Netties and Bogs

I went with Cheryl to walk her dog yesterday.  The ground was very boggy after all the rain.  Cheryl being an accomplished dog-walker was sporting wellies, but my boots were a bit slippery. 

That started me thinking about bogs this morning as I walked down to the studio.  Do you know the difference between a nettie and a bog?  In the North East, a nettie is a bit more classy than a bog.  The derivation of nettie was first explained to me by an old lady, let's call her Mrs Snowball (because that's her name).  Nettie is short for necessity, and usually refers to an outside toilet belonging to one house.  A bog was originally a block of communal toilets belonging to a group of houses in back-to-back terracing.

When I was a kid we always said bogs for toilets and bog roll for the relevant supplies.  I don't know what the young dudes say now, probably some dreadful Americanism.  I remember one school trip we went to Housesteads Roman fort.  Naturally, the highlight of tour was the Roman bogs.  At that point, the guide interrupted the giggling to ask what the proper word for bogs was.  Eventually someone said lavatory.  She replied "No, posher than that".  The idea that there was a word for bogs that was posher that lavatory totally boggled my mind.  "Posher than lavatory, is that possible?"  The word she was looking for was latrine.

Here is a photo, taken a long time after my school trip, of Aimo and Martin trying the Roman bogs at Housesteads:

Some bogs