800,000.All are essentially nomads, occupied mainly with stock breeding, chiefly horses of a small but hardy breed, sheep of the fat-tailed species, oxen used both for riding and as pack animals, some goats, and camels of both species. Agriculture is limited chiefly to the cultivation of wheat, barley and millet, from the last of which a coarse vodka or brandy is distilled. Trade is carried on chiefly by barter, cattle being taken by the dealers from China, Turkestan and Russia in exchange for manufactured goods.The Kara-Kirghiz are governed by the “manaps,” or tribal rulers, who enjoy almost unlimited authority, and may even sell or kill their subjects. In religious matters they differ little from the Kazaks, whose practices are described below. Although generally recognizing Russian sovereignty since 1864, they pay no taxes.
The Kara-Kirghiz are by the Chinese and Mongolians calledBurut, whereutis the Mongolian plural ending, as in Tangut, Yakut, modified toyatin Buryat, the collective name of the Siberian Mongolians of the Baikal district. Thus the termBuris the common Mongolian designation both of the Baikal Mongols and of the Kara-Kirghiz, who occupied this very region and the upper Yenisei valley generally till comparatively recent times. For the original home of their ancestors, the Khakas, lay in the south of the present governments of Yeniseisk and Tomsk, stretching thence southwards beyond the Sayan range to the Tannuola hills in Chinese territory. Here the Russians first met them in the 17th century, and by the aid of the Kazaks exterminated all those east of the Irtish, driving the rest farther west and south-westwards. Most of them took refuge with their kinsmen, the Kara-Kirghiz nomad highlanders, whose homes, at least since the 13th century, have been the Ala-tau range, the Issyk-kul basin, the Tekes, Chu and Talass river valleys, the Tian-shan range, the uplands draining both to the Tarim and to the Jaxartes and Oxus, including Khokand, Karateghin and Shignan southwards to the Pamir table-land, visited by them in summer. They thus occupy most of the uplands along the Russo-Chinese frontier, between 35° and 50° N. lat. and between 70° and 85° E. long.
The Kara-Kirghiz are all grouped in two main sections—the On or “Right” in the east, with seven branches (Bogu, Sary-Bagishch, Son-Bagishch, Sultu or Solye, Cherik, Sayak, Bassinz), and the Sol or “Left” in the west, with four branches (Kokche or Kûchy, Soru, Mundus, Kitai or Kintai). The Sol section occupies the region between the Talass and Oxus headstreams in Ferghana (Khokand) and Bokhara, where they come in contact with the Galchas or Highland Tajiks. The On section lies on both sides of the Tian-shan, about Lake Issyk-kul, and in the Chu, Tekes and Narin (upper Jaxartes) valleys.
The total number of Kara-Kirghiz exceeds 800,000.
All are essentially nomads, occupied mainly with stock breeding, chiefly horses of a small but hardy breed, sheep of the fat-tailed species, oxen used both for riding and as pack animals, some goats, and camels of both species. Agriculture is limited chiefly to the cultivation of wheat, barley and millet, from the last of which a coarse vodka or brandy is distilled. Trade is carried on chiefly by barter, cattle being taken by the dealers from China, Turkestan and Russia in exchange for manufactured goods.
The Kara-Kirghiz are governed by the “manaps,” or tribal rulers, who enjoy almost unlimited authority, and may even sell or kill their subjects. In religious matters they differ little from the Kazaks, whose practices are described below. Although generally recognizing Russian sovereignty since 1864, they pay no taxes.
The Kazaks.—Though not unknown to them, the term Kirghiz is never used by the steppe nomads, who always call themselves simply Kazaks, commonly interpreted as riders. The first authentic reference to this name is by the Persian poet and historian Firdousi (1020), who speaks of the Kazak tribes as much dreaded steppe marauders, all mounted and armed with lances. From this circumstance the term Kazak came to be gradually applied to all freebooters similarly equipped, and it thus spread from the Aralo-Caspian basin to South Russia, where it still survives under the form of Cossack, spelt Kazak or Kozak in Russian. Hence though Kazak and Cossack are originally the same word, the former now designates a Mongolo-Tatar nomad race, the latter various members of the Slav family. Since the 18th century the Russians have used the compound expression Kirghiz-Kazak, chiefly in order to distinguish them from their own Cossacks, at that time overrunning Siberia. Siegmund Herberstein (1486-1566) is the first European who mentions them by name, and it is noteworthy that he speaks of them as “Tartars,” that is, a people rather of Turki than Mongolian stock.
