I think most of us born in Kent are aware of these two terms being available to identify ourselves. In modern times it seems to have become established that those born east of the River Medway are Men of Kent and those born west of the Medway are Kentish Men. Francis Grose notes this distinction; Men of Kent are those “born east of the river Medway, who are said to have met the Conqueror in a body, each carrying a green bough in his hand, the whole appearing like a moving wood; and thereby obtaining a confirmation of their ancient privileges”. The Association of Men of Kent & Kentish Men confirm this on their website with the boundaries of Kent as those set at the time of their founding in 1897. Some have extended this criteria to residence rather than birth and in the spirit of equality embraced Maids of Kent and Kentish Maids. The now defunct Kent Resources website used pubs to confirm these definitions – the “Kentish Man” at Dunks Green near Maidstone and the “Kentish Rifleman” are west of the Medway, whilst the Man of Kent in Ashford is east of the river. However further research suggests that this was not always the case.
Charles Henry Fielding, writing in 1893 gives a couple of definitions. First that a Man of Kent is born between the Stour and the sea, all others being Kentish Men, which would give quite an imbalance of one over the other. Whilst an alternative opinion was that a Kentish Man was born in Kent, but not of Kentish parents, but a Man of Kent was born in Kent to Kentish parents.
Dr Pegge back in the early eighteenth century had noted a number of different definitions. He thought that a Man of Kent was a term of high honour, whilst Kentish Man denoted an ordinary person. But he had read of other sources that defined men of west Kent as Men of Kent and those of east Kent as Kentish Men, the exact opposite of the modern thinking. He also mentions another source who claims that the term Men of Kent should be used only for those who were natives of the Weald of Kent.
Another interesting theory is expounded in an article on the Medway Memories website which suggests an ancient boundary marked by stones and remembered especially in the Rainham Mark. This may be the correct dividing line for Kent, rather than the River Medway.
It seems the more you look into these definitions, the more the waters become muddied, and can even result in analysing how different inhabitants of Kent are referred to in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. In the end, as many have found before, it is probably wise to return to a quote from Dr. Pegge that the terms probably involve “a distinction without a difference”.
Sources
Dictionary in the Vulgar Tongue, Francis Grose (1811)
Memories of Malling and Its Valley, Charles Henry Fielding (1893)
Alphabet of Kenticisms and Collection of Proverbial Sayings Used in Kent, Samuel Pegge (1736)
The Association of Men of Kent & Kentish Men website http://www.amkkm.org.uk/
Medway Memories website www.medwaymemories.co.uk/?page_id=278
Kenticisms 