K.

KEEPERS—are of different kinds, acting under different appointments, as

servants of the Crown, or of individuals. There are FOREST-keepers,

PARK-keepers, and GAME-keepers, whose employments are distinct and

separate from each other. It is the province of the first to protect and

superintend the DEER in any one of his Majesty's forests, to which he is

appointed, and to become a principal instrument of enforcing the laws

enacted for its preservation, against depredators of every description.

PARK-keepers are retained in the service of NOBLEMEN and GENTLEMEN who

have parks stocked with deer, having the same perquisites and privileges

as those employed in the service of the Crown; their employment is

principally to superintend, preserve, and regulate the stock, as well as

to kill BUCKS, DOES, and FAWNS, according to the season, when required

for the table; which can never be done by any PARK-keeper of the CROWN,

without the receipt of a proper WARRANT previously issued from superior

authority for that purpose. GAME-keepers are employed in various

forests, parks, chases, free-warrens, and manors, the property of the

Crown, to furnish a constant supply of game for his Majesty's table and

household, under such regulations as prevent the possibility of too

great an influx at one time, and too short a supply at another. Every

LORD or LADY possessing a manor within any part of the kingdom, has the

power of appointing a person, under the denomination of a GAME-keeper,

to protect, preserve, or KILL any kind of GAME upon the particular MANOR

for which he is appointed; and to execute and enforce all such other

manorial rights and privileges within the department, as may be

submitted to his delegation; he first conforming to the LEGAL

prescription, before he can be confirmed, or qualified to act in the

office to which he has been deputed.—See GAME-LAWS, and GAME-KEEPERS.

KENNEL—is the place where hounds are kept; upon the judicious

construction of which, their health, safety, and preservation, are known

greatly to depend. Those who take to, or become possessed of, KENNELS

ready built, frequently continue them in the form they fall into their

hands; but such as encounter the expence of new erections, cannot do

better than take a previous survey of the most approved plans; amongst

which the DUKE of BEDFORD'S, at Wooburn Abby; the DUKE of RICHMOND'S, at

Goodwood, in Sussex; and SIR WILLIAM ROWLEY'S, at Tendring Hall,

Suffolk, are supposed, for extent and convenience, to take the lead of

most others in the kingdom. TASTE and FASHION may go a great way in the

external glare of such establishments; but HEALTH and CONVENIENCE should

always prove the most predominant considerations. It is universally

admitted, by all who have a practical knowledge of this subject, that in

large and regularly-hunted packs, two kennels are indispensibly

necessary to the success and well-doing of the whole. When there is but

one, it can in the winter season be but seldom cleaned; and even then

the hounds are in a comfortless state, from the dampness of the

situation so long as it remains. Cleanliness is so essentially necessary

in every APARTMENT and DEPARTMENT of a kennel, that no continuance of

health in the hounds, or excellence in the field, can be expected

without it. They are individually innately clean; and will never, if

they can avoid it, _dung_ near where they _lie_. Air, fresh straw, and

ample room for the occasional expansion of their weary limbs, are

requisite for the invigoration of the frame, and the preservation of

health. Hounds confined in a body, are more liable to disease, than the

same animal single, and in a state of unrestrained liberty; hence the

necessity for counteraction, by every means the most prudent precaution

can adopt. Hounds thus subject to, and constantly attacked with disease,

and even madness, under the best and most judicious management, must be

evidently much more so if surrounded with _filth_ and _nastiness_.

That some idea may be formed of the grandeur of the buildings, and the

liberal scale, of the most celebrated hunting establishments, it is only

necessary to introduce a few explanatory remarks upon the kennels of

eminence already mentioned. The superb edifice of the Duke of Richmond

is said (and probably with great truth) to have cost 10,000_l._ in its

erection; to which his Grace contributed no small proportion of personal

assistance. He is reported to have been his own architect and builder;

to have dug his own flints, burnt his own lime, made his own bricks, and

framed the woodwork in his own shops. The DOG KENNEL, abstracted from

all other buildings, stands alone, in such part of the park as to form a

grand and striking object from the principal rooms of the mansion; the

materials are flints, finished at all the angles by a light grey brick,

like the Lymington white-stock.