In their present homes, the so-called “Kirghiz steppes,” they are far more numerous and widespread than their Kara-Kirghiz kinsmen, stretching almost uninterruptedly from Lake Balkash round the Aral and Caspian Seas westwards to the lower Volga, and from the river Irtish southwards to the lower Oxus and Ust-Urt plateau. Their domain, which is nearly 2,000,000 sq. m. in extent, thus lies mainly between 45° and 55° N. lat. and from 45° to 80° E. long. Here they came under the sway of Jenghiz Khan, after whose death they fell to the share of his son Juji, head of the Golden Horde, but continued to retain their own khans. When the Uzbegs acquired the ascendancy, many of the former subjects of the Juji and Jagatai hordes fell off and joined the Kazaks. Thus about the year 1500 were formed two powerful states in the Kipchak and Kheta steppes, the Mogul-Ulus and the Kazak, the latter of whom, under their khan Arslane, are said by Sultan Baber to have had as many as 400,000 fighting men. Their numbers continued to be swollen by voluntary or enforced accessions from the fragments of the Golden Horde, such as the Kipchaks, Naimans, Konrats, Jalairs, Kankali, whose names are still preserved in the tribal divisions of the Kazaks. And as some of these peoples were undoubtedly of true Mongolian stock, their names have given a colour to the statement that all the Kazaks were rather of Mongol than of Turki origin. But the universal prevalence of a nearly pure variety of the Turki speech throughout the Kazak steppes is almost alone sufficient to show that the Tatar element must at all times have been in the ascendant. Very various accounts have been given of the relationship of the Kipchak to the Kirghiz, but at present they seem to form a subdivision of the Kirghiz-Kazaks. The Kara-Kalpaks are an allied but apparently separate tribe.The Kirghiz-Kazaks have long been grouped in three large “hordes” or encampments, further subdivided into a number of so-called “races,” which are again grouped in tribes, and these in sections, branches and auls, or communities of from five to fifteen tents. The division into hordes has been traditionally referred to a powerful khan, who divided his states amongst his three sons, the eldest of whom became the founder of the Ulu-Yuz, or Great Horde, the second of the Urta-Yuz, or Middle Horde, and the third of the Kachi-Yuz, or Little Horde. The last two under their common khan Abulkhair voluntarily submitted in 1730 to the Empress Anne. Most of the Great Horde were subdued by Yunus, khan of Ferghana, in 1798, and all the still independent tribes finally accepted Russian sovereignty in 1819.Since 1801 a fourth division, known as the Inner or Bukeyevskaya Horde, from the name of their first khan, Bukei, has been settled in the Orenburg steppe.But these divisions affect the common people alone, all the higher orders and ruling families being broadly classed as White and Black Kost or Bones. The White Bones comprise only the khans and their descendants, besides the issue of the khojas or Moslem “saints.” The Black Bones include all the rest, except theTelengutor servants of the khans, and theKûlor slaves.
In their present homes, the so-called “Kirghiz steppes,” they are far more numerous and widespread than their Kara-Kirghiz kinsmen, stretching almost uninterruptedly from Lake Balkash round the Aral and Caspian Seas westwards to the lower Volga, and from the river Irtish southwards to the lower Oxus and Ust-Urt plateau. Their domain, which is nearly 2,000,000 sq. m. in extent, thus lies mainly between 45° and 55° N. lat. and from 45° to 80° E. long. Here they came under the sway of Jenghiz Khan, after whose death they fell to the share of his son Juji, head of the Golden Horde, but continued to retain their own khans. When the Uzbegs acquired the ascendancy, many of the former subjects of the Juji and Jagatai hordes fell off and joined the Kazaks. Thus about the year 1500 were formed two powerful states in the Kipchak and Kheta steppes, the Mogul-Ulus and the Kazak, the latter of whom, under their khan Arslane, are said by Sultan Baber to have had as many as 400,000 fighting men. Their numbers continued to be swollen by voluntary or enforced accessions from the fragments of the Golden Horde, such as the Kipchaks, Naimans, Konrats, Jalairs, Kankali, whose names are still preserved in the tribal divisions of the Kazaks. And as some of these peoples were undoubtedly of true Mongolian stock, their names have given a colour to the statement that all the Kazaks were rather of Mongol than of Turki origin. But the universal prevalence of a nearly pure variety of the Turki speech throughout the Kazak steppes is almost alone sufficient to show that the Tatar element must at all times have been in the ascendant. Very various accounts have been given of the relationship of the Kipchak to the Kirghiz, but at present they seem to form a subdivision of the Kirghiz-Kazaks. The Kara-Kalpaks are an allied but apparently separate tribe.
The Kirghiz-Kazaks have long been grouped in three large “hordes” or encampments, further subdivided into a number of so-called “races,” which are again grouped in tribes, and these in sections, branches and auls, or communities of from five to fifteen tents. The division into hordes has been traditionally referred to a powerful khan, who divided his states amongst his three sons, the eldest of whom became the founder of the Ulu-Yuz, or Great Horde, the second of the Urta-Yuz, or Middle Horde, and the third of the Kachi-Yuz, or Little Horde. The last two under their common khan Abulkhair voluntarily submitted in 1730 to the Empress Anne. Most of the Great Horde were subdued by Yunus, khan of Ferghana, in 1798, and all the still independent tribes finally accepted Russian sovereignty in 1819.
Since 1801 a fourth division, known as the Inner or Bukeyevskaya Horde, from the name of their first khan, Bukei, has been settled in the Orenburg steppe.
But these divisions affect the common people alone, all the higher orders and ruling families being broadly classed as White and Black Kost or Bones. The White Bones comprise only the khans and their descendants, besides the issue of the khojas or Moslem “saints.” The Black Bones include all the rest, except theTelengutor servants of the khans, and theKûlor slaves.
The Kazaks are an honest and trustworthy people, but heavy, sluggish, sullen and unfriendly. Even the hospitality enjoined by the Koran is displayed only towards the orthodox Sunnite sect. So essentially nomadic are all the tribes that they cannot adopt a settled life without losing the very sentiment of their nationality, and becoming rapidly absorbed in the Slav population. They dwell exclusively in semicircular tents consistingof a light wooden framework, and red cloth or felt covering, with an opening above for light and ventilation.
The camp life of the Kazaks seems almost unendurable to Europeans in winter, when they are confined altogether to the tent, and exposed to endless discomforts. In summer the day is spent mostly in sleep or drinking koumiss, followed at night by feasting and the recital of tales, varied with songs accompanied by the music of the flute and balalaika. But horsemanship is the great amusement of all true Kazaks, who may almost be said to be born in the saddle. Hence, though excellent riders, they are bad walkers. Though hardy and long-lived, they are uncleanly in their habits and often decimated by small-pox and Siberian plague. They have no fixed meals, and live mainly on mutton and goat and horse flesh, and instead of bread use the so-called balamyk, a mess of flour fried in dripping and diluted in water. The universal drink is koumiss, which is wholesome, nourishing and a specific against all chest diseases.
The dress consists of the chapân, a flowing robe of which one or two are worn in summer and several in winter, fastened with a silk or leather girdle, in which are stuck a knife, tobacco pouch, seal and a few other trinkets. Broad silk or cloth pantaloons are often worn over the chapân, which is of velvet, silk, cotton or felt, according to the rank of the wearer. Large black or red leather boots, with round white felt pointed caps, complete the costume, which is much the same for both sexes.
