sb., a., and adv. [UP a. and prep.2]
As adv. and adj. the phrase is current in English dialects (cf. quot. 1688), but the general 19th-century use originated partly in India and partly in the United States; from c. 1875 it has also been employed in, or with reference to, Australia, South Africa, etc.
1. sb. † a. An uplying or inland district. Obs.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. 352/2. A Pit Saw in a Frame … is not in use with us, but in the Up Countreys.
b. The inland part of a country.
Used without article, or with the.
(a) 1837. [Mrs. Maitland], Lett. fr. Madras (1843), 110. I continue to like ‘up country,’ as they call it, far better than the Presidency.
1888. [D’Avigdor], Antipod. Notes, v. 30. Thousands from up-country make their annual business visit to the capital.
1897. P. Warung, Tales Old Régime, 162. To say good-bye before leaving for up-country.
(b) 1872. De Vere, Americanisms, 163. The nearest districts became early known … as the Up Country.
1894. Cent. Mag., April, 849. Later generations in the up-country have applied the word to the products of corn after cooking.
2. adj. Situated in, belonging or relating to, etc., the inland part of a country.
1835. Macaulay, in Trevelyan, Life (1876), I. 406. Any [library] which would be readily accessible at an up-country station [in India].
1861. Clough, Mari Magno, 29. What racy tales of Yankeeland he had! Up-country girl, up-country farmer lad.
1874. Ranken, Domin. Australia, xiii. 237. The ‘up-country store-keeper’ … sells everything wholesale or retail.
1884. Health Exhib. Catal., p. xliii. Models … of European up-country bungalows, and … of a bazaar in an up-country town.
3. adv. In or to the inland part of a country.
1864. Trevelyan, Compet. Wallah, 31. A young couple going to an appointment up-country.
1889. ‘J. S. Winter,’ Mrs. Bob, iii. Whilst we were up-country,… we met Colonel Coles.
1891. Kipling, Light that Failed, ii. I’m going up-country with a column.
