786 K N I 
The ancient errant-knights 
Won all their millrefies in fights; 
They cut whole giants into fritters, 
To put them into am’rous twitters. Hudibras. 
KNIGHT-ER'RANTRY,/. The character or man¬ 
ners of wandering knights.—That which with the vulgar 
paries for courage isabrutifli fort of knight-errantry ; feek- 
ing out needlefs encounters. Norris. 
KNIGHT’s FEE', fo much inheritance as is fufficient 
yearly to maintain a knight with convenient revenue ; 
which in Henry Ill’s days was 15I. Camd. Britt, p. 111. In the 
time of Edward II. 20I. Sir Thomas Smith rates it at 40!. 
Stow fays, there were found in England, at the time of the 
Conqueror, 60,211 knight’s fees, whereof the religious 
houfes, before their fuppreilion, were polfefled of 28,015. 
A knight’s fee contained twelve plow-lands, (2 lnjl. 596.) 
or 480 acres. Thus Virgata terue continct 24 acras, 4 vir- 
gata term make an hide, and five hides make a knight’s 
fee, whofe relief is five pounds. Cozuell. Selden infills that 
a knight’s fee was eftimable neither by the value nor the 
quantity of the land, but by the fervices or numbers of 
the knights referved. 
KNIGHT’s I'SLAND, a fmall illand in Beering’s Bay, 
lituated a little to the north-weft of Eleanor’s Sound, fe- 
parated from the continent of America by a narrow chan¬ 
nel, which is navigable. Lat. 59.45. N. Ion. 220. 47. E. 
KNIGHT’s I'SLAND, an illand in Prince William’s 
Sound, about thirty miles in length from north to fouth, 
and from two to five broad. Lat. 56. 24. N. Ion. 212. 52. E. 
KNIGHT’s I'SLAND, a fmall illand in Hudfon’s'Bay. 
Lat. 61. 50. N. Ion. 93. 30. W. 
KNIGHT’s I'SLAND, an illand in the Pacific Ocean, 
and the largeft of thofe called the Snares by captain Van¬ 
couver, difcovered by Mr. Broughton, commander of the 
Chatham, under Vancouver, November 23, 1791. “About 
two in the afternoon land was difcovered from the deck, 
appearing like a high illand, bearing by compafs fouth- 
fouth-ealt three or four leagues diftant; about an hour af¬ 
terwards we had fight of more land lying to the fouth- 
ward, and detached from the former; our utmoft endea¬ 
vours were ufed to weather this land ; but, finding it im¬ 
practicable, we bore up for a palfage between the high 
illand and the detached land, which was found to be com- 
poled of,a duller of fmall illets and rocks, greater in ex¬ 
tent though about the height of the Needles : their tops 
or ridges are much broken, and from the high illand bore 
by compafs north-eall and fouth-well, forming a palfage 
three miles wide. About one-third of the palfage over on 
the fouthern fide lies a fmall black rock, jull above water; 
on all thefe rocks and illets the lea broke with great vio¬ 
lence. In this palfage we had a confufed irregular fwell, 
with the appearance of broken water ; large bunches of 
fea-weed were obferved, and the whole furface was cover¬ 
ed with birds of a blackifh colour. The north-eall part 
of the illand, in the evening, bore by compafs north ; the 
fouth-well part north-well by north ; the palfage north- 
well ; and the rock illets from north-well by welt to 
well by north, between two and three leagues diftant: in 
this fituation we had no bottom at the depth of fixty and 
eighty fathoms. Some parts of the illand prefented a very 
barren appearance, not unlike the fouth-well fide of Port¬ 
land, compofed of whitifh rocky cliffs. The rocky illets 
are five in number, lome of which wore a pyramidical 
form. On account of the hazinefs of the atmofphere, the 
north-eallernmoll part of the illand was feen fo very in- 
dillinclly, that its extent could not be afcertained. We 
had no reafon to fuppofe it inhabited.” The fouth point 
is lituated in lat. 48. 1 5. S. Ion. i6§. 44. E. 
KN IGHT-MAR'SHAL, an officer in the king’s houfe- 
hold, who has jurifdifiion and cognizance of any tranf- 
grefiion within the king’s houfehold and verge; as alfo 
of contrails made there, whereof one of the houfe is party. 
