There are many meanings to scuttle:
scut[tle1 7skut4‘l8
n.
5ME scutel, a dish < OE < L scutella, salver, dim. of scutra, flat dish6
1 a broad, open basket for carrying grain, vegetables, etc.
2 a kind of bucket, usually with a wide lip, used for pouring coal on a fire: in full coal scuttle

scut[tle2 7skut4‘l8
vi.
3tled, 3tling 5ME scutlen, prob. akin to SCUD6 to run or move quickly; scurry, esp. away from danger, trouble, etc.
n.
a scurry or scamper; hasty flight

scut[tle3 7skut4‘l8
n.
5LME skottelle < MFr escoutille, trapdoor < Sp escotilla, an indentation, hollowing < escote, a notch, tuck, prob. < Goth skauts, