KX1C1IT OK THE SIIIKK. 



KOCSSO. 



t 



But liMIr th* who are simply knight*, there are knight* who are 



The** oHminfoad in moat of the kingdom* of modem Kurope, 

 ul Kit. bad generally fur their founder sovereign prince. Such arc 

 Ik* order of the Uolden FJwx. instituted by Philip. <iukc u{ Burgundy ; 

 Ik* order of the H. Jy Ohort, instituted by Henry the Third of Franco ; 

 Ik* order of Sc Utcharl, instituted by Louis the Eleventh of Franco. 

 Of Ik* fciU order*, which are very numerous, the moct recent 

 annual will be found in work entitled ' A Concise Account of the 

 fciaal Orders of Knighthood, and other mark* of honourable dis- 

 tortion,' by Kiehob* Carlisle, Svo, 1830. Foreign order* cannot be 

 worn by Pnlhfc aubjccU without the sjwcial consent of the sovereign. 

 Each of thaw order* ha* it* peculiar badge, ribbon*, and other decorv 

 tion* of Ik* person. The Britiah order* are the Garter and the Bath, 



OAIITHK, KNK.UTS or TUE, 

 t. Patrick. 



1540, by James V. of 



; but it fell into decay, till in the reign of Queen Anne, 1703, 

 H wasrwiwd. The number ( kuigbU was limited to thirteen, but 

 hi 1827 the number waa increaeed to aixteen, all of whom are nobility 



tion* of Ik* person. e ta orer* are e 

 (which are treated of under the head* of OAIITH 

 and BAT*. KXMBT* or THE), the Thi*Ue, and St. 

 Th* order of the ThbUe wa> inrtituted in 15 



The order, of Si. Patrick was instituted in 1783. The knighte were 

 fifteen, increased in 1893 to twenty-two, who are peers of Ireland. 



Then are akw knights of the Uuelphic order ,'and knights of the Ionian 

 order of Saint Michael and Saint Oeorge. Carlisle mentions an African 

 order of the Palm and Alligator, instituted by the king* of Soudan. 



KNItillT oF THK MURE is the designation given to the repre- 

 sentative* in parliament of English counties, as distinguished from 

 such citie* SIM! towns as are counties of themselves (which are seldom, 

 if ever, called shire*), and the representatives of which, as well as the 

 member* for other citie* and town*, are denominated citizens or 

 barges***. Though the knight* of the shire always sat with the citizens 

 and burgiani a* jointly representing the third estate of the realm, as 

 well during the time that the three estates, viz. the spiritualty, the 

 lord* temporal, and the common*, aat together, as since, we find that 

 granU were occasionally made by the knights to be levied on the 

 counties, whilst separate grant* were made by the citizen* and burgesses 

 to be levied upon the cities and boroughs. (' Rot. Parl.') The wages 

 payable to knights of the shire for their attendance in parliament, 

 including a reasonable time for their going up and coming down, were 

 four hillii^g a day, being double what was received by citizens and 

 Imiflnaxie At the close of every session the king, in dismissing them 

 to their homes, informed them that they might sue out writs for their 

 wage*, upon which each knight separately obtained a writ out of 

 Chancery directed to the sheriff mentioning the number of days and 

 the ram to be paid, and ~mmiwling the sheriff to levy the amount. 

