a royal and parliamentary borough and seaport in Fifeshire, about 12 miles N. from Edinburgh, lying along the margin of a bay on the N. shore of the Firth of Forth. It consists chiefly of one street, nearly 2 miles long (whence the name Lang town), with smaller streets and lanes opening into or running parallel with it. To the W. of the royalty, but within the parliamentary boundaries of the town, are the villages of Linktown, in the parish of Abbotshall, and the village of West Bridge, in the parish of Kinghorn.

In 1334 Kirkcaldy was mortified by King David II. to the Abbey of Dunfermline, the commendator and monastery of which sold it in 1540. On 5th February 1644 it received a charter of erection and novocamus as a royal burgh from King Charles II., and in this charter he conveyed the burgh to the bailies, councillors, and community, along with the harbour and about 487 acres of land.

The government of the burgh is vested in a provost, two bailies, a dean of guild, and sixteen councillors. There are also still seven incorporated trades. In 1811 an act of parliament was obtained for its improvement, and since that time great changes have taken place on the exterior of the town.

The revenue, under the charge of the magistrates and council, for 1856-56, amounted to £700, 10s. 10d.; the ordinary expenditure was £530, 19s. 6d.; the nett debt, £535, 19s. 8d.

The port, situated near the E. end of the town, consists of an outer and an inner harbour, both of which have been of late deepened and improved. The depth of the water at the entrance in spring tides is 15 feet. The management Kirghiz, of the harbour is vested in commissioners, who pay L300 a-year for municipal purposes, and engage to clear off the debt of the town, amounting to L11,096, 13s. 10d. The harbour revenue for 1855-56 amounted to L1594, 5s. 11d., the expenditure to L1351, 0s. 8d., leaving a surplus of L243, 5s. 3d. The nett debt of the commissioners is L14,355, 15s. 3½d.

The Kirkcaldy custom-house includes under its superintendence all the ports from Aberdour on the W. to St Andrews on the E. On 31st December 1855 the number of vessels belonging to these ports was ninety-eight, and their tonnage 8646. The vessels employed in the foreign trade for the year ending 5th January 1856 numbered—indoors, 135; and outwards, 285. The tonnage of those indoors was 15,892; and outwards, 27,283. The number of vessels employed in the coasting trade during the same period was 490 indoors, their tonnage 24,928; and outwards 1059, and their tonnage 54,262. The Kirkcaldy custom-house revenue for the year ending 5th January 1854 was L9060; 5th January 1855, L7020; and 31st March 1856, L10,040.

Kirkcaldy is now the principal seat of the spinning department of the linen trade in this county. The value of goods manufactured in Kirkcaldy in 1815, when the trade was depressed, was estimated at L125,981. It is now considerably increased. There were, in 1836, ten spinning-mills within the parliamentary limits of the burgh, turning upwards of 4896 spindles, and within these limits this trade is now greatly enlarged. There are also four bleachfields connected with the town, four iron foundries, and one coal-work near the town, at which are raised upwards of 15,000 tons of coal annually.

Among its commercial and literary institutions may be mentioned the chamber of commerce (founded in 1825), two public libraries, two news-rooms, &c.

Besides the public schools in the burgh, frequented by about 300 scholars, the parochial school in Linktown for the parish of Abbotshall, and adventure schools, which receive about 700 scholars, there is a provision for gratuitous education in schools founded by Mr Robert Philip, merchant in Kirkcaldy, who died in 1829, and left a sum of money, now amounting to upwards of L74,500, for their support. The gross revenue of the charity for the year ending in 1856 was L2882, 2s. 4d. The scholars at present educated on this foundation number, in Pathead, 280; in Kirkcaldy, 100; in Linktown and Bridgetown, 180; and in Kinghorn, 73.

The Sailor Guild, or Prime Gilt Box of Kirkcaldy, for the relief of destitute sailors and their families, has existed since 1590. Its average revenue amounts to L110 yearly.

Dr Adam Smith, the author of the Wealth of Nations, was born in Kirkcaldy, and his bust, along with that of Sir Robert Peel, is placed in the town-hall.

Kirkcaldy unites with Dysart, Burntisland, and Kinghorn in returning one M.P.; parliamentary constituency, 400. Pop. 10,475.

Kirghiz, Steppe of the, an extensive country of Western Asia, comprising the northern part of Independent Turkistan, and lying between N. Lat. 44. and 55., and E. Long. 53. and 82. It is bounded on the N. by Russian Siberia, E. by the Chinese Empire, S. by the khanats of Khokan, Bokhara, and Khiva, and W. by the Ural and the Caspian Sea.