Like the Kara-Kirghiz, the Kazaks are nominally Sunnites, but Shamanists at heart, worshipping, besides the Kudai or good divinity, the Shaitan or bad spirit. Their faith is strong in thetalchior soothsayer and other charlatans, who know everything, can do everything, and heal all disorders at pleasure. But they are not fanatics, though holding the abstract doctrine that the “Kafir” may be lawfully oppressed, including in this category not only Buddhists and Christians, but even Mahommedans of the Shiah sect. There are no fasts or ablutions, mosques or mollahs, or regular prayers. Although Mussulmans since the beginning of the 16th century, they have scarcely yet found their way to Mecca, their pilgrims visiting instead the more convenient shrines of the “saints” scattered over eastern Turkestan. Unlike the Mongolians, the Kazaks treat their dead with great respect, and the low steppe hills are often entirely covered with monuments raised above their graves.
Letters are neglected to such an extent that whoever can merely write is regarded as a savant, while he becomes a prodigy of learning if able to read the Koran in the original. Yet the Kazaks are naturally both musical and poetical, and possess a considerable number of national songs, which are usually repeated with variations from mouth to mouth.
The Kazaks still choose their own khans, who, though confirmed by the Russian government, possess little authority beyond their respective tribes. The real rulers are the elders or umpires and sultans, all appointed by public election. Brigandage and raids arising out of tribal feuds, which were formerly recognized institutions, are now severely punished, sometimes even with death. Capital punishment, usually by hanging or strangling, is inflicted for murder and adultery, while three, nine or twenty-seven times the value of the stolen property is exacted for theft.
The domestic animals, daily pursuits and industries of the Kazaks differ but slightly from those of the Kara-Kirghiz. Some of the wealthy steppe nomads own as many as 20,000 of the large fat-tailed sheep. Goats are kept chiefly as guides for these flocks; and the horses, though small, are hardy, swift, light-footed and capable of covering from 50 to 60 miles at a stretch. Amongst the Kazaks there are a few workers in silver, copper and iron, the chief arts besides, being skin dressing, wool spinning and dyeing, carpet and felt weaving. Trade is confined mainly to an exchange of live stock for woven and other goods from Russia, China and Turkestan.
Since their subjection to Russia the Kazaks have become less lawless, but scarcely less nomadic. A change of habit in this respect is opposed alike to their tastes and to the climatic and other outward conditions. See alsoTurks.
Literature.—Alexis Levshin,Description des hordes et des steppes des Kirghiz-Kazaks, translated from the Russian by Ferry de Cigny (1840); W. Radloff,Proben der Volksliteratur der Türkischen Stämme Südsiberiens; Ch. de Ujfalvy,Le Kohistan, le Ferghanah, et Kouldja; alsoBull. de la Soc. de Géo.(1878-1879); Semenoff, paper inPetermann’s Mittheilungen(1859), No. 3; Valikhanov’sTravels in 1858-1859; Madame de Ujfalvy, papers inTour du Monde(1874); Vambéry,Die primitive Cultur des Turko-Tatarischen Volkes; P. S. Pallas,Observations sur les Kirghiz(1769; French trans., 1803); Andriev, “La Horde Moyenne,” inBull. de la Soc. de Géogr. de St Petersburg(1875); Radomtsev,Excursion dans le steppe Kirghiz; Lansdell,Russian Centralasia(1885); Jadrinzer,La Sibérie(1886). Skrine and Ross,Heart of Asia(1899); E. H. Parker,A Thousand Years of the Tartars(1895). Various Russian works by Nalivkin, published in Turkestan, contain much valuable information, and N. N. Pantusov,Specimens of Kirghiz Popular Poetry, with Russian translations (Kazan, 1903-1904).
Literature.—Alexis Levshin,Description des hordes et des steppes des Kirghiz-Kazaks, translated from the Russian by Ferry de Cigny (1840); W. Radloff,Proben der Volksliteratur der Türkischen Stämme Südsiberiens; Ch. de Ujfalvy,Le Kohistan, le Ferghanah, et Kouldja; alsoBull. de la Soc. de Géo.(1878-1879); Semenoff, paper inPetermann’s Mittheilungen(1859), No. 3; Valikhanov’sTravels in 1858-1859; Madame de Ujfalvy, papers inTour du Monde(1874); Vambéry,Die primitive Cultur des Turko-Tatarischen Volkes; P. S. Pallas,Observations sur les Kirghiz(1769; French trans., 1803); Andriev, “La Horde Moyenne,” inBull. de la Soc. de Géogr. de St Petersburg(1875); Radomtsev,Excursion dans le steppe Kirghiz; Lansdell,Russian Centralasia(1885); Jadrinzer,La Sibérie(1886). Skrine and Ross,Heart of Asia(1899); E. H. Parker,A Thousand Years of the Tartars(1895). Various Russian works by Nalivkin, published in Turkestan, contain much valuable information, and N. N. Pantusov,Specimens of Kirghiz Popular Poetry, with Russian translations (Kazan, 1903-1904).
KIRIN,a province of central Manchuria, with a capital bearing the same name. The province has an area of 90,000 sq. m., and a population of 6,500,000. The chief towns besides the capital are Kwang-chêng-tsze, 80 m. N.W. of the capital, and Harbin on the Sungari river. The city ofKirinis situated at the foot of the Lau-Ye-Ling mountains, on the left bank of the Sungari or Girin-ula, there 300 yds. wide, and is served by a branch of the Manchurian railway. The situation is one of exceptional beauty; but the streets are narrow, irregular and indescribably filthy. The western part of the town is built upon a swamp and is under water a great part of the year. The dockyards are supplied with machinery from Europe and are efficient. Tobacco is the principal article of trade, the kind grown in the province being greatly prized throughout the Chinese empire under the name of “Manchu leaf.” Formerly ginseng was also an important staple, but the supply from this quarter of the country has been exhausted. Outside the town lies a plain “thickly covered with open coffins containing the dead bodies of Chinese emigrants exposed for identification and removal by their friends; if no claim is made during ten years the remains are buried on the spot.” Kirin was chosen by the emperor K’anghi as a military post during the wars with the Eleuths; and it owes its Chinese name of Ch’uen-ch’ang,i.e.Naval Yard, to his building there the vessels for the transport of his troops. The population was estimated at 300,000 in 1812; in 1909 it was about 120,000.