 Upon this the sheriff, in a public county court, divided the burden 

 amongst the different hundred* and township*, and issued process to 

 levy the amount, which, to the extent of the money levied, he paid 

 over to the knight. The land* of the clergy, as well regular as secular, 

 were exempted from contributing toward* thtee expenses, because the 

 ttmfj formed a distinct estate, and were represented in parliament by 

 their prelate* and the procuratorea cleri, although the latter were, aa 

 Lord Coke xpiu*( it, voiceless assistant* only. All lay fee* within 



the county were liable to contribute, except lands belonging to the 

 lords and their men. The lords insisted that this exemption extended 

 to erery freeholder who held land within their baronies, seigniories, or 

 manors, allying that they served in parliament at their own expense 

 for Histnselvei and their tenant*. And *uch was undoubtedly the 

 practice j as by the Parliament RoU it appears that the common* fre- 

 quently petitioned that the exemption should be confined to such 

 hart* a* the lord* kept in their own hands and occupied by their 

 fanner* or by their bond-tenants, or villeins. These request* hi m,\,r 

 were met either by a simple refusal or by a statement by the king that 

 he did not mean to leaMO the liberties of the lord*. If however a lord 

 iminhainl land which had previously been contributory to the knight's 

 wages, the liability continued. Freehold lands, held either by knight's 

 serric* or in common aocage, were liable to this burden, but custom- 

 ary tenure* in ancient demean* and tenure* in burgage were exempt. 

 la the county of Kent no soeage land was contributable, the whole 

 burden being thrown upon those who held knight'* fee*, an anomaly 

 aftta** which the commons preferred many ineffectual petitions. 

 baghU of the shire, and also their chooser*, were formerly required 

 to be persons either resident or having a bouaehoM in th- .-..nun. 

 This regulation, though eonanned by several statute*, had fallen int.. 

 neglect long before it wa* formally abrogated in both iU branches by 

 1 4 OeorgeTl I., c. M. ('Hot Parl/) 



A* to Ike qualifications of electors, and the disqualifications from 



ittaM * UtJto of Ik* ahire, aee PAMJAMBXT. 

 KMOHT8 FEE wa* land of sufficient exte 



extent and value 



upon the eoodttfcw that the grantee and hiaheu* should either perform 

 the Marie* of a knight to the grantor and his heirs, or find some other 

 son to do each ecrric*. The quantity of land capable of mipporting 



person to o each ecrric*. The quan 



kugbt naturally varied annordmg to iU quality ami situation ; and 

 even Uw aaimajl of income iiiBuliiit to meet the charges of a kt.ij.-ht 

 according to tone and place. It ia not therefore 



of 800 acres, sometimes of 680 ; sometimes estimated at 1 W. some- 

 time* at 201., and in later time* at 401. per annum. If the OH 

 a knight's fee deprived himself of the posssarion of part of his laud by 

 Miliinfcudation he remained liable to the feudal burden attached to 

 the tenure of the whole. 



KNKiHTS SERVICE, TEX THE BY, otherwise called tenure in 

 chivalry, or per service de chivaler, per nervitium militarc, was, from 

 the times immediately succeeding the Norman Conquest in tin- lit!. 

 century to the period of the civil war in the 17th, considered the first 

 and the most important, aa it was also the most general, IK 

 holding land in England. The land thus held was said to consist of so 

 many knight's fees, feoda militis, that is, so many portions of land 

 capable of supporting the dignity of a knight [KMGHT'S FEE.] He 

 who held an entire knight's fee waa bound by his tenure, when called 

 upon so to do, to follow his lord to the wars (under certain restrictions 

 as to the place at which the sen-ice wa* to be performed), and to 

 remain with him forty day* in every year, or to send some other knight 

 duly qualified to perform the services. From the owner of half a 

 knight'a fee twenty days' attendance only could be required ; an.l the 

 obligation attaching to the quarter of a knight's fee waa satisfied by t he 

 performance of ten day*' service. On the other hand, a person holding 

 several knight'a fees, whether forming one or several estates, waa 

 bound to furnish a knight in respect of each. 



