Robert Kirkland Kernighan (1854-1926) in Canadian Singers and their Songs, 1919. Courtesy Internet Archive.
Robert Kirkland Kernighan (April 25, 1854 - November 3, 1926) was a Canadian poet who worked as a journalist and a farmer. [1]
Life[]
Kernighan circa 1890. Courtesy Dundas Museum and Archives.
Kernighat was born at Rushdale Farm, near Rockton, Ontario. He apprenticed as a journalist on the Hamilton Spectator staff. In about 1876 the paper printed his earliest poetry.
Kernighan lived in western Canada for a while working for the Winnipeg Sun, then returned to the Hamilton area to farm. He worked exclusively for many years for the Toronto Telegram, writing a column titled, "The Khan's Corner." (The nickname "Khan" was given to him by a young French-Canadian woman who could not pronounce his name.)
It was the opinion of Sir John A. Macdonald that if Canada ever went to war the soldiers would march to battle singing Kernighan's poem, "The Men of the Northern Zone".
In an article reviewing personalities from Hamilton history, Kernighan was praised as a "...poet and humourist with a rare gift of sympathetic portrayal of rural Canadian life."<ref>The Hamilton Spectator, 1926.</ref>
The Khan appeared in Toronto at old Albert Hall on October 20th, 1885, to a packed house. Toronto's Daily Amusement Record reported: "Albert Hall was jammed to the door, and many had to stand. This, more than anything else, is a substantial compliment to Mr. Kernighan, as the people of Toronto are not in the habit of throwing away fifty-cent pieces 'just for fun'." Kernighan's lecture was attended by notable local personalities who were described in the Amusement Record as the "Fourth Estate". The reviewer concluded: "The lecture was a masterpiece of native eloquence, humour and pathos, and the only fault found was that it was too short."
Recognition[]
The Khan's Lecture in Toronto, 1885. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
The Kernighan neighbourhood on the Hamilton, Ontario Mountain was named after him. It is bounded by the Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway (north), Stone Church Road West (south), West 5th Street (west) and Upper James Street (east). Landmarks in this neighborhood include Yuk Yuk's Comedy Club and Kernighan Park, also named after him.
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- The Men of the Northern Zone (illustrated by John Sloan Duncan). Hamilton, ON: Robert Duncan, 1890.
- The Khan's Canticles. Hamilton, ON: Spectator Printing, 1896.
- The Pioneer's Anthem. Hamilton: Griffin & Richmond, 1910.
- War Poems, by the Khan. Dundas, ON: R.W. Karch, 1916.
- The Khan's Book of Verse. Toronto: Evening Telegram, 1925.
Canada First (Robert Kirkland Kernighan Poem)
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[2]
See also[]
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ Bailey, Thomas Melville (1991). Dictionary of Hamilton Biography (Vol II, 1876-1924). W.L. Griffin Ltd.
- ↑ Search results = au:Robert Kirkland Kernighan, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Sep. 11, 2013.
External links[]
- Poems
- Robert Kirkland Kernighan at PoemHunter (162 poems)
- Robert Kirkland Kernighan at Poetry Nook (164 poems)
- Books
- Robert Kirkland Kernighan at Amazon.ca
- About
- Kirkland, Robert Kernighan 1857-1926 fonds at McMaster University Library.
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