KIRK, SIR JOHN(1832- ), British naturalist and administrator, son of the Rev. John Kirk, was born at Barry, near Arbroath, on the 19th of December 1832. He was educated at Edinburgh for the medical profession, and after serving on the civil medical staff throughout the Crimean War, was appointed in February 1858 physician and naturalist to David Livingstone’s second expedition to Central Africa. He was by Livingstone’s side in most of his journeyings during the next five years, and was one of the first four white men to behold Lake Nyassa (Sept. 16, 1859). He was finally invalided home on the 9th of May 1863. The reputation he gained during this expedition led to his appointment in January 1866 as acting surgeon to the political agency at Zanzibar. In 1868 he became assistant political agent, being raised to the rank of consul-general in 1873 and agent in 1880. He retired from that post in 1887. The twenty-one years spent by Kirk in Zanzibar covered the most critical period of the history of European intervention in East Africa; and during the greater part of that time he was the virtual ruler of the country. With Seyyid Bargash, who became sultan in 1870, he had a controlling influence, and after the failure of Sir Bartle Frere’s efforts he succeeded in obtaining (June 5, 1873) the sultan’s signature to a treaty abolishing the slave trade in his dominions. In 1877 Bargash offered to a British merchant—Sir W. Mackinnon—a lease of his mainland territories, and he gave Kirk a declaration in which he bound himself not to cede territory to any other power than Great Britain, a declaration ignored by the British government. When Germany in 1885 claimed districts considered by the sultan to belong to Zanzibar, Kirk intervened to prevent Bargash going in person to Berlin to protest and induced him to submit to the dismemberment of his dominions. In the delicate negotiations which followedKirk used his powers to checkmate the German designs to supplant the British in Zanzibar itself; this he did without destroying the Arab form of government. He also directed the efforts, this time successful, to obtain for Britain a portion of the mainland—Bargash in May 1887 granting to Mackinnon a lease of territory which led to the foundation of British East Africa. Having thus served both Great Britain and Zanzibar, Kirk resigned his post (July 1887), retiring from the consular service. In 1889-1890 he was a plenipotentiary at the slave trade conference in Brussels, and was one of the delegates who fixed the tariff duties to be imposed in the Congo basin. In 1895 he was sent by the British government on a mission to the Niger; and on his return he was appointed a member of the Foreign Office committee for constructing the Uganda railway. As a naturalist Kirk took high rank, and many species of the flora and fauna of Central Africa were made known by him, and several bear his name,e.g.theOtogale kirkii(a lemuroid), theMadoqua kirkii(a diminutive antelope), theLandolphia kirkiiand theClematis kirkii. For his services to geography he received in 1882 the patrons’ medal of the Royal Geographical Society, of which society he became foreign secretary. Kirk was created K.C.B. in 1900. He married, in 1867, Miss Helen Cooke.
KIRKBY, JOHN(d. 1290), English ecclesiastic and statesman, entered the public service as a clerk of the chancery during the reign of Henry III. Under Edward I. he acted as keeper of the great seal during the frequent absences of the chancellor, Robert Burnell, being referred to as vice-chancellor. In 1282 he was employed by the king to make a tour through the counties and boroughs for the purpose of collecting money; this and his other services to Edward were well rewarded, and although not yet ordained priest he held several valuable benefices in the church. In 1283 he was chosen bishop of Rochester, but owing to the opposition of the archbishop of Canterbury, John Peckham, he did not press his claim to this see. In 1286, however, two years after he had become treasurer, he was elected bishop of Ely, and he was ordained priest and then consecrated by Peckham. He died at Ely on the 26th of March 1290. Kirkby was a benefactor to his see, to which he left some property in London, including the locality now known as Ely Place, where for many years stood the London residence of the bishop of Ely.
Kirkby’s Questis the name given to a survey of various English counties which was made under the bishop’s direction probably in 1284 and 1285. For this seeInquisitions and Assessments relating to Feudal Aids, 1284-1431, vol. i. (London, 1899).
Kirkby’s Questis the name given to a survey of various English counties which was made under the bishop’s direction probably in 1284 and 1285. For this seeInquisitions and Assessments relating to Feudal Aids, 1284-1431, vol. i. (London, 1899).
