Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BELL-HOUSE, -HOOSE, n. Any erection containing a bell, including the belfry of a church. In fishermen's sea-taboo usage: a church (Sc. 1950 P. Anson Sc. Fisherfolk 36, e.g. in describing landmarks).Sc. 1708 Records Conv. Burghs (1880) 465:
The convention appointed the burghe of Kirkalde and Kinghorn to visit the harbour and bellhouse.ne.Sc. 1874 W. Gregor Echo of Olden Time 64:
He had recourse to a circumlocution and called . . . the kirk, the bell-hoose.Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 48:
For in his bell-house, David Barclay Ne'er flourished his tow mair starkly.Fif. 1985 Christopher Rush A Twelvemonth and a Day 244:
... kirks were bellhouses (the bells muffled during the herring season in case they scared away the fish), the minister was the man in black or the queer fellow ...