Auld Kirkn.
/ˌɔːld ˈkəːk/, /ˌəʊld ˈkəːk/, U.S. /ˌɔld ˈkərk/, /ˌɑld ˈkərk/, Scottish English /ˌɔld ˈkɪrk/, /ˌold ˈkɪrk/ Scottish.
1. The Church of Scotland; = kirk n. 2. Frequently attributive. Cf. Free Kirk n.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > sect > Christianity > Protestantism > Presbyterianism > Presbyterian sects and groups > [noun] > Free Church > collective
kirk?1566
Auld Kirk1780
Free Church of Scotland1843
Free Kirk1843
free1863
1780 Public Advertiser 14 Apr. Arm'd cap-à-pée—for the Auld Kirk and Cause!
1832 D. P. Whitehead Brit. Reformer's Advocate 188 These two, the one a constitutional, and the other a practical error, are the only two material inconsistencies in the ‘Auld Kirk’.
1865 Free Church of Scotl. Monthly Rec. June 832/1 Dr. Jenkins of Montreal is a valuable addition to the Presbyterian cause, though on the Old Kirk side.
1932 ‘L. G. Gibbon’ Sunset Song Prelude18 The poison of the French Revolution came over the seas and crofters and common folk like that stood up and cried ‘Away to hell!’ when the Auld Kirk preached submission from its pulpits.
2007 Press & Jrnl. (Aberdeen) (Nexis) 2 Jan. 12 The broad Church of Scotland ‘Auld Kirk’ tradition has never been against drink as such, only against drinking to excess.
2. colloquial. Whisky. Chiefly in a drop of the Auld Kirk. Now rare.Probably partly with humorous allusion to the supposed fondness for whisky shown by ministers of the Church of Scotland (whereas ministers of dissenting Churches were better known for their temperance), but perhaps also partly with reference to the fact that the stipends of ministers of the Church of Scotland depended largely on the price of barley, from which whisky is made.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > whisky > [noun]
usquebaugh1581
creature1638
corn-brandy1704
whisky1715
usque1728
spunkiea1796
skreigh1813
the stuff1828
snake poison1842
tanglefoot1860
whisky-straight1864
oil1869
Auld Kirk1884
snake juice1890
screech1902
scat1914
pinch bottle1916
screecham1923
juice1932
malt1967
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > whisky > [noun] > a drink of
smile1839
ball1866
Scotch1883
a drop of the Auld Kirk1884
1884 Aberdeen Weekly Jrnl. 25 Oct. He thought he could hardly live without a drop of the ‘Auld Kirk’.
1893 Dundee Courier & Argus 30 May 3/5 The minister came home to dinner so excited and elated that his wife seriously suspected her goodman had been partaking rather too freely of the ‘Auld Kirk’.
1947 G. Blake Five Arches 217 I suppose you're up to the back teeth in tea. What about a drop of the Old Kirk?
1997 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 16 May 15 The old moderate liked the armed forces, a drop of the auld kirk, and sat broad and easy to doctrines and regulations.
Derivatives
ˌAuld ˈKirker n. a member or supporter of the Church of Scotland; = Kirker n.; cf. Free Kirker n. at Free Kirk n. Derivatives.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > sect > Christianity > Protestantism > Presbyterianism > [noun] > person
disciplinarian1591
disciplinary1593
consistorian1606
Presbyterian1606
kirkmana1645
presbyter1647
presbyterial1647
Presbyterialist1647
Kirker1651
Kirkist1652
whiggamore1654
Whig1657
scaldabancoa1670
cloak-man1680
Presbyteera1708
Knoxian1714
blue skin1790
Auld Kirker1856
bluenose1861
1856 Rambler Jan. 53 The Free Kirkers, who could not take these things from the old Kirkers, formed themselves into a new Kirk.
1857 Bradford Observer 19 Nov. 4/3 Free Kirkers and Auld Kirkers alike, all were sucked into the vortices of this pestilent heresy.
1948 M. Walsh Damsel Debonaire iv. 103 ‘I'd have you know I'm a staunch Auld Kirker,’ said Sandy huffily.
1999 A. C. Cheyne Stud. in Sc. Church Hist. iv. 80 Whatever post-Disruption Auld Kirkers might make of other dignitaries of the Free Church, they united to honour..‘dear old Chalmers’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2017; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1780