KIRKCALDY(locally pronouncedKerkawdi), a royal, municipal and police burgh and seaport of Fifeshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901), 34,079. It lies on the Firth of Forth, 26 m. N. of Edinburgh by the North British railway, via the Forth Bridge. Although Columba is said to have planted a church here, the authoritative history of the town does not begin for several centuries after the era of the saint. In 1240 the church was bestowed by David, bishop of St Andrews, on Dunfermline Abbey, and in 1334 the town with its harbour was granted by David II. to the same abbey, by which it was conveyed to the bailies and council in 1450, when Kirkcaldy was created a royal burgh. In the course of another century it had become an important commercial centre, the salt trade of the district being then the largest in Scotland. In 1644, when Charles I. raised it to a free port, it owned a hundred vessels, and six years later it was assessed as the sixth town in the kingdom. After the Union its shipping fell off, Jacobite troubles and the American War of Independence accelerating the decline. But its linen manufactures, begun early in the 18th century, gradually restored prosperity; and when other industries had taken root its fortunes advanced by leaps and bounds, and there is now no more flourishing community in Scotland. The chief topographical feature of the burgh is its length, from which it is called the “lang toun.” Formerly it consisted of little besides High Street, with closes and wynds branching off from it; but now that it has absorbed Invertiel, Linktown and Abbotshall on the west, and Pathhead, Sinclairtown and Gallatown on the east, it has reached a length of nearly 4 m. Its public buildings include the parish church, in the Gothic style, St Brycedale United Free church, with a spire 200 ft. high, a town-hall, corn exchange, public libraries, assembly rooms, fever hospital, sheriff court buildings, people’s club and institute, high school (1894)—on the site of the ancient burgh school (1582)—the Beveridge hall and free library, and the Adam Smith memorial hall. To the west lies Beveridge Park of 110 acres, including a large sheet of water, which was presented to the town in 1892. The harbour has an inner and outer division, with wet dock and wharves. Plans for its extension were approved in 1903. They include the extension of the east pier, the construction of a south pier 800 ft. in length, and of a tidal harbour 5 acres in area and a dock of 4 acres. Besides the manufacture of sheeting, towelling, ticks, dowlas and sail-cloth, the principal industries include flax-spinning, net-making, bleaching, dyeing, tanning, brewing, brass and iron founding, and there are potteries, flour-mills, engineering works, fisheries, and factories for the making of oil-cloth and linoleum. In 1847 Michael Nairn conceived the notion of utilizing the fibre of cork and oil-paint in such a way as to produce a floor-covering more lasting than carpet and yet capable of taking a pattern. The result of his experiments was oil-cloth, in the manufacture of which Kirkcaldy has kept the predominance to which Nairn’s enterprise entitled it. Indeed, this and the kindred linoleum business (also due to Nairn, who in 1877 built the first linoleum factory in Scotland) were for many years the monopoly of Kirkcaldy. There is a large direct export trade with the United States. Among well-known natives of the town were Adam Smith, Henry Balnaves of Halhill, the Scottish reformer and lord of session in the time of Queen Mary; George Gillespie, the theologian and a leading member of the Westminster Assembly, and his younger brother Patrick (1617-1675), a friend of Cromwell and principal of Glasgow University; John Ritchie (1778-1870), one of the founders of theScotsman; General Sir John Oswald (1771-1840), who had a command at San Sebastian and Vittoria. Sir Michael Scott of Balwearie castle, about 1½ m. W. of the town, was sent with Sir David Wemyss to bring the Maid of Norway to Scotland in 1290; Sir Walter Scott was therefore in error in adopting the tradition that identified him with the wizard of the same name, who died in 1234. Carlyle and Edward Irving were teachers in the town, where Irving spent seven years, and where he made the acquaintance of the lady he afterwards married. Kirkcaldy combines with Dysart, Kinghorn and Burntisland to return one member to parliament.
KIRKCALDY OF GRANGE, SIR WILLIAM(c.1520-1573), Scottish politician, was the eldest son of Sir James Kirkcaldy of Grange (d. 1556), a member of an old Fifeshire family. Sir James was lord high treasurer of Scotland from 1537 to 1543 and was a determined opponent of Cardinal Beaton, for whose murder in 1546 he was partly responsible. William Kirkcaldy assisted to compass this murder, and when the castle of St Andrews surrendered to the French in July 1547 he was sent as a prisoner to Normandy, whence he escaped in 1550. He was then employed in France as a secret agent by the advisers of Edward VI., being known in the cyphers asCorax; and later he served in the French army, where he gained a lasting reputation for skill and bravery. The sentence passed on Kirkcaldy for his share in Beaton’s murder was removed in 1556, and returning to Scotland in 1557 he came quickly to the front; as a Protestant he was one of the leaders of the lords of the congregation in their struggle with the regent, Mary of Lorraine, and he assisted to harass the French troops in Fife. He opposed Queen Mary’s marriage with Darnley, being associated at this time with Murray, and was forced for a short time to seek refuge in England. Returning to Scotland, he was accessory to the murder of Rizzio, but he had no share in that of Darnley; and he was one of the lords who banded themselves together to rescue Mary after her marriage with Bothwell. After the fight at Carberry Hill the queen surrendered herself to Kirkcaldy, and his generalship was mainly responsible for her defeat at Langside.He seems, however, to have believed that an arrangement with Mary was possible, and coming under the influence of Maitland of Lethington, whom in September 1569 he released by a stratagem from his confinement in Edinburgh, he was soon “vehemently suspected of his fellows.” After the murder of Murray Kirkcaldy ranged himself definitely among the friends of the imprisoned queen. About this time he forcibly released one of his supporters from imprisonment, a step which led to an altercation with his former friend John Knox, who called him a “murderer and throat-cutter.” Defying the regent Lennox, Kirkcaldy began to strengthen the fortifications of Edinburgh castle, of which he was governor, and which he held for Mary, and early in 1573 he refused to come to an agreement with the regent Morton because the terms of peace did not include a section of his friends. After this some English troops arrived to help the Scots, and in May 1573 the castle surrendered. Strenuous efforts were made to save Kirkcaldy from the vengeance of his foes, but they were unavailing; Knox had prophesied that he would be hanged, and he was hanged on the 3rd of August 1573.
See Sir James Melville’sMemoirs, edited by T. Thomson (Edinburgh, 1827); J. Grant,Memoirs and Adventures of Sir W. Kirkaldy(Edinburgh, 1849); L. A. Barbé,Kirkcaldy of Grange(1897); and A. Lang,History of Scotland, vol. ii. (1902).
See Sir James Melville’sMemoirs, edited by T. Thomson (Edinburgh, 1827); J. Grant,Memoirs and Adventures of Sir W. Kirkaldy(Edinburgh, 1849); L. A. Barbé,Kirkcaldy of Grange(1897); and A. Lang,History of Scotland, vol. ii. (1902).
