Definition of "fuddler"

And the last, I heard of him was, that he was grown a Fudler, and Railer at strict men.

1696, Richard Baxter, edited by Matthew Sylvester, Reliquiæ Baxterianæ, or, Mr. Richard Baxters narrative of the most memorable passages of his life and times‎, London: T. Parkhurst, et al, Book 1, Part 1, p. 4

“Owd Roddle” is a broken-down village fuddler, in Smallbridge; perpetually racking his brains about “another gill.”

1855, Edwin Waugh, Sketches of Lancashire Life and Localities‎, London: Whittaker, page 113

New York: Viking, 1967, Part 3, p. 569,text=Sing: Old Finncoole, he’s a mellow old saoul when he swills with his fuddlers free!

1939 May 4, James Joyce, Finnegans Wake, London: Faber and Faber Limited; republished London: Faber & Faber Limited, 1960,