KAWI, the old language of Java found in old documents and inscriptions.
KAY, SIR, a rude and boastful Knight of the Round Table, foster-brother of King Arthur, who from his braggart ways often made himself the butt of the whole court.
KAY, JOHN, a Scottish caricaturist, born near Dalkeith; began business in Edinburgh first as a barber and then as a print-seller; author of sketches of local celebrities, now collected in two volumes, and of much interest and value as a record of the Edinburgh of his time (1742-1826).
KAYE, SIR JOHN WILLIAM, historian of English India, an officer in the Bengal Artillery, retired in 1841; in 1856 entered the East India Company’s service in England, and was subsequently a secretary in the Government India Office; he wrote “History of the Sepoy War 1857-58,” and “Essays of an Optimist” (1814-1876).
KEAN, CHARLES JOHN, actor, second son of the succeeding, born in Waterford; made his first appearance in Drury Lane in 1827, which proved unsuccessful, but by assiduous study and his marriage with Helen Tree, a popular actress who played along with him, he rose in the profession and became lessee of the Princess’s Theatre, London, where he distinguished himself by his revivals of Shakespeare’s plays, with auxiliary effects due to scenery and costume; he was at his best in melodramas, such as “Louis XI.” (1811-1868).
KEAN, EDMUND, distinguished English tragedian, born in London; trod the stage from his infancy; his first success was Shylock in the “Merchant of Venice” in 1814, and the representation of it was followed by equally famous representations of Richard III., Othello, and Sir Giles Overreach; he led a very dissipated life, and under the effects of it his constitution gave way; he broke down one evening beside his son as Iago, as he was playing the part of Othello, was carried off the stage, and never appeared on the boards again (1787-1833).
KEARY, ANNIE, novelist, born in Yorkshire; began as a writer of children’s books, “Castle Daly,” an Irish novel, among her best; was a woman of a sympathetic nature, and was devoted to works of benevolence (1825-1882).
KEATS, JOHN, was the son of a livery-stable proprietor, born at Finsbury, London; never went to a university, but was apprenticed to a London surgeon, and subsequently practised medicine himself in London; abandoning his profession in 1817, he devoted himself to literature, made the acquaintance of Leigh Hunt, Hazlitt, Lamb, Wordsworth, and other literary men; left London for Carisbrooke, moved next year to Teignmouth, but on a visit to Scotland contracted what proved to be consumption; in 1819 he was betrothed to Miss Fanny Browne, and struggled against ill-health and financial difficulties till his health completely gave way in the autumn of 1820; accompanied by the artist Joseph Severn he went to Naples and then to Rome, where, in the spring following, he died; his works were three volumes of