KIRKCUDBRIGHT(pron.Ker-kú-bri), a royal and police burgh, and county town of Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901), 2386. It is situated at the mouth of the Dee, 6 m. from the sea and 30 m. S.W. of Dumfries by the Glasgow & South-Western railway, being the terminus of a branch line. The old form of the name of the town was Kilcudbrit, from the GaelicCil Cudbert, “the chapel of Cuthbert,” the saint’s body having lain here for a short time during the seven years that lapsed between its exhumation at Lindisfarne and the re-interment at Chester-le-Street. The estuary of the Dee is divided at its head by the peninsula of St Mary’s Isle, but though the harbour is the best in south-western Scotland, the great distance to which the tide retreats impairs its usefulness. Among the public buildings are the academy, Johnstone public school, the county buildings, town-hall, museum, Mackenzie hall and market cross, the last-named standing in front of the old court-house, which is now used as a drill hall and fire-station. No traces remain of the Greyfriars’ or Franciscan convent founded by Alexander II., nor of the nunnery that was erected in the parish of Kirkcudbright. The ivy-clad ruins of Bomby castle, founded in 1582 by Sir Thomas Maclellan, ancestor of the barons of Kirkcudbright, stand at the end of the chief street. The town, which witnessed much of the international strife and Border lawlessness, was taken by Edward I. in 1300. It received its royal charter in 1455. After the battle of Towton, Henry VI. crossed the Solway (August 1461) and landed at Kirkcudbright to join Queen Margaret at Linlithgow. It successfully withstood the English siege in 1547 under Sir Thomas Carleton, but after the country had been overrun was compelled to surrender at discretion. Lord Maxwell, earl of Morton, as a Roman Catholic, mustered his tenants here to act in concert with the Armada; but on the approach of King James VI. to Dumfries he took ship at Kirkcudbright and was speedily captured. The burgh is one of the Dumfries district group of parliamentary burghs. On St Mary’s Isle was situated the seat of the earl of Selkirk, at whose house Robert Burns gave the famous Selkirk grace:—
“Some ha’e meat; and canna eat,And some wad eat that want it;But we ha’e meat, and we can eat,And sae the Lord be thankit.”
“Some ha’e meat; and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we ha’e meat, and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.”
Fergus, lord of Galloway, a celebrated church-builder of the 12th century, had his principal seat on Palace Isle in a lake called after him Loch Fergus, near St Mary’s Isle, where he erected the priory de Trayle, in token of his penitence for rebellion against David I. The priory was afterwards united as a dependent cell to the abbey of Holyrood.Dundrennan Abbey, 4½ m. S.E., was, however, his greatest achievement. It was a Cistercian house, colonized from Rievaulx, and was built in 1140. There now remain only the transept and choir, a unique example of the Early Pointed style. Tongueland (or Tungland), 2½ m. N. by E., has interesting historical associations. It was the site of a Premonstratensian abbey built by Fergus, and it was here that Queen Mary rested in her flight from the field of Langside (May 13, 1568). The well near Tongueland bridge from which she drank still bears the name of the Queen’s Well.
KIRKCUDBRIGHTSHIRE(also known as theStewartry of KirkcudbrightandEast Galloway), a south-western county of Scotland, bounded N. and N.W. by Ayrshire, W. and S.W. by Wigtownshire, S. and S.E. by the Irish Sea and Solway Firth, and E. and N.E. by Dumfriesshire. It includes the small islands of Hestan and Little Ross, which are utilized as lighthouse stations. It has an area of 575,565 acres or 899 sq. m. The north-western part of the shire is rugged, wild and desolate. In this quarter the principal mountains are Merrick (2764 ft.), the highest in the south of Scotland, and the group of the Rinns of Kells, the chief peaks of which are Corscrine (2668), Carlins Cairn (2650), Meikle Millyea (2446) and Millfire (2350). Towards the south-west the chief eminences are Lamachan (2349), Larg (2216), and the bold mass of Cairnsmore of Fleet (2331). In the south-east the only imposing height is Criffel (1866). In the north rises the majestic hill of Cairnsmuir of Carsphairn (2612), and close to the Ayrshire border is the Windy Standard (2287). The southern section of the shire is mostly level or undulating, but characterized by much picturesque scenery. The shore is generally bold and rocky, indented by numerous estuaries forming natural harbours, which however are of little use for commerce owing to the shallowness of the sea. Large stretches of sand are exposed in the Solway at low water and the rapid flow of the tide has often occasioned loss of life. The number of “burns” and “waters” is remarkable, but their length seldom exceeds 7 or 8 m. Among the longer rivers are the Cree, which rises in Loch Moan and reaches the sea near Creetown after a course of about 30 m., during which it forms the boundary, at first of Ayrshire and then of Wigtownshire; the Dee or Black Water of Dee (so named from the peat by which it is coloured), which rises in Loch Dee and after a course mainly S.E. and finally S., enters the sea at St Mary’s Isle below Kirkcudbright, its length being nearly 36 m.; the Urr, rising in Loch Urr on the Dumfriesshire border, falls into the sea a few miles south of Dalbeattie 27 m. from its source; the Ken, rising on the confines of Ayrshire, flows mainly in a southerly direction and joins the Dee at the southern end of Loch Ken after a course of 24 m. through lovely scenery; and the Deugh which, rising on the northern flank of the Windy Standard, pursues an extraordinarily winding course of 20 m. before reaching the Ken. The Nith, during the last few miles of its flow, forms the boundary with Dumfriesshire, to which county it almost wholly belongs. The lochs and mountain tarns are many and well distributed; but except Loch Ken, which is about 6 m. long by ½ m. wide, few of them attain noteworthy dimensions. There are several passes in the hill regions, but the only well-known glen is Glen Trool, not far from the district of Carrick in Ayrshire, the fame of which rests partly on the romantic character of its scenery, which is very wild around Loch Trool, and more especially on its associations with Robert Bruce. It was here that when most closely beset by his enemies, who had tracked him to his fastness by sleuth hounds, Bruce with the aid of a few faithful followers won a surprise victory over the English in 1307 which proved the turning-point of his fortunes.