The distribution of the building is into five compartments; two of them

36 feet by 15, and three more 30 by 15; these are called KENNELS, to

which are annexed two feeding-rooms, 28 by 15. In each of these are

openings at top, for the admission of external air, when necessary; and

stoves to qualify the air when too cold. There are supplies of water,

and drains into what is termed a stank, a considerable depth below, full

of rain-water, from the surface of which to the rise of the arch is

eleven feet; so that no inconvenience arises from smell; and the whole

can be occasionally cleared off by drains to more dependent depths, and

dung-pits, where it becomes contributary to the purposes of agriculture.

Round the whole building is a pavement five feet wide; airing-yards,

places for breeding, and other conveniences, making a part of each wing.

To constitute a uniformity of elegance, neatness, and perfection, the

HUNTSMAN and WHIPPER-IN have _each_ a parlour, kitchen, and

sleeping-room, appropriated to their own particular purpose.

The DUKE OF BEDFORD'S is an immense establishment, upon a scale of too

much extent for particular description, as it includes TENNIS-COURT,

RIDING-HOUSE, &c. &c. in one stone-fronted building, of 266 feet in

length; with two wings of stables, containing stalls for 36 hunters; and

eleven loose houses, for horses sick or lame. As the DOG-KENNEL,

however, is the only part entitled to notice under this head, it will

create no surprise that the richest subject should possess the most

complete in England. It is in length 405 feet, having the boiling-house

in the centre, with feeding rooms adjoining, and a granary behind. On

the right of the centre are apartments for two KENNEL-KEEPERS, two long

lodging rooms for the hunting hounds, with flues running along the

walls, to preserve an equal temperature in the severity of the winter

season; spacious yards to each, furnished with a fountain in the middle,

for the dogs to drink at; and water-cocks fixed at proper distances, to

cleanse the pavement, when it may be required: adjoining to these, are

seven hospitals for sick and lame hounds, with yards to each. On the

left are divisions for litter, straw, &c. eleven apartments for bitches

and puppies, with yards to each; eleven ditto for bitches in pup, with

yards also; and a large division for bitches at heat. In the front is a

large reservoir of water, which supplies the fountains, and different

cocks in the several yards within. Behind the whole is a large

airing-ground, flesh-house, and all requisite conveniencies. The

huntsman's dwelling-house is a handsome building adjoining. The number

of hunting hounds kept in the kennel are usually from sixty to seventy

couple.

The kennel of SIR WILLIM ROWLEY is by no means equal to the external

grandeur of the two already described, but replete with every internal

convenience that an establishment upon a somewhat smaller scale can

possibly require: it is situate about half a mile from the family

mansion, from the garden of which it constitutes a picturesque

appearance. It is erected in a valley of the park, a spot well adapted

to the purpose, being equally defended from the cutting easterly winds,

and the heat of the sun in its meridian, by a thick skirting of park and

forest trees. Not having the advantage of a rivulet to water the courts,

that want is amply supplied by a pump, which, by means of different

cocks, turns the water to every part of the premises; consisting of the

HUNTING-KENNEL, or principal lodging-room, which is 20 feet by 18 in the

clear, 18 feet high, and paved with flag-stones. The beds, or benches,

which cover almost the whole area, are of original and most admirable

contrivance, being lathed like some bedsteads, and all made to fold up

with joints, for the convenience of washing the floor beneath them. This

room, by means of a flue of peculiar construction, is heated to any

required temperature; and the hounds, after severe chases, and in wet

weather, are rendered dry and comfortable in a much less time than they

could be by any other means.

There is also a kennel, or lodging-room, for the young hounds, of the

same dimensions as the former, and possessing the same conveniencies,

except the flue, which here would have been superfluous. Several small

kennels for bitches in a state of gestation; as well as a proportional

number for those with puppies. A paved court to the hunting-kennel. A

feeding-house; one half of which is open, the other under cover. A paved

court to the kennel for the young hounds. A pump, and stone water

cisterns. A large grass-yard for airing the hounds belonging to the

hunting-kennel, containing about an acre and three quarters; in which

are a variety of lime, chesnut, and other trees, forming an excellent

shade for the hounds during the summer season. The young hounds have a

similar convenience. To these are annexed twelve small kennels for

puppies, well constructed for the purpose. The hunting-hounds generally

consist of about THIRTY-SIX COUPLE; and the establishment is conducted

in such a style of punctuality, order, and excellence, that it is

universally acknowledged equal to any, and inferior to none, upon a

similar scale, from one extremity of the kingdom to the other.