The surface is not a mere flat plain, but is traversed by numerous mountain chains, particularly in the W. and N.W. There are a considerable number of rivers and lakes, many of the latter being salt. The extremes of heat and cold are very great; in summer the temperature often rises to 112° Fahr.; while in winter it is frequently many degrees below zero. The inhabitants are a nomadic race, almost solely occupied in the rearing of sheep, goats, horses, and camels, which constitute their principal wealth. They relieve the monotony of their life by hunting, and not unfrequently by plundering caravans, or by attacking some neighbouring tribe. They are divided into the Great, Little, and Middle Hordes, which are again subdivided into numerous tribes, each having its own Khan or chief. Pop. estimated at 2,260,000. See Asia.

Kircudbrightshire, a county in Scotland, situate between N. Lat. 54. 43. and 55. 19., and W. Long. 3. 33. and 4. 34. from Greenwich, is bounded on the N. by the shires of Dumfries and Ayr, on the E. and S. by the Solway Frith and the Irish Sea, and on the W. by the county of Wigton. It derives its name from Coer, a fort, the Anglo-Saxons having erected a fort in honour of St Cuthbert, near the site of the present Kircudbright (originally Coer Cuthbert), the county town. It is in length from E. to W. about 48 miles; it varies in breadth from 30 to 40 miles; and it contains 954 square miles, or 610,734 acres. This district is commonly called the stewartry, not the shire, of Kircudbright; and its judge, whose powers and duties are the same as those of a sheriff, is called a steward. The appellation of stewartry had its rise in the ancient tenure by which it was held, and the subsequent forfeiture of its lords; but the distinction between stewartry and sherifdom is in this case purely nominal. Kircudbright is one of the two counties comprehended under the general name of Gallo-way; Wigtownshire, on the W., being the other.

About two-thirds of the surface is mountainous. A range of mountains stretches along the whole northern boundary, in the form of a vast amphitheatre, embracing nearly half the county; on the boundary with Ayrshire they are not much inferior in height to any in the South of Scotland. There are also some considerable mountains on the southern extremity, such as Criffel, 1831 feet in height; Cairnsmore, 2597; and Cairnharrow, 1110. The high lands are, for the most part, covered with heath, except on a part of the northern boundary, where a narrow tract of green hills runs out between the counties of Ayr and Dumfries; and many of them are wet and mossy. In the middle of the district, the declivity is so gentle that the River Dee, at 30 miles from its mouth, is only 150 feet above the level of the sea; yet, even in the interior, there is no great extent of level ground, the greater part of the surface being occupied by rocky knolls, steep banks, and hills of a moderate elevation. On the coast, also, hills rise almost everywhere to the height of several hundred feet. The district is studded with a great number of lakes, of which there is one or more in almost every parish, though few of them are considerable. As there is much full-grown wood, the general appearance of the stewartry is that of a varied, rich, and interesting county, on which much capital and labour have been expended; and its natural beauties are in many places very striking.

The soil of the lower grounds is, for the most part, of a hazel colour, sometimes inclining to red, and seems to be chiefly composed of argillaceous schist in a state of decomposition. It is seldom of any great depth, and the rock, often rising above the surface, gives a rugged appearance to much even of the arable land. This soil is, however, in many instances possessed of great natural fertility, not soon injured by wet seasons, and affords plentiful crops and fine natural herbage. Clay is of no great extent, and found chiefly on the banks of the rivers. The smooth round hills accessible to the plough have, for the most part, a close subsoil, here called till, and do not, therefore, admit of being profitably cultivated but after an interval of several years' pastureage. Tracts of moss, which once existed, have greatly disappeared, having been converted into rich arable fields.

Much of the mountainous district is composed of granite. According to the Agricultural Survey there are three several districts of this rock, which occupy nearly a fourth. of the surface. Strata of argillaceous schistus prevail in the lower parts. Some of it is of a hard, compact grain, of a blue or grayish-brown colour, for the most part breaking irregularly, but often in parallel plates, of which coarse slates have been made. With these are intermixed layers of a softer argillaceous stone, which readily yields to the weather, and is popularly known by the name of slate band. These rocks, which also occupy a large part of the district, are sometimes traversed by dykes of porphyry, and also by granite. In the neighbourhood of Dumfries the prevailing rock is sandstone. Limestone is found at Kirkbean, the only place in the county where it is wrought; and there are also some promising indications of coal on the estate of Arbigland, near Dumfries. In the parish of Colvend, on the Solway Frith, there is a quarry which affords millstones. Lead mines were wrought in Minnigaff and Annwoth for many years, but have been discontinued. Iron ore abounds, but, from the want of coal and wood, it is of little value. On the estate of Cally, near Gatehouse, copper has lately been discovered, but the yield has not been remunerative.