Besides this permanent liability to military service, the tenant was 

 subject to other occasional burdens. The principal of these are the 

 following incidental services: First, Aid*, or payments which the 

 vassal holding by knight's service was bound to make for ransoming 

 his lord's person if taken prisoner ; for making the lord's eldest son a 

 knight ; and for marrying, that ia, providing a marriage portion for the 

 lonl'H eldest daughter. Secondly, Reliefs, being a payment made by 

 the heir in the nature of a composition for leave to enter up. 

 descending to him after he had attained his full age. Thirdly, Primer 

 Seirin, or the right of the crown, where the lands were held of the 

 king, to a . year's profit of land descending to an heir who was of in 11 

 age at the time of the death of his ancestor. Fourthly, Wartl.- 

 the right to the custody of the body and lands of an heir to whom the 

 land had descended during his minority, the king or other lord in such 

 case taking the profits of the land during the minority to his own use, 

 or selling the wardship to a stranger if he thought proper. Fifthly, 

 Marria'jt, or a right in the lord, where the land descended to an heir 

 within age, to tender to him or her a wife or a husband ; and if the 

 h'-ir refused a match without disparagement, that ia, without dix|..ii ity 

 of rank, crime, or bodily infirmity, the lord became entitled to hold the 

 land aa a security for payment by the heir of the amount for which 

 the lord had sold or which he might have obtained for the marriage. 

 Sixthly, Finn upon Alienation. To these Blackatone adds a seventh, 

 Kiehcat. or the returning of the land to the lord upon the felony or 

 forfeiture of the tenant, or hi dying without heirs. [ESCHEAT.] But 

 escheat is not peculiar to tenure by knight'a sen-ice. 



This system, which Blackatono justly characterises aa a comp! 

 and extensive slavery, fell to the ground during the existence of the 

 Commonwealth ; and the abolition of this species of tenure w, 

 firmed upon the Restoration, as it would have been absurd and 

 dangerous to attempt a renewal of such oppressive burdens. 

 Accordingly, the 12th Car. II., c. 24, takes away tenure by knight's 

 sen-ice, whether the lauds are held of the crown or of a subject, 

 together with all its oppressive fruits and peculiar consequences, and 

 converts every such tenure into free and common soeage. js 

 Nothing can be more comprehensive than the terms of thi 

 besides generally abolishing tenure by knight's service, and iU con- 

 sequences, it descends into particulars, with a redundancy of words, 

 which appear to indicate an extreme anxiety to extirpate com ; 

 .ill the evils which the legislature had under contemplation. The 

 statute, after taking away the court of wards and liveries, enm 

 wardships, liveries, primer seisins or ousterlemains, values and : 

 tures of marriages, and fines, seisurea, and pardons for alienation, and 

 weeps away the whole. But rents certain, hcriots [Humor], n 

 court and other services incident to common soeage, and fealty 

 [DISTRESS], and also fines for alienation due by the customs < 

 ticular manors, are preserved. Reliefs for lauds, of which the tenure 

 i . . ... . ,-rti-d int.. common soeage, are saved in cases where a quit-rent 



is aim) ]yable. 



N LITE. A fossil hydrocarbon resembling paraffin. 



KORAN. [MoiiAMlun, in Eton. Div.j 



KOUMISS. Xumut. A kind of spirit distilled l.y the Arabs from 

 mare's milk which has undergone fermentation in leathern bagn. The 

 alcohol it contains is derived from sugar of milk. 



KOUSSO, or C08SO. Under these names are comprehended the 

 flower* and flower-stalks of a tree, native of A l.i, inh, long celebrated 

 among the natives for its anthelmintic properties. The earliest 



uong European writers was by Leutholf, in 1GM c Mi t. .Ktl.io. 

 pica,' lib. I., c. ix, sect. 81 ) ; but th" lir.t representation of it occurs 

 in llnice's ' Travels' (vol. v., p. 73, of London edition, 1790). By him 

 it was proposed to call the tree ltal*ta Al>;/t*inica,n (. 

 uiit<>n:ible ait having been DMvioualy appropriated '" ' New Holland 

 genus. lln . d to it by Lamarck, in f..r the same reason 



untenable. The universally admitted name is llmi/era <i,, 

 Kunth (D. C. ' Trod.' ii., p. 588), [NAT. HIST. Div.J ; also, Richard, 