Next to the choice of a proper spot for, and a judicious, as well as a

convenient, construction of the KENNEL, the management of the hounds,

_when there_, becomes a matter of serious consideration, and requires a

FEEDER of strict sobriety, indefatigable industry, invariable

punctuality, great humanity, personal fidelity to his employer, and a

constant attention to the business in which he is engaged; as upon him

in a great degree depends the health and preservation of the hounds. MR.

BECKFORD observes (in great proof of his practical knowledge and

personal experience) that no part of a hunting establishment goes on _so

well_, as when the MASTER becomes an occasional SUPERINTENDANT of his

own concerns. He says, as the sport in the field depends on the

exquisite sense of smelling so peculiar to the hound, so care should be

taken to preserve it; and cleanliness is the surest means. The keeping

of the kennel _sweet_ and _clean_, cannot, therefore, be too strongly

inculcated, and impressed upon the mind of the FEEDER; if he seems

habitually disposed to deviate from which, he is not at all calculated

for the office he has undertaken.

The preparation for feeding, as boiling the meat, mixing the meal, and

getting it ready at the hours agreed on, is a matter that the _HUNTSMAN_

will of course take care (on his part) never to have neglected; but

there are other considerations, equally important, which become entitled

to attention. Hounds cannot be properly fed by a _single_ person; two

are (for a variety of reasons) unavoidably necessary; and those two

should be the FEEDER and the HUNTSMAN; as hounds should be drafted and

fed according to their state of flesh and condition. Some are much more

voracious than others, and will require a greater portion of food;

others look and work well, with half the quantity: the eye of the

huntsman should discriminate between the opposite descriptions; in want

of which attention, the pack will never be of equal appearance. When any

of the hounds are observed to be low in flesh, off their appetites, bad

feeders, or kept under by the old and master hounds, it will be matter

of advantage to draft them, and let them feed under less restraint.

Young and impatient feeders, fall into the very common fault of feeding

hounds with their meat _too hot_: it is both a prevalent and injurious

error, that should be totally abolished.

MR. BECKFORD is of opinion, that hounds poorer than the rest should be

fed again, and that they cannot be fed too often; as well as that those

hounds which become too fat, _if any_, should be drafted off, and not

permitted to fill themselves. All hounds (particularly young ones)

should be often called over in kennel; their names become more familiar

to them; and it teaches them obedience; this lesson is practised, or

should be, at the time of feeding. Hounds should all be let out into the

airing ground, to empty them themselves after feeding, to prevent an

unnecessary accumulation of filth, and consequent effluvia, in the

kennel. It may be a custom with some, to shut up the hounds for two or

three hours after they return from hunting _before_ they are FED; if so,

it is more entitled to contempt than imitation; no plea can justify the

practice; they should have their meat ready for feeding immediately on

their return; once gratified, they enjoy their rest _undisturbed_, the

best and most natural foundation for a renovation of strength. Plenty of

vegetables, boiled in the copper meat, once a week, is a custom in most

kennels; as it is also to throw in a pound or two of sulphur, (in

proportion to the number,) particularly in the summer season, when there

is a greater tendency in the blood to morbidity, particularly to

cutaneous diseases.

During the hot months, when hounds do not work, they require but a small

proportion of substantial food, compared to what is necessary in the

severity of the HUNTING SEASON; flesh may then be given very sparingly;

the less it is used in the summer, the less likelihood there will be of

seeing that malignant and unwelcome visitor, the MANGE, amongst them.

Various opinions have been promulgated upon the best, cheapest, and most

nutritious, food for the support of hounds in general; but experience

seems to have justified the consistency of occasional changes, according

to the different seasons, and the different degrees of work; without

adhering too closely to one particular mode, unassisted by such

deviations as circumstances may render not only prudent and proper, but

sometimes unavoidable. Horse flesh, sheep's trotters, raspings, greaves,

bullock's paunches, (in a scarcity of flesh,) oat-meal, and barley-meal,

constitute the principal articles upon which hounds are known to

subsist; although they are differently prepared, and differently

administered, according to the judgment, experience, whim, or caprice,

of the parties concerned. It is, however, universally admitted, after a

number of fair and impartial trials, that in respect to the two meals,

they act much more profitably and advantageously, when used in a mixed

state of nearly equal proportions, than when either is given alone.

