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KERN

Volume 11 · 54 words · 1815 Edition

or Kerne, a term in the ancient Irish militia, signifying a foot soldier. Camden tells us, the armies of Ireland consisted of cavalry, called galloglases; and infantry, lightly armed, called kerns.—The kerns bore swords and darts; to the last were fitted cords, by which they could recover them after they had been launched out.