Knight of the Thistle

[THISTLE.] knights-bachelor, s. pl. [BACHELOR.] knights-banneret, s. pl. [BANNERET.] knight's-fee, s. Feudal Law : (See extract). "The first, most universal, and esteemed the most hon orable species of tenure, was that by knight-service, which differed in very few points from a proper feud. To make this, a determinate quantity of land was nece ary, which was called a knighl's-fee, the value of which, though it varied with the times, in the reigns of Edward I. and Edward II., was stated at £20 per annum, and the tenant was bound to attend his lord to the wars for forty days in every year, if called upon."-Black stone: Comment., bk. ii., ch. 3. Knights and Ladies of Honor, s . A fraternal beneficiary society founded in 1877. In 1898 it reported a membership of 70,000; benefits disbursed since organization, $14,009,538.