ruddleman

English

Alternative forms

• raddleman, reddleman

Etymology

From ruddle +‎ -man. First appears in print in 1622, possibly coined by Michael Drayton.

Noun

ruddleman (plural ruddlemen)

1. Someone who deals in ruddle (red ochre), usually itinerant and red-stained
   • 1622, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion, song 23:

     And little Rutlandshire is tearmed Raddleman.

   • 1878, Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native, page 9:

     The traveller with the cart was a reddleman - a person whose vocation was to supply farmers with redding for their sheep.

References

• The Poly-Olbion project