Grunting swine

This is how Thomas Larkham, 1650s minister, described his Tavistock congregation: 'dogs, snarling curs, swine, grunting swine, serpents, vipers, devils, rogues, ragged rogues, rascals, scabs, ninnihammers, purguinions, fools, squint-eyed fools, sons of witches, knaves, a pack of knaves, the devils dishclouts …’. Asked by the Committee for Sequestration in Exeter to explain what he meant by 'ninnhimmer’, Larkham said it referred to one who was ‘nine times worse than a cuckold.’ Larkham's sermons would reguarly go on for four hours. Some of his congregation complained ‘they were even ready to vomit when they heard some of it spoken.’