Hi, Tis The Other Dorset Liz to stick her tow peneth in...

"Liz, is "puggled" the same as "puddled"? I always assumed it came from the iron-making industry. Puddling was done by poking and stirring the soft iron to remove the impurities (to make "wrought" iron). It was done with a l-o-n-g pole through a small hole in the wall, to protect the puddler from the fierce heat. Large quantities of beer were provided to make up the water that was sweated out. The heat cooked your brain (and the beer probably didn't help), and given that anyone with a ha'p'orth of intelligence would get themselves less unpleasant work, puddlers must have been at the Toc H lamp end of the brightness spectrum.

Of course, I could be wrong ..."

This is an interesting thought, but I find it unlikely as Dorset's never been a major Mettle county, we go in more for Farms, buttons & Stone. & I definately Agree with LTS Dorset has, & I expect always will be rather behind the times (Just Like me *grin*)

The thing about dialect I find is for a longtime you never realise your speeking it, cos to you what you say is just normal...
I've lived in the same house in a middle of nowhere village since I was 18months old (20 odd yrs) & the biggest School I whent to was in Dorchester (the smallest county town in England) 10 miles away, where we almost all spoke with some degree of Dorset Bur or other, so no1 blinked an eyelid when you used words like "gurt" "brimble" "dimpsey" or "Scammy" but then you wander into the wider world & people start getting confuzzled!

as for thee, thou, thy, ect... I dont think I've noticed them perticularly amongst youngsters down here, but then it might simply bee that my ears are used to them I nolonger hear. but one thing I do say is "aye" and "arr" especially before a but, when I plan to disagree, & Again I'd never noticed this till some1 picked me up on it t'other day

~Lizabee (t'other1)