Madam,– Referring to Eugene O’Malley’s memory of the Boodeyman in Co Tipperary (June 11th), I can confirm that this pronunciation was also standard in west Cork in the 1960s. I have never seen it written until now, but I always thought of it as two words with the stress on the second word, “man”. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The character known as the Bogeyman, Boodeyman, etc, dates back much earlier than the Napoleonic Wars.
He is found, in various guises, in just about every culture throughout the world. When I lived in Wales, I heard about the Bwgan, a sort of malevolent hobgoblin. Linguists suggest a common origin with the Irish pooka and the Slavonic bogu. Given that the Slavonic word for God is Bog, I suspect that this character may be, quite simply, a higher authority referred to by harassed parents when they wish their children to behave themselves. – Yours, etc,