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I'm not sure I agree that a putter and a cartman ar the same thing. From a purely lexical point of view I believe a putter ’pushed’ tubs. From about the 12th century the word put, meaning to push or shove, was in common use. By the time the 16th century came around its meaning had been extended to include the meanig throw or hurl. It’s obsolete today but lives on to a degree in the highland sport of ’putting the shot’ and in the golfing terms ’put/putter’. Even our everyday word ’put’, meaning to place something in a certain position, has the same roots: Old English putian, Middle English potte. The word putter is in evidence very often in the early 19th century with the meaning ”one who throws (a stone or heavy weight)” and as early as 1743 for a type of golf club. To me it seems logical to extend its use to one who pushes/shoves coaltubs. Also, I’ve never heard of a coaltub being referred to as a cart. We need HPW on this one!!

A cartman was simply a colliery worker who drove a horse and cart either underground or above ground whenever transport was needed for goods, equipment or even workers. From my own experience, I remember 'Tommy the coalman' in Netherton Colliery in the fifties. Miners, then, received an allowance of free coal and my father's allowance was delivered to us, and everybody else in Netherton, by horse & cart driven by Tommy the coalman as he was known to everybody. My father, however, had earlier worked with Tommy underground where Tommy was a cartman. Lung problems forced Tommy to exchange underground work at the colliery for above ground work - still employed by the colliery. Delivering the coal allowance then became a major part of his work. My father never referred to him as Tommy the coalman. To him Tommy was always Tommy the cartman.

@Margaret Daley it is afer to pass on personal details etc. to members via the 'Message' system at the top of page. You should ask the Admin ie. @Andy Millne to remove your comment with your email address in and 'Message' @Canny lass