KNIGHT of the POST, f. A hireling evidence; a 
knight dubbed at the whipping-poll, or pillory.—There 
are kniglits of the pojl , and holy cheats enough, to fwear 
k n r 
the truth of the broadell contradiilions, where pious 
frauds lhall give them an extraordinary call. South. 
KNIGHT’s SER'VICE. See the article Tenure. 
KNIGHTS of the SHIRE, or Knights of Par¬ 
liament, are gentlemen of worth, chofen on the king’s 
writ in plcno ccmitatu, by fucli of the freeholders of every 
county as cdn expend 40s. per annum, to reprefent fuch 
county in parliament. Thefe, when every man who held 
a knight’s fee in capite of the crown was cullomarily con- 
ftrained to be a knight, were of neceffity to be milites gla- 
dio cinbli, for fo the writ runs to this day; but now cuf- 
tom admits efquires to be chofen to this office. They 
mull have 600I. per annum freehold ; and their expences 
are to be defrayed by the county, though this is feldom 
now required. See Parliament. 
KNI'GHTENCOURT,/. A court held twice a-year 
by the bilhop of Hereford. 
KNI'GHTENGUILD, f. An ancient guild or fociety 
founded by king Edgar. 
KNI'GIiTHOOD, f. The charafller or dignity of a 
knight: 
The fword which Merlin made. 
For that his nurlling, when he knighthood fwore, 
Therewith to doen his foes eternal fmart. Fairy Queen. 
Speak truly on thy knighthood and thine oath, 
And fo defend thee Heaven and thy valour. Shakcfpeare » 
Our refearches upon chivalry in general, and digelled 
carefully under that head, (fee the article Chivalry, 
vol. iv. p. 504-508.) have been attended with refults cal¬ 
culated, we trull, to fatisfy the curiolity of our readers 
upon the fubjeft. Embracing the fpace of leveral cen¬ 
turies, vve have treated of its origin among nations, from 
the earlieft antiquity, as far as any thing could be called 
by that name ; we have traced its increafe in getting con- 
filtency, and difplayed the very fpirit of that curious and 
laudable enthuiiafm, which, excited by the double ftimu- 
lus of military valour and virtue, has been the caufe of fo 
many w’onderful achievements, that it feemed to have 
raifed man above himfelf, and to have placed the knight 
between the fabled demi-gods and the true and real he¬ 
roes whofe dauntlefs courage and bravery have illulfrated 
the race of man. We confidered this propenfity of dif- 
tinguilhing one’s felf in feats of warfare, from the chieftains 
who followed Agamemnon to the Trojan Ihores, down to 
the latelt times. -We might have alfo proved, from holy 
unit, that favourite and courageous warriors, Jofliua, Gi¬ 
deon, and Sampfon, concentrated within themfelves, and 
difplayed upon occafions, all the qualities which in polle- 
rior ages have diilinguilhed the knights of all nations. 
Saul and David were infpired with the fpirit of chivalry ; 
and the latter, who might have called Jonathan his “bro¬ 
ther in arms,” acted in feveral circumllances with that 
high-minded difinterellednefs which conftitutes one of the 
principal features of a knight. The gigantic Goliah was 
a knight in the Philiftine army, and in fome particulars 
feems’to be a prototype of Orlando , fo admirably lung by 
the Mufe who infpired the poem that bears his name. 
Nobody can deny the truth of Alhmole’s alfertion, viz. 
“that knighthood was as ancient as valour and heroic 
virtue.” Confequen’Ty, if we judge the brave of all ages, 
and of all nations, by that fair criterion, we /Trail find 
knighthood to haveexifted always and everywhere. The 
Argonauts, according to Apollonius of Rhodes, Or¬ 
pheus, and Valerius Flaccus, were brothers in arms, who 
went to Colchis on the famous expedition of the gol¬ 
den" fleece ; and the chieftains, who befieged and flicked 
the city of Thebes, had, by a tremendous oath taken upon 
a black Ihield, entered into a kind of chivalrefque con¬ 
tract. See Longinus upon the Sublime. The-meeting in 
battle of Glaucus and Diomedes, their fpeeches and ex¬ 
change of armour, in which intrinfic value was entirely 
fuperfeded by the merit of the commutator; the attach¬ 
ment of Achilles to Patroclus, which brought him back 
to the field of death to revenge the fall of his friend ;— 
* ill! 
