meeting house - From Ulster to America
Source: From Ulster to America: The Scotch-Irish Heritage of American English
Author: Michael Montgomery
Comments: From Ulster to America recounts the lasting impact eighteenth-century settlers from Ulster have made on the development of the English language of the United States. The book documents over 500 vocabulary items contributed to American English by these ‘Scotch-Irish’ settlers. Each ‘shared’ term with its meaning is authenticated by quotations from both sides of the Atlantic. This searchable online version of his book takes its text from the dictionary part of the second edition published by the Ullans Press in 2017.
meeting house, meeting hoose n A building having regular worship in Ulster in the Presbyterian tradition, in the U.S. more generally applied formerly but now confined mainly to Quaker houses of worship. [oed meeting house n 2a, 1632→]
Ulst.:
1737 Murray Letter I hea 20 Pund a Year for being a Clark to York Meeting-House.
1825 Bowden Portaferry Congregation 8 Mr. Sinclair came and poled the Congregation and alowed that Mr. Moreland was fearly elected and allowed him to be our constant suply untill ordaind. Mr. Galaway to prevent that locked the Meeting house and carried away the key—on the prinsaple that his father and Mr. Armstrong took out the joint lease and trust and his father wass the survivor.
1886 Lyttle Ballycuddy 7 A think it wuz a wheen big men aboot the Presbytery that passed the law that ye shudnae play ony sort o’ instrayments in the meetin’-hooses.
1902 McIlroy Druid’s Island 96 Why, she nae sooner got her heid inside the meetin’-hoose do’r than she set aff up the aisle, an’ a ragiment o’ sojers wouldnae hae kep’ her back.
c1910 Byers Glossary = a non-Episcopal place of worship: ‘Does he go to Church?’ ‘No, he goes to the meetin’’.
c1955 Montgomery Heard in Ulster 83 = a Presbyterian church: ‘I’ll see ye at the meetin-hoose the morra’.
1983 Marshall Drumlister 124 Here is their meeting-house, the place / Where Sabbath prayer is made.
2014 Fenton Hamely Tongue 153 = usually a Presbyterian church.
U.S.:
1755 McCullough Journal (12 July) ye fort at ye meting hous Was begun July ye 30.
1794 Big Pigeon Minutes 16 The Members appointed to look out a place for a meeting house.
1801 Osborn Diary (14 Jun) I went with Mr. Aikens & his family to their Mathodist meeting house it was a sasiety meeting.
1856 Elijoy Minutes 89 The Church met at Elijoy meting house & after Sermont they put the sacrement of till the next meting and all other business on the account of Sickness.
1859 Bartlett Americanisms 267 = a place of worship of Methodists, Quakers, etc.
1883 Zeigler and Grosscup Heart of Alleghanies 263 The fields and meadows were vacant; and the mountaineers, observant of the Sabbath, were all within their homely dwellings, or assembled at the meeting-house.
1899 Green Virginia Word-Book 235 = any house of worship.
1961 Medford History Haywood Co 30 Within a few years after the first settlements had been made in this county, two or three little log ’meetin’ houses’ had been built by the Baptist denomination.
