On the side next the hill, it was sufficiently guarded by the crooked branches of a Knurly and scrubby oak tree, that grew on the very edge of the ravine.
"An Old Sailor's Yarns"
Nathaniel Ames
And I remembered how one day, after we had come to live near the Mississipi, I floated down, down, hundreds of miles, with a wild fraternity of Knurly giants, the boatmen of the Mississipi, and how a dear old man welcomed me back, as if from the grave.
"How I Found Livingstone"
Sir Henry M. Stanley
These old apple-trees make very charming bits of the world in October; the leaves cling to them later than to the other trees, and the turf keeps short and green underneath; and in this grass, which was frosty in the morning, and has not quite dried yet, you can find some cold little cider apples, with one side Knurly, and one shiny bright red or yellow cheek.
"Deephaven and Selected Stories & Sketches"
Sarah Orne Jewett