MR. BECKFORD says, his feeder, who was a good one, and of much

experience, mixed the meal in _equal_ quantities; that the oatmeal he

boiled for half an hour; and then put out the fire, adding the

barley-meal, and mixing both together: his reason for boiling one, and

not the other, was, that boiling made the oat-meal THICK, and the

barley-meal _thin_; and that when he fed with the barley-meal _only_, it

should not be put into the copper, but mixed up with the scalding

liquor, in a proper tub, or hogshead, kept for the purpose. There are

many little things within the department of the FEEDER, which, if

neglected, become of serious consequence. Nice observation should be

made upon the state of the BITCHES at all times; upon the least

indication of their going to HEAT, they should be _instantly_ removed; a

few hours delay may be the destruction of some of the best hounds in the

kennel. After their return on a hunting day, he should observe whether

there are any hounds who have sustained injuries in the feet by thorns,

flints, &c. in which case a fomentation of warm pot-liquor, (or bran and

water,) followed by a washing with cold vinegar, or salt and water, will

generally effect a speedy cure. Hounds seriously LAME, or palpably SICK,

should be separated from the rest, and placed where they can be more at

ease, and have better attention.

KENNEL—is a sporting term for the spot in which a FOX deposits himself

after his nocturnal depredations, and to which he retires about the dawn

of day: being found by the hounds in drawing covert, he is then said to

be _unkennelled_, and the chase begins. When safe in some _burrow_, or

_hole_, below the surface, he is then said to lie at EARTH.

KIBES,—in horses, are the _cracks_ which appear in the HEELS during the

severity of the winter season, and are much more the consequence of

_neglect_, or a want of knowledge in the stable discipline, than the

effect produced by changes in the weather; which may in general be

counteracted by the means in constant practice with those who proceed

systematically, and take the same care of their horses, as prudence

prompts them to take of themselves. They proceed mostly from being left

with _wet_ legs, which, in very COLD or FROSTY weather, occasions such a

tightness and rigidity of the skin, that, when brought into sudden and

brisk action, it bursts asunder, (in a greater or less degree,)

according to the texture of the skin, or the constitutional irritability

of the horse. These soon become exceedingly painful; and if the weather

should repeatedly vary from short _frosts_ to alternate _thaws_, and the

horse continue in use, the constant insinuation of the sharp particles

of small gravel and sand of the dirty roads, is productive of such

excruciating sensations, that the subject refuses food, and does not lay

down for many days and nights in succession: when even _gently_

compelled to move, he lifts up the limb in so much misery, that it is

with the greatest reluctance he brings it again to the ground; on the

contrary, keeps it so long suspended, that it is expected he must

inevitably fall over in his stall. If worked in this state, he comes out

of the stable as if completely crippled; and every day's delay in the

attempt at relief, must be a culpable protraction of cure: palliatives

(with work) will prove _deceptive_; rest should be adopted, and cure

obtained. This can only be effected by poultices made of LINSEED POWDER,

milk, and a little olive oil, applied immediately after comfortable

softenings with warm gruel, and a small sponge: an ALTERATIVE POWDER in

a mash nightly, and the use of camphorated SPERMA-CÆTI LINIMENT, night

and morning, when the poultices are left off, will be found greatly to

assist the general intent.

