The substitution of “Land” for “Lord,” to avoid the appearance of profanity, goes back as far as Ben Jonson (1614), who in his ‘Bartholomew Fair’ introduces that notable character, “Zeal-of-the-land Busy.”
1846. ‘Jedediah,’ said he as soon as he could articulate, ‘for the land’s sake, does my mouth blaze?’—Knick. Mag., xxvii. 18 (Jan.).
1851. “What are they called turnpikes for?” “The land knows!—I don’t.”—Miss Warner, ‘The Wide, Wide World,’ chap. xiv. (N.E.D.)
1854. The fat lady at first says, “Good land!” and then inquires of the fidgety man if he was hurt.—Putnam’s Mag., iii. 85/1 (Jan.).
1888. “Land sakes! Ben Dixon!” came in contemptuous tones from Aunt Ann’s secluded corner. “Thet poor cretur never had the spunk to kill himself.”—Harper’s Weekly, Jan. 21, p. 46/4 (Farmer).
1896. The land knows they talk a plenty even without givin’ ’em anything to talk about.—Ella Higginson, ‘Tales from Puget Sound,’ p. 81.
