a. A bumble-bee. (Applied to the Tyneside artilleryman.) b. A blunderer.
1847–78. Halliwell, Bumbler. A humble bee. North.
1863. Robson, Bards of Tyne, 108. You’ll fight your battles o’er your pipe … You blue tail bumbler.
1881. Mrs. L. Linton, My Love, III. 244. He is a bit of a bumbler when all is said and done.
