Chapter Kayward to Kennel of K by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Kayward to Kennel

Kayward The hare, in the tale of Reynard the Fox. (The word means "Country-guardian.")

Keber' A Persian sect (generally rich merchants), distinguished by their beards and dress. When one of them dies, a cock is driven out of the poultry yard; if a fox seizes it, it is a proof that the soul of the deceased is saved. If this experiment does not answer, they prop the dead body against a wall, and if the birds peck out the right eye first, the Keber is gone to heaven; if the left eye, the carcase is flung into the ditch, for the Keber was a reprobate.

Kebla The point of adoration; i.e. the quarter or point of the compass towards which persons turn when they worship. The Persian fire-worshippers turn to the east, the place of the rising sun; the Jews to Jerusalem, the city of the King of kings; the Mahometans to Mecca; the early Christians turned to the "east," and the "communion table" even of the "Reformed Church" is placed at the east end of the building, whenever this arrangement is practicable. Any object of passionate desire.

Kebla-Noma The pocket compass carried by Mussulmans to direct them which way to turn when they pray. (See above.)

Kedar's Tents This world. Kedar was Arabia Deserta, and the phrase Kedar's tents means houses in the wilderness of this world.

"Ah me! ah me! that
In Kedar's tents here stay;
No place like that on high;
Lord, thither guide my way."
Crossman.

Kederli The St. George of Mahometan mythology. He slew a monstrous dragon to save a damsel exposed to its fury, and, having drunk of the water of life, rode about the world to aid those warriors who invoked him. This tradition is exactly parallel to that of St. George, and explains the reason why the one is the field-word with the Turks, and the latter with the ancient English.

Kedjeree' A stew of rice, vegetables, eggs, butter, etc. A corruption of the Indian word Khichri (a medley or hotch-potch). The word has been confounded with a place so called, forty miles south-west of Calcutta, on the Hooghly river.

Keel-hauling or -haling. A long, troublesome, and vexatious examination or repetition of annoyances from a landlord or government official. In the Dutch and many other navies, delinquents were, at one time, tied to a yard-arm with weights on their feet, and dragged by a rope under the keel of a ship, in at one side and out at the other. The result was often fatal.

Keelman (A). A bargeman. (See Old Mortality [Introduction], the bill of Margaret Chrystale: "To three chappins of yell with Sandy the keelman, 9d.")

Keelson or Kelson. A beam running lengthwise above the keel of a ship, and bolted to the middle of the floor-frames, in order to stiffen the vessel. The word son is the Swedish svin, and Norwegian svill, a sill.)

Keening A weird lamentation for the dead, common in Galway. The coffin is carried to the burying place, and while it is carried three times round, the mourners go to the graves of their nearest kinsfolk and begin keening, after which they smoke.

Keep Down (To). To prevent another from rising to an independent position; to keep in subjection.

Keep House (To). To maintain a separate establishment; to act as house-keeper.
   To keep open house. To admit all comers to hospitable entertainment.

Keep Touch To keep faith; the exact performance of an agreement, as, "To keep touch with my promise" (More). The idea seems to be embodied in the proverb, "Seeing is believing, but feeling is naked truth."

"And trust me on my truth,
If thou keep touch with me,
My dearest friend, as my own heart,
Thou shalt right welcome be."
Songs of the London Prentices, p. 37.

Keep Up (To). To continue, as, "to keep up