Doders Mill
Early-attested site in the Parish of Milcombe
Historical Forms
- molendino Dotardi c.1270 Eynsh
- molendino Dotard 1390 Eynsh
- Dotard Mylle 1414–31 Eynsh
- Dodar Myllys c.1513 Eynsh
- Dodersmyll 1539 Eynsh
Etymology
Doders Mill (lost) is molendino Dotardi c. 1270 Eynsh, molendino Dotard 1390 Eynsh, Dotard Mylle 1414–31 Eynsh, Dodar Myllys c. 1513 Eynsh, Dodersmyll 1539 Eynsh. This is clearly the word dotard , 'simpleton,' used as a nickname, presumably for the miller.The word is not recorded till c. 1386, when it occurs in Chaucer in the Wife of Bath's Prologue. For another mill which takes its name from an uncomplimentary nickname of the miller, v. 181.