pudding

1556 that neyther man nor woman frome hensfurthe washe anye clothes, woole, puddynges ... in the waver, Wakefield

1632 A paine laid that noe man woman or child shall wash any puddings Fish Cloathes or any other filthy thing above the washing stone, Burton Agnes. The washed stomach or entrail of an animal was used to hold mixtures of minced meat, oatmeal, suet and seasoning which were then boiled to produce dishes that were called puddings. Henry Best’s servants were fed such preparations: 1642 Wee sende for the folkes puddings a bushell of barley, but neaver use any Rye for puddings because it maketh them soe soft that they runne aboute the platters, Elmswell. The research of Peter Brears has introduced us to many varieties of pudding, for example, Herbe-Pudding and Kidney Puddings in 1683

Carrot Pudding in 1735 and Colliflower Pudding in 1741. The meaning of pudding has expanded over the centuries, reflecting developments in food preparation. From the twelfth century, Pudding was actually a common by-name. In 1275 Johannes Pudding played an active role in a serious affray at Stainland and in 1301, 3s 4d tax was paid at Lythe cum Sandesend ... de Willelmo Puddinge. It was also a common first element in minor place-names, linked with –bag, –dike, –hall, –hill and –poke. Smith listed the names but in most cases offered no meaning: John Field suggested convincingly that Puddyngholm in Cambridgeshire was a reference to ‘soft, sticky land’, presumably having in mind the consistency of a soft, boiled pudding, not one of the early savoury puddings. That interpretation might also apply to place-names with a similar generic, such as –acre, –field, –hole, –mead, –meadow and –patch, but it cannot explain ‘Pudding Bag’ or ‘Pudding Poke’. The latter is the most popular combination in Yorkshire and it is surely a name for an enclosure which resembled a pudding bag or poke, perhaps an allusion to the shape and tiny point of entry. It is worth noting that in some dialects the wren and the long-tailed tit have ‘pudding poke’ as a nickname, almost certainly because of the shape of their nests.