The rivers are,—the Nith, which separates this county from Dumfriesshire for about 12 miles on the N.E.; the Urr, which flows S.E. by the village of Dalbeattie, and is navigable 5 or 6 miles for small vessels; the Dee, the largest river, which enters Loch Ken, a lake almost in the centre of the county, about 8 miles in length, and in some places a mile in breadth, and, giving its name to the river (Ken), which issues from the lake, falls into the Solway Frith about 5 miles below the town of Kirkcudbright. It is navigable for 2 miles above this town for vessels of 200 tons. In spring-tides the water rises about 20 feet at Kirkcudbright, where there is a well-sheltered natural harbour, of easy access. For the last 7 or 8 miles of its course the banks of the Dee are planted. St Mary's Isle, near Kirkcudbright, is a highly ornamented spot; and the Little Rose, a beautiful island, is situated at its mouth. There are other small islands, as those of Fleet, Knockbrex, and Heston, scattered along the coast. The salmon fishery on this river was rented, some years ago, at £900. The Fleet is remarkable for the picturesque scenery on its banks; but as its stream is circuitous towards the end of its course, a canal of about a mile in length has been cut, at the sole expense of the late Mr Murray of Broughton, by means of which the navigation to Gatehouse, about 4 miles from the sea, has been rendered easy and shorter. The Cree, a more considerable river, separates this county from Wigtonshire, and flows into the bay of Wigton, whence it is navigable to the small harbour of Cartly, a little below Newton-Stewart. The rivers are nearly equidistant from each other; and the richly wooded valleys through which they flow, combined with the intervening hills or eminences, impart a character of variety and beauty to the county which is very picturesque, and is seldom surpassed. The stewartry is everywhere supplied with pure springs and rivulets. Chalybeate springs are also numerous, one of which, Lochebreck, in the parish of Balmaghie, 7 miles from Gatehouse, is said not to be inferior in medicinal virtues to any in the kingdom.

The landed property is not divided into large estates. The number of proprietors in 1854 was 418; of whom 180 had a valuation not exceeding £50 Scots per annum; 66 not exceeding £1,100; 65 not exceeding £200; 55 not exceeding £500; 26 not exceeding £1,000; 14 not exceeding £2,000; 3 not exceeding £5,000; 3 not exceeding £10,000; while there was only one (Murray of Broughton) above the last sum. The valued rent, which was taken in 1642, is £114,637, 2s. Scots; the real rent, in 1808, was estimated at £167,125 sterling; and in 1855 at £213,308, exclusive of the burghs of Kirkcudbright, New Galloway, and Maxwellton. Many of the smaller propri- tors cultivate their own estates. About half the county is held under deeds of entail, and no disentails have as yet taken place under the Act 11th and 12th Victoria. "The condition of the peasantry, at a period not very remote, seems to have been much depressed, and the state of husbandry rude and barbarous in the extreme." (Smith's Survey.) Referring to the year 1720, John Maxwell of Munshes observes that "the tenants in general lived very meanly, on kail, groats, milk, graddon ground in querns turned by the hand, and the grain dried in a pot, together with a crock ewe now and then about Martinmas. They were clothed very plainly, and their habitations were most uncomfortable. Their general wear was of cloth made of waulked plaiding, black and white wool mixed, very coarse, and the cloth rarely dyed. Their hose were made of white plaiding cloth, sewed together, with single-soled shoes, and a black or blue bonnet, none having hats but the lairds."

In 1725 potatoes were first introduced into this stewartry by William Hyland, from Ireland, who carried them on horses' backs to Edinburgh, where he sold them by pounds and ounces. During these times, when potatoes were not generally used in this country, there was for the most part a great want of food, bordering on famine; for in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright there was not as much corn produced as was necessary for supplying the inhabitants. The produce of the country in general was gray oats; and you might have travelled from Dumfries to Kirkcudbright, which is 27 miles, without seeing any other grain, except in a gentleman's croft, which in general produced bere or higg for one-third part, another third in white oats, and the remaining third in gray oats. At that period there was no wheat raised in the country; what was used was brought from Teviot, and it was believed that the soil would not produce wheat. In the year 1735 there was no mill for grinding that sort of grain; and the first flour-mill that was constructed within these bounds was built at Clouden, in the parish of Irongray, some years after that date." (Murray's Literary History of Galloway, 2d edition, 1832, pp. 387–9.) Yet it was in this county that the improvements of modern husbandry were adopted, at a time when they were entirely unknown in the greater part of the kingdom. As early as the year 1750, Mr Craig of Arbigland practised the drilling and horse-hoeing of the celebrated Tull, which he ever afterwards continued to follow in the culture of beans and turnips. He enclosed and drained his estate, cleaned his fields by fallowing, applied calcareous manures, introduced sown grasses into his course of crops, and worked his plough with two horses. A few of the other proprietors followed in his steps, but their efforts were not seconded by the tenantry at large. It is only since the end of last century that modern husbandry has made any considerable progress, but it is now quite general. The following is the proportion of crops, according to the agricultural statistics procured in 1856 by the Highland Society. The total acreage under rotation of crops was 120,792; of which the constituent crops were—wheat, 2,441; barley, 1,464; oats, 33,753; rye, 58; bere, 55; beans, 503; pease, 2; tares, 84; turnips, 15,154; potatoes, 3,112; mangold, 100; carrots, 48; cabbage, 10; rape, 153; flax, 9; turnip-seed, 26; bare fallow, 287; grass and hay under rotation, 63,707. Total stock, 353,869—being, horses for agriculture, 5,190; other horses, 793; milch cows, 9,107; other cattle, 24,012; calves, 6,731; sheep, 301,603; swine, 6,433.

