Sankeyn.
/ˈsaŋki/, U.S. /ˈsæŋki/, Caribbean English /ˈsaŋki/ 1. A person likened to Ira David Sankey, esp. a revivalist or evangelical singer; a talented singer, esp. of hymns.In early use frequently collocated with Moody used in a similar sense, with reference to Dwight L. Moody (1837–99), a revivalist preacher with whom Sankey worked closely.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > singer > singer of church music > [noun]
Sankey1874
1874 Glasgow Herald 12 Oct. 4/2 Young Moodys and Sankeys must begin by doing without the ministers.
1880 C. Ives Isles of Summer (Illustr. ed.) iv. 73 A sacred waltz was sometimes performed by ‘Sankey’ and his cousin, two little dots of children.
1892 S. Grundy Haddon Hall ii. i. 27 My name it is McCrankie, I am lean an' lang an' lanky, I'm a Moody an' a Sankey, Wound upo' a Scottish reel!
1918 W. Fetler in Good News for Russia 127 I had no Sankey with me, and as for my own gift in that direction, why I haven't any.
1982 in J. A. Holm & A. W. Shilling Dict. Bahamian Eng. He's a sankey.
2.
a. A hymn or gospel song written or performed by Ira David Sankey. Later also more generally (Caribbean): a hymn or religious song.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > church music > hymn > [noun]
hymnc825
psalmeOE
lof-songeOE
canticlea1325
cantic1483
Te Deum1679
hymnica1834
Yigdal1845
spiritual1858
Sankey1887
kirtan1898
bhajan1914
Hare Krishna1968
1887 Mag. Music June 61/2 The other day two men—how my heart broke over them!—sang a Sankey with noble rendering.
1975 N. Harrigan & P. Varlack Virgin Islands Story 108 A typical prayer meeting would last from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Those attending would sing ‘Sankeys’, give testimony, and ‘get the spirit’.
2016 K. Miller Augustown (2017) viii. 79 We don't have to wait and wait and wait and sing Sankey till we dead. Dat time is now on de horizon.
b. A book containing religious songs written or compiled by Ira David Sankey. Now Caribbean.Used esp. of various editions of the two anthologies Sacred Songs and Solos (first published in 1873) and Gospel Hymns and Sacred Songs (first published in 1875), of which the latter also contained gospel hymns by Philip Paul Bliss (1838–76).
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > book (general) > music books > [noun] > hymnary > type of
square book1537
Sankey1906
society > leisure > the arts > music > written or printed music > [noun] > music book > church music > hymnbook > type of
square book1537
Sankey1906
1906 M. Higgs Glimpses into Abyss ii. 133 There was a ‘Sankey’ on the piano, and I played a few tunes as well as I could without spectacles.
1925 Workman (Panama City, Panama) 20 June 5/5 A few of the ladies who went on the trip wished they had taken their Sankeys with them.
1929 M. W. Beckwith Black Roadways 163 And I dreamt that I saw an angel, and he bids me get a Bible and a Sankey and a rod with a double fold.
1941 Ira D. Sankey Centenary (Lawrence County Hist. Assoc.) 25 The small cabinet organ which Mr Sankey used as an accompaniment to his voice, was referred to in Scotland as the ‘Kist O'Whistles’ and his song books as the ‘Little Sankeys’.
2017 Hymn Spring 27/2 Affectionately called the Sankey, this collection has been embraced by young and old alike across the Caribbean.
Phrases
Jamaican colloquial. no Sankey nuh sing so and variants: used to express the view that something is ridiculous, nonsensical, or untrue.
ΚΠ
1990 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 22 Aug. 6/2 He and the Government need to come to the realization that not even a candle and a sankey can lead us out of this mess... ‘Noh sah, no sankey noh sing soh!’
2013 thesilverpeopleheritage.wordpress.com 2 Jan. (blog, Internet Archive Wayback Machine 19 May 2013) During the vibrant days of Panama's West Indian presence, there was a popular saying whenever someone questioned the veracity of what someone else was saying. Their tart response to the liar's statement was ‘No Sankey Doan Sing So.’
2020 @Islangirl4life 28 Aug. in twitter.com (accessed 19 Oct. 2020) #nocredibility you can't even clean one room but you want the job fi clean one whola house. No sankey nuh sing so...
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2021; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1874