Geology.—Silurian and Ordovician rocks are the most important in this county; they are thrown into oft-repeated folds with their axes lying in a N.E.-S.W. direction. The Ordovician rocks are graptolitic black shales and grits of Llandeilo and Caradoc age. They occupy all the northern part of the county north-west of a line which runs some 3 m. N. of New Galloway and just S. of the Rinns of Kells. South-east of this line graptolitic Silurian shales of Llandovery age prevail; they are found around Dalry, Creetown, New Galloway, Castle Douglas and Kirkcudbright. Overlying the Llandovery beds on the south coast are strips of Wenlock rocks; they extend from Bridgehouse Bay to Auchinleck and are well exposed in Kirkcudbright Bay, and they can be traced farther round the coast between the granite and the younger rocks. Carboniferous rocks appear in small faulted tracts, unconformable on the Silurian, onthe shores of the Solway Firth. They are best developed about Kirkbean, where they include a basal red breccia followed by conglomerates, grits and cement stones of Calciferous Sandstone age. Brick-red sandstones of Permian age just come within the county on the W. side of the Nith at Dumfries. Volcanic necks occur in the Permian and basalt dikes penetrate the Silurian at Borgue, Kirkandrews, &c. Most of the highest ground is formed by the masses of granite which have been intruded into the Ordovician and Silurian rocks; the Criffel mass lies about Dalbeattie and Bengairn, another mass extends east and west between the Cairnsmore of Fleet and Loch Ken, another lies N.W. and S.E. between Loch Doon and Loch Dee and a small mass forms the Cairnsmore of Carsphairn. Glacial deposits occupy much of the low ground; the ice, having travelled in a southerly or south-easterly direction, has left abundant striae on the higher ground to indicate its course. Radiation of the ice streams took place from the heights of Merrick, Kells, &c.; local moraines are found near Carsphairn and in the Deagh and Minnoch valleys. Glacial drumlins of boulder clay lie in the vales of the Dee, Cree and Urr.
Geology.—Silurian and Ordovician rocks are the most important in this county; they are thrown into oft-repeated folds with their axes lying in a N.E.-S.W. direction. The Ordovician rocks are graptolitic black shales and grits of Llandeilo and Caradoc age. They occupy all the northern part of the county north-west of a line which runs some 3 m. N. of New Galloway and just S. of the Rinns of Kells. South-east of this line graptolitic Silurian shales of Llandovery age prevail; they are found around Dalry, Creetown, New Galloway, Castle Douglas and Kirkcudbright. Overlying the Llandovery beds on the south coast are strips of Wenlock rocks; they extend from Bridgehouse Bay to Auchinleck and are well exposed in Kirkcudbright Bay, and they can be traced farther round the coast between the granite and the younger rocks. Carboniferous rocks appear in small faulted tracts, unconformable on the Silurian, onthe shores of the Solway Firth. They are best developed about Kirkbean, where they include a basal red breccia followed by conglomerates, grits and cement stones of Calciferous Sandstone age. Brick-red sandstones of Permian age just come within the county on the W. side of the Nith at Dumfries. Volcanic necks occur in the Permian and basalt dikes penetrate the Silurian at Borgue, Kirkandrews, &c. Most of the highest ground is formed by the masses of granite which have been intruded into the Ordovician and Silurian rocks; the Criffel mass lies about Dalbeattie and Bengairn, another mass extends east and west between the Cairnsmore of Fleet and Loch Ken, another lies N.W. and S.E. between Loch Doon and Loch Dee and a small mass forms the Cairnsmore of Carsphairn. Glacial deposits occupy much of the low ground; the ice, having travelled in a southerly or south-easterly direction, has left abundant striae on the higher ground to indicate its course. Radiation of the ice streams took place from the heights of Merrick, Kells, &c.; local moraines are found near Carsphairn and in the Deagh and Minnoch valleys. Glacial drumlins of boulder clay lie in the vales of the Dee, Cree and Urr.
Climate and Agriculture.—The climate and soil are better fitted for grass and green crops than for grain. The annual rainfall averages 45.7 in. The mean temperature for the year is 48° F.; for January 38.5°; for July 59°. The major part of the land is either waste or poor pasture. More than half the holdings consist of 50 acres and over. Oats is the predominant grain crop, the acreage under barley being small and that under wheat insignificant. Turnips are successfully cultivated, and potatoes are the only other green crop raised on a moderately large scale. Sheep-rearing has been pursued with great enterprise. The average is considerably in excess of that for Scotland. Blackfaced and Cheviots are the most common on the high ground, and a cross of Leicester with either is also in favour. Cattle-breeding is followed with steady success; the black polled Galloway is the general breed, but Aryshires have been introduced for dairying, cheese-making occupying much of the farmers’ attention. Horses are extensively raised, a breed of small-sized hardy and spirited animals being specifically known as Galloways. Most of the horses are used in agricultural work, but a large number are also kept for stock; Clydesdales are bred to some extent. Pig-rearing is an important pursuit, pork being supplied to the English markets in considerable quantities. During the last quarter of the 19th century the number of pigs increased 50%. Bee-keeping has been followed with special care and the honey of the shire is consequently in good repute. The proportion of woodland in the county is small.
Industries.—The shire ranks next to Aberdeen as a granite-yielding county and the quarries occupy a large number of hands. In some towns and villages there are manufactures of linen, woollen and cotton goods; at various places distilling, brewing, tanning and paper-making are carried on, and at Dalbeattie there are brick and tile works. There is a little ship-building at Kirkcudbright. The Solway fishery is of small account, but salmon fishing is prosecuted at the mouth of certain rivers, the Dee fish being notable for their excellence.
The only railway communication is by the Glasgow & South-Western railway running from Dumfries to Castle Douglas, from which there is a branch to Kirkcudbright, and the Portpatrick and Wigtownshire railway, beginning at Castle Douglas and leaving the county at Newton Stewart. These are supplemented by coaches between various points, as from New Galloway to Carsphairn, from Dumfries to New Abbey and Dalbeattie, and from Auchencairn to Dalbeattie.
