north. dial. Also 3 (Orm.) kirrkegærd. [f. KIRK sb. + 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 ith kirk-garth. [In Swaledale Gloss., 1873, Cumbld. Gloss., 1878.]
