KEIGHTLEY, THOMAS (1789-1872). —Historian, ed. at Trinity Coll., Dublin, wrote works on mythology and folklore, and at the request of Dr. Arnold of Rugby, a series of text-books on English, Greek, and other histories. His History of Greece was translated into modern Greek. Among his other books are Fairy Mythology (1850), and Mythology of Ancient Greece and Italy, and a work on Popular Tales and their transmission from one country to another.
KEITH, ROBERT (1681-1757). —Historian, b. in Kincardineshire, belonged to the family of the Earls Marischal, and was Bishop of Fife in the Scottish Episcopal Church. He was deeply versed in Scottish antiquities, and pub. History of the Affairs of Church and State in Scotland during the Reformation. He also compiled A Catalogue of the Bishops of Scotland (1755).
KELLY, HUGH (1739-1777). —Dramatist, s. of a Dublin publican, worked in London as a staymaker, 1760, and after ed. various journals, wrote Memoirs of a Magdalen (1767). His play, False Delicacy (1768), had an extraordinary success, and was translated into French, German, and Portuguese. His other plays had no great success. He left off writing for the stage in 1774, and endeavoured to practise as a barrister, but without success. He also wrote political pamphlets, for which he received a pension from Government.
KEN, THOMAS (1637-1711). —Religious writer, s. of an attorney, was b. at Little Berkhampstead, ed. at Winchester and Oxf., and entering the Church received the living of Brightstone, Isle of Wight, where he composed his Morning, Evening, and Midnight Hymns, perhaps the most widely known of English hymns. These he was accustomed to sing daily to the lute. After holding other benefices he became Bishop of Bath and Wells, and a Chaplain to Charles II. He was one of the "Seven Bishops" sent to the Tower by James II. Refusing to take the oaths to William and Mary, he was deprived, and spent his later years in comparative poverty, though he found an asylum at Longleat with Lord Weymouth. Izaak Walton was his brother-in-law. K. wrote a manual of prayers for Winchester School, and other devotional works.
KENNEDY, JOHN PENDLETON (1795-1870). —Novelist, b. in Baltimore, was distinguished as a lawyer and politician. He wrote three novels, Swallow Barn (1832), Horse Shoe Robinson (1835), and Rob of the Bowl (1838), which give a vivid presentation of life in the Southern States.