Population and Government.—The population was 39,985 in 1891 and 39,383 in 1901, when 98 persons spoke Gaelic and English. The chief towns are Castle Douglas (pop. in 1901, 3018), Dalbeattie (3469), Kirkcudbright (2386), Maxwelltown (5796) with Creetown (991), and Gatehouse of Fleet (1013). The shire returns one member to parliament, and the county town (Kirkcudbright) belongs to the Dumfries district group of parliamentary burghs, and Maxwelltown is combined with Dumfries. The county forms part of the sheriffdom of Dumfries and Galloway, and there is a resident sheriff-substitute at Kirkcudbright. The county is under school-board jurisdiction. There is an academy at Kirkcudbright, high schools at Dumfries and Newton Stewart, and technical classes at Kirkcudbright, Dalbeattie, Castle Douglas and Dumfries.
History.—The country west of the Nith was originally peopled by a tribe of Celtic Gaels called Novantae, or Atecott Picts, who, owing to their geographical position, which prevented any ready intermingling with the other Pictish tribes farther north, long retained their independence. After Agricola’s invasion inA.D.79 the country nominally formed part of the Roman province, but the evidence is against there ever having been a prolonged effective Roman occupation. After the retreat of the Romans the Novantae remained for a time under their own chiefs, but in the 7th century accepted the overlordship of Northumbria. The Saxons, soon engaged in struggles with the Norsemen, had no leisure to look after their tributaries, and early in the 9th century the Atecotts made common cause with the Vikings. Henceforward they were styled, probably in contempt,Gallgaidhel, or stranger Gaels (i.e.Gaels who fraternized with the foreigners), the Welsh equivalent for which,Gallwyddel, gave rise to the name ofGalloway(of which Galway is a variant), which was applied to their territory and still denotes the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright and the shire of Wigtown. When Scotland was consolidated under Kenneth MacAlpine (crowned at Scone in 844), Galloway was the only district in the south that did not form part of the kingdom; but in return for the services rendered to him at this crisis Kenneth gave his daughter in marriage to the Galloway chief, Olaf the White, and also conferred upon the men of Galloway the privilege of marching in the van of the Scottish armies, a right exercised and recognized for several centuries. During the next two hundred years the country had no rest from Danish and Saxon incursions and the continual lawlessness of the Scandinavian rovers. When Malcolm Canmore defeated and slew Macbeth in 1057 he married the dead king’s widow Ingibiorg, a Pictish princess, an event which marked the beginning of the decay of Norse influence. The Galloway chiefs hesitated for a time whether to throw in their lot with the Northumbrians or with Malcolm; but language, race and the situation of their country at length induced them to become lieges of the Scottish king. By the close of the 11th century the boundary between England and Scotland was roughly delimited on existing lines. The feudal system ultimately destroyed the power of the Galloway chiefs, who resisted the innovation to the last. Several of the lords or “kings” of Galloway, a line said to have been founded by Fergus, the greatest of them all, asserted in vain their independence of the Scottish crown; and in 1234 the line became extinct in the male branch on the death of Fergus’s great-grandson Alan. One of Alan’s daughters, Dervorguila, had married John de Baliol (father of the John de Baliol who was king of Scotland from 1292 until his abdication in 1296), and the people, out of affection for Alan’s daughter, were lukewarm in support of Robert Bruce. In 1308 the district was cleared of the English and brought under allegiance to the king, when the lordship of Galloway was given to Edward Bruce. Later in the 14th century Galloway espoused the cause of Edward Baliol, who surrendered several counties, including Kirkcudbright, to Edward III. In 1372 Archibald the Grim, a natural son of Sir James Douglas “the Good,” became Lord of Galloway and received in perpetual fee the Crown lands between the Nith and Cree. He appointed a steward to collect his revenues and administer justice, and there thus arose the designation of theStewartryof Kirkcudbright. The high-handed rule of the Douglases created general discontent, and when their treason became apparent their territory was overrun by the king’s men in 1455; Douglas was attainted, and his honours and estates were forfeited. In that year the great stronghold of the Thrieve, the most important fortress in Galloway, which Archibald the Grim had built on the Dee immediately to the west of the modern town of Castle Douglas, was reduced and converted into a royal keep. (It was dismantled in 1640 by order of the Estates in consequence of the hostility of its keeper, Lord Nithsdale, to the Covenant.) The famous cannon Mons Meg, now in Edinburgh Castle, is said, apparently on insufficient evidence, to have been constructed in order to aid James III. in this siege. As the Douglases went down the Maxwells rose, and the debateable land on the south-east ofDumfriesshire was for generations the scene of strife and raid, not only between the two nations but also among the leading families, of whom the Maxwells, Johnstones and Armstrongs were always conspicuous. After the battle of Solway Moss (1542) the shires of Kirkcudbright and Dumfries fell under English rule for a short period. The treaty of Norham (March 24, 1550) established a truce between the nations for ten years; and in 1552, the Wardens of the Marches consenting, the debateable land ceased to be matter for debate, the parish of Canonbie being annexed to Dumfriesshire, that of Kirkandrews to Cumberland. Though at the Reformation the Stewartry became fervent in its Protestantism, it was to Galloway, through the influence of the great landowners and the attachment of the people to them, that Mary owed her warmest adherents, and it was from the coast of Kirkcudbright that she made her luckless voyage to England. Even when the crowns were united in 1603 turbulence continued; for trouble arose over the attempt to establish episcopacy, and nowhere were the Covenanters more cruelly persecuted than in Galloway. After the union things mended slowly but surely, curious evidence of growing commercial prosperity being the enormous extent to which smuggling was carried on. No coast could serve the “free traders” better than the shores of Kirkcudbright, and the contraband trade flourished till the 19th century. The Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745 elicited small sympathy from the inhabitants of the shire.