William of Orange has had some up till these days bothersom effects on Northern Ireland, but nothing to do with this word I guess. I traced some Dutch etymology of peuteren. Translated the part under the second 'peuteren' to my best possibilities.

Link

'peuteren' verb. Kiliaen peuteren, pöteren stands with the under 'peuren' mentioned pod(d)eren, compare with potersam, 'bothersom , difficult'.
The word formally belongs as iteratief(?) to 'poten', but forms with pöderen a wordgroup with a strong affectif character. - much older than Kiliaen, because in the 12th century colonists have taken the word to the Brandenburger Mark paetern 'to pick fruits beating with a stick; nose picking.
( Teuchert Sprachreste 284 )

( Don't know what you can make of it, Jim.)

Last edited by BranShea; 12/23/09 09:19 PM.