kirk-garth north. dial.
Also 3 (Orm.) kirrkegærd.
[f. kirk n. + garth, an enclosure: cf. Icel. kirkju-garðr, Da. kirkegaard. Cf. also church-garth and kirk-yard.]
Northern English = Churchyard: formerly prevalent from Cumberland to Lincolnshire; now much restricted.
| c 1200 Ormin 15254 To birrȝenn ȝuw i kirrkegærd. a 1300 Cursor M. 27198 In kyrcgarth, chapell or kyrk. 1417 Surtees Misc. (1888) 11 Anent Al Halow Kyrk garth wall on the Pament. 1483 Cath. Angl. 204/1 Kyrkegarthe, cimitorium. 1508 Will in N.W. Linc. Gloss. s.v., My body to be beried in the kirkgarth of our lady of ffrothingham. 1708 T. Ward Eng. Ref. iii. (1710) 18 Crosses In Kirk-Garths, and in Market places. 1785 Hutton Bran New Wark 14 A covetous man trapes to th' kirk-garth on a sunday morning. 1839 Cumbld. & Westmld. Dial. 47 What they see i th Kirk-garth. [In Swaledale Gloss. 1873, Cumbld. Gloss. 1878.] |