Kentish fire

English

Etymology

In reference to meetings held in Kent that opposed the Catholic Emancipation Bill.

Noun

Kentish fire (uncountable)

1. An expression of emotion from an audience, either of approbation or derision; cheers; jeering.
   • 1916, James Joyce, chapter V, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, →OCLC:

     The entry of the professor was signalled by a few rounds of Kentish fire from the heavy boots of those students who sat on the highest tier of the gloomy theatre under the grey cobwebbed windows.