KIDNEYS.—The horse is always liable to local injuries, as well as

permanent disorders, of these parts. Inflammation and ulceration are

also produced by different means: some proceed from external causes, as

BRUISES and BLOWS; being too heavily laden with burdens, or drawing too

heavy weights; both which should be equally attended to, and guarded

against. The distinguishing symptoms of diseased KIDNIES, are a palpable

weakness of the hind part of the _back_ and _loins_, a painful sinking

of those parts upon pressure, a difficulty of staling, which is

generally voided partially in small quantities, and frequently with

short groans of internal disquietude: in slight affections, the urine is

white, but turbid; in severe cases, very high coloured, as if tinged

with blood: there is mostly a heaviness of the eyes, debility of body, a

loathing of food, and a tendency to symptomatic fever. From whatever

cause an injury may arise, or from whatever state of the body a disease

of the parts may proceed, BLEEDING largely is the first step to speedy

relief, and the prevention of danger. The _quality_ and _quantity_ of

MEDICINE must be regulated by the shades, as well as the duration, of

the disorder, according to consequences likely to ensue. Warm glysters

of gruel and olive oil occasionally; mashes, made of ground malt and

bran, for food; and thin gruel for drink, in which GUM ARABIC should be

dissolved, to lubricate the passages, and sheath any asperity with which

the parts may be affected. Should the weakness of the loins increase,

the difficulty of staling continue, the urine become more thick and

fœtid, the strength more reduced, and the frame emaciated, one or both

the kidneys may be considered in a state of ulceration, and cure cannot

be expected.

KILLING GAME.—The privilege of KILLING GAME (in any way whatever) is now

dependent upon a two-fold qualification; in want of BOTH which, the

transgressor renders himself liable to a DOUBLE, and in want of

_either_, to a _single_ penalty; which, divested of technical ambiguity,

and the complicated abstrusity of the GAME LAWS in their present

extended state, is reduced to the following state of simplification,

adapted to every comprehension.

In different Acts of Parliament during the reigns of JAMES the First,

CHARLES the Second, and Queen ANNE, the landed possessions necessary to

constitute a qualification to kill game, (exempt from pains and

penalties,) have varied materially, in proportion to the gradual

alteration in the value of money, which has continued to diminish in a

corresponding degree. The landed qualification established by the 23d

Charles the Second, c. xxv. and still adhered to, is the possession of

LANDS, TENEMENTS, or other estates of inheritance, of the CLEAR yearly

value of ONE HUNDRED POUNDS. Or, for term of life, A LEASE or LEASES for

ninety-nine years, or any longer term, of the CLEAR yearly value of ONE

HUNDRED and FIFTY POUNDS. Persons not so qualified, either killing, or

going in pursuit of game with an intent to kill, and being convicted

upon the OATH of _one_ witness, before a Justice of the Peace, forfeits

FIVE POUNDS for each offence; half to the informer, and half to the poor

of the parish where the offence is committed.

Thus far a line is drawn between the QUALIFIED and the _unqualified_, in

respect to LANDED privilege, upon former Acts of Parliament; clearly

defining who possessed a LEGAL RIGHT to pursue and KILL GAME under such

sanction, and who were the persons prohibited from so doing, and liable

to the penalty before described. In addition to which distinction, it

has been enacted by successive Acts in the present reign of George the

Third, That every person who shall use any DOG, GUN, NET, or other

engine, for the taking or killing of game, (except a game-keeper acting

under a deputation duly registered,) shall every year, previous to his

using the same, deliver his name and place of abode to the CLERK of the

PEACE of the county where he shall reside, and take out an annual

CERTIFICATE, or licence, bearing a stamp, for which three guineas are to

be paid. This licence, when obtained, does not authorize _unqualified_

persons to kill game, but leaves them still liable to the PENALTY of

FIVE POUNDS for each offence, as already described. The penalty for

killing game without having procured the ANNUAL CERTIFICATE, is TWENTY

POUNDS to either the qualified or unqualified; so that the

_unqualified_, prosecuted to conviction, is in a predicament of only

five pounds worse than the QUALIFIED, the penalty being twenty pounds

with one, and five-and-twenty with the other. Any person in pursuit of

game, having his name and place of abode demanded by another, who is

possessed of a certificate, and refusing to tell the same, is liable to

a penalty of FIFTY POUNDS. See GAME-KEEPERS, and GAME LAWS.

KINDLE.—A doe rabbit is said to KINDLE when she brings forth her young.

KING FERGUS,—the name of a horse bred by the late COLONEL O'KELLY; he

was foaled in 1775; was got by _Eclipse_, dam (Tuting's Polly) by _Black

and all Black_, grand-dam by _Tartar_, great grand-dam by _Old

Starling_. He was of great celebrity, and continued for many years a

stallion of the first eminence. He was the sire of a great number of

good racers, amongst which were those celebrated runners _Hambletonian_,

_Overton_, _Beningbrough_, _Sir Solomon_, _Warter_, _Johnny_ (Durand's,)

_Garswood_, &c. &c.