A great impetus has lately been communicated to agriculture in this county by the regular and cheap communication with Liverpool by means of steam navigation. The farmers have thus a ready outlet for their disposable produce, corn, cattle, and sheep, and receive cash payments. Instead of being, as formerly, far from a market, and forced, in consequence, to sell to corn-dealers, a class of men with whom bankruptcy was anything but uncommon; the far- mers are now, as it were, placed in the very vicinity of the best market, and are freed from all risk of non-payment. By these favourable circumstances, a spirit of improvement and enterprise has been roused which has changed the face and character of the county. Nothing, indeed, has ever effected so important a change in the circumstances of this county as the introduction of steam navigation. The first steam-boat seen on its shores was in 1830; and there are now six that ply regularly between it and the English coast, particularly Whitehaven and Liverpool. Their decks are covered with sheep and black cattle, whilst their holds are filled with corn. Nor is this all. These vessels have opened up channels of industry before unknown. Poultry, eggs, and butter, by being sent to the ready market of England, form a new and pretty productive source of income. Salmon, instead of being sent, as formerly, round to England by the expensive mail-carriage, is now transmitted thither by steam more directly, and at much less expense; whilst commodities required from England are obtained under the most favourable circumstances. Railways are about to be introduced. A bill has been got for forming a line between Dumfries and Castle-Douglas, a distance of 18 miles; and application is to be made in the ensuing session of parliament for a line from the latter place to Portpatrick, a farther distance of 56 miles. This railway accommodation, combined with the steam navigation already referred to, will thoroughly open up this otherwise remote county, and connect it with the most important marts of commerce.

Unlike other hilly tracts in Scotland, the land is almost universally enclosed, chiefly with stone walls, called Galloway Dykes. These dykes are built close, or double, as it is called, for part of their height, and afterwards single, the stones in the latter part being laid in such a manner as to allow the passage of the light through the wall. But it is now becoming a common practice to build the whole of the wall double, and, after laying a course of stones that project a little beyond its breadth on both sides, it is completed by a coping of stones laid on edge, and closely pinned.

This county is chiefly celebrated for its cattle, which form by far the most important part of its agricultural produce. They are known in every part of Britain by the name of Galloway cattle. Sheep are confined to the mountainous districts, where they are kept in great numbers. They are of the heath or black-faced variety, with coarse wool. A small, hardy, and active race of horses, called Galloways, was formerly reared here and in Wigtonshire, the other division of Galloway; but a larger breed being required for the labours of modern husbandry, the old race is very rarely to be found in a pure state. The name, however, is frequently applied to horses below full size, wherever they may have been reared.

The first road act for the stewartry of Kirkcudbright was obtained in 1779. At that period there was scarcely anything that deserved the name, except the military road from Dumfries to Portpatrick, which had been made about fifteen years before; but at present very few districts are better provided in this respect. The first good roads were made on the estate of the Earl of Selkirk, under the direction of his son Basil William Lord Daer, to whom this county owes many other improvements. In 1796, by another act of parliament, the assessments were allowed to be increased, and tolls erected; and soon afterwards a new road was made from Dumfries to Castle-Douglas, a distance of 18 miles, through a hilly, broken country, with so much attention to preserve the level, that it has seldom a rise of more than one foot in forty, and much of it is nearly a perfect level. All the principal roads made since have been done with equal judgment. The turnpike roads extend to nearly 300 miles; and the annual income obtained from tolls amount to about £2000. The district is also well accommodated with bridges, of which the most considerable is one over the Dee at Tongland, about 2 miles above Kirkcudbright, which has an arch of 110 feet span. It is built of sandstone, brought partly from Annan in Dumfrieshire, and partly from the Isle of Arran. It was finished in 1808, and cost upwards of £7000.