Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/700

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KENTIGERN


620


KENTUCKY


Kentigent (or Mungo), Saint, bishop, founder of the See of Glasgow, b. about 518; d. at Glasgow, 13 January, 603. His mother Thenaw was daughter of a British prince, Lothus (from whom the province of Lothian was called); his father's name is unknown. According to Jocelyn's life of Kentigern, the saint was born at Culross in Fife, and brought up until manhood by St. Serf (or Servanus) at his monastery there; but Skene shows that this coimexion between the two saints involves an anachronism, as St. Serf really be- longs to the following century. At the age of twenty- five we find Kentigern (the name means " head chief", but he was popularly known as Mungo — in Cymric, Mwyn-gu, or "dear one"), beginning his missionary labours at Cathures, on the Clyde, the site of modern Glasgow. The Christian Iving of Strathclyde, Roderick Hael, welcomed the saint, and procured his consecra- tion as bishop, which took place about 540. For some thirteen years he laboured in the district, living a most austere life in a cell at the confluence of the Clyde and the Molendinar, and making many con- verts by his holy example and liis preacliing. A large community grew up around him, became known as " Clasgu" (meaning the " dear family") and ultimately grew into the town and city of Glasgow.

About 553 a strong anti-Christian movement in Strathclyde compelled Kentigern to leave the district, and he retired to Wales, stajang for a time with St. Da\'id at Menevia, and afterwards founding a large monastery at Llanelwy, now St. Asaph's, of which he appointed the holy monk Asaph superior in succession to himself. In 573 the battle of Arthuret secured the triumph of the Christian cause in Cumbria, and Kenti- gern, at the earnest appeal of King Roderick, re- turned tliither, accompanied by many of his Welsh disciples. For eight years he fixed his see at Hoddam in Dumfriesshire, evangelizing thence the districts of Galloway and Cumberland. About 581 he finally returned to Glasgow, and here, a year or two later, he was visited by St. Columba, who was at that time labouring in Strathtay. The two saints embraced, held long converse, and exchanged their pastoral staves.

Kentigern was buried on the spot where now stands the beautiful cathedral dedicated in his honour. His remains are said still to rest in the crypt. His festival is kept throughout Scotland on 13 January. The BoUandists have printed a special mass for this feast, dating from the thirteenth century.

JocELYN OF FuRNESS, Life of Kentigern, c. 1185, printed, with English translation, in Pinkerton, Lives of the Scottish Saints (Paisley, 1889-95), is the only ancient authority, except a fragment of c. 1 164; see Forbes. St. Ninian and St. Kentigern in Historians of Scotland, V (Edinburgh, 1874)- see also Stack, Life of St. Mungo (Glasgow); Forres. Katendars of Scot- tish Saints (Edinburgh, 1872), 373-82; Edmonds, The Early Scottish Church (EdinburKh, 190B), l.\; Bellesheim, Hist, of Cath. Ch. of Scotl.. I (Edinburgh. 1887). 149-157; Acta ,SS. (Brussels, 1863), II, 97-103.

D. O. Hunter-Blair.

Kentucky, a state situated between the parallels of latitude 30° .30' and 39° 6' N., and between the me- ridians 82° and 89° 38' W. The name is Indian— Kantuckee — and is said by some to signify "prairie or meadow land " in allusion to the large treeless area found in the south central part of the state at the time of the advent of the white man; by others it is .said to mean "Dark and bloody ground", the region having been a common battle-ground for the various Indian tribes in the adjoining territory. The latter is the more popular interpretation, but there does not seem to b(! any more satisfactory authority for the one than for the other. The state is bounded on the north and north-west by the Ohio River, separating it from Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, the low water mark on the northern shore being the state line; on the east by Virginia t nd the Big Sandy River, which separates it from West Virginia; on the south by Tennessee and


Seal of Kentdckt


Virginia ; on the west by the Mississippi River, which separates it from Missouri. Its total area is 40,508 square miles, of which 417 square miles are water. Its greatest length from east to west is about 400 miles, and its greatest width from north to south is about ISO miles.

Physical Characteristics. — The south-eastern section of the state is mountainous, the general eleva- tion ranging from 1000 to 1500 feet, with some crests near the south-eastern border, in the Cumberland and Pine Mountains, rising to a height of 3000 feet. North and west of this section is tlie famous Blue-Grass Region, gently undulating in formation with an ele- vation of about SCO or 900 feet. On the south and west of the Blue Grass country is a Umestone plateau sloping from an elevation of about 1200 feet in the east to about 400 feet in the west. Portions of this plateau are marked by cone- sliaped hills rising to a h e i g h t of about 1000 or 1200 feet, and in an- other portion fre- quent sinks, or depressions, are found through which the surface water finds its way into under- ground passages. Many caves or caverns exist in this region, the most notable being the Mammoth Cave, the largest natural cavern in the world. Western Kentucky, particularly west of the Tennessee River, is low and sandy. The mean annual temperature is about 55° Fahrenheit. Extremes of cold and heat are infrequent and of short duration. The mean rainfall is 46 inches, with a somewhat greater precipitation along the southern border. The Blue-Grass Region, an area of about 10,000 square miles, has a blue lime- stone sub-structure, the disintegration of which ren- ders the soil very fertile. The bottoms, along the rivers, on account of the alluvial deposit, are likewise very productive. The mountainous south-eastern portion of the state is generally unfit for agriculture, and the extreme western portion, where the soil is formed from weathered sandstone, is much less fertile and productive than the limestone territory, though the area incapable of cultivation is less than one- sixth of the whole.

Population and Wealth. — The population of the state, according to the Federal Census for 1880, was 1,64.S,(190; for 1X90 it was 1,858,6:55; and 2,147,174 for 190(1. In 1909 it was estimated (Federal Census Department) at 2,406,859. In 1900 there were 50,249 persons of foreign birth anil 2S4,70() negroes. Ten other states have a larger ni-gro i)(i|>ulation, and the increase in this race is materially les'j than among the whites. There are no Indians, and the number of Cliinese and Japanese is probably less than 100 in the entire state. The largest cities with their respective populations are as follows: Louisville (1900)— 204,731 (Federalestimate for 1909: 2:!ti,r,,SS) ; Covington (1900), 42,938 (Federal estimate for 1909: 51,715); Newport (1900), 28,:i01 (Federal estimate for 1909: 31,.345); Lexington (1900), 26,369 (Federal estimate for 1909: 30,690).

Material Resources. — The total assessed valua- tion of property in 1908 was $7.50,393,881, of which .$5.59,167,010 was real estate and $191,226,865 was personalty. The net revenue of the State for that year was $3,601,969.40. In 1909 there were 148 na- tional l)anks in Kentucky, with an aggregate capital