KING'S HOUNDS.—His Majesty's STAG HOUNDS pass under this denomination,

as a part of the royal establishment continued in every successive reign

without variation. The kennel in which they are kept is situate near the

RACE COURSE upon ASCOT HEATH; at the distance of two short miles from

which is SWINLEY LODGE, the official residence of the MASTER of the STAG

HOUNDS, an appointment seldom conferred but upon one of the peerage, and

is considered an office of honor, with a salary of 2000_l._ _per annum_.

The presence of the Master of the Stag Hounds in the field is not a

matter of necessity, but choice, except when his Majesty hunts, and then

his personal attendance is indispensible; his badge of office is a pair

of gold dog couples, which hang suspended from a belt on his left side.

The HUNTSMAN has a handsome residence at the kennel, with a salary of

125_l._ a year; to whom there are six assistants, (called YEOMEN

PRICKERS,) each having a salary of 104_l._ with the royal livery richly

ornamented, and an annual supply of saddles, bridles, horse-cloths, and

the necessary stable appendages; but they find their own horses.

The hunting season commences on HOLYROOD-DAY, the 25th of September, and

continues every Tuesday and Saturday till the first week in May; with

the exception of Christmas and Easter weeks, when they hunt _three_

times in _each_. Holyrood-Day, and Easter-Monday, are the two grand days

of the year for company, when the field is exceedingly numerous. His

Majesty has also a PACK of HARRIERS, which are kept at the Little Park

Lodge near Windsor, and with these he hunts constantly in Windsor Great

Park, and the surrounding neighbourhood; they are, however, a private

concern of his Majesty's, and not included in the regular Crown

establishment.

KING'S PLATE.—Those called KING'S PLATES, are a free gift from his

Majesty of 100 guineas each; and it is believed were originally granted

as a means of exciting such a degree of emulation, as would probably

tend to national advantage, by improving the breed of horses in general;

as well as to afford an annual pecuniary advantage (by an additional

influx of company) to such CITIES and TOWNS as enjoy the royal favour.

NEWMARKET, as the superior spot of sporting celebrity, is particularly

honoured, having two in the first SPRING, and one in the first OCTOBER

meetings. KING'S PLATES are also given at Newcastle-upon-Tyne,

Guildford, Winchester, Ipswich, Burford, Chelmsford, Nottingham, Lewes,

Edinburgh, York, Canterbury, Warwick, Lichfield, Richmond, (Yorkshire,)

Lincoln, Salisbury, Ayr, Carlisle, and Ascot Heath; the whole of which,

except the last, are run for by horses or mares of different ages,

carrying such weights as shall be appointed by the MASTER of the HORSE,

or whoever he may delegate for that purpose.

The KING'S PLATE of 100 guineas, given at ASCOT, and always run for on

the first day, (invariably Whit-Tuesday fortnight,) is only for horses

which have regularly hunted with his Majesty's STAG HOUNDS the preceding

season, and must have been well up with the hounds, at their running up

to, taking, or killing, TEN DEER, as an indispensible qualification,

without having which they cannot be permitted to start. At the

conclusion of the chase, when the deer is secured, those who intend to

qualify for the plate apply to the HUNTSMAN, and a ticket is delivered

to the rider, bearing the arms of the Master of the Stag Hounds, and the

seal of the royal hunt; when which ten tickets are obtained, the horse

has secured his qualification, may then be withdrawn from the field, and

is not obliged to appear again till the DAY of ENTRANCE at Sunning-Hill

Wells, where and when the tickets must be produced, in confirmation of

his being duly qualified to START. For the accommodation of the sporting

world at large, horses of all ages are permitted to run, carrying the

following weights; four years old, 11st. 2lb. five years old, 11st. 9lb.

six years old, 11st. 12lb. and aged, 12st. Mares allowed 4lb. The best

of three four-mile heats.

The following Rules are, by his MAJESTY'S COMMAND, to be strictly

observed by the OWNERS and RIDERS of all such HORSES, MARES, or

GELDINGS, as shall run for his Majesty's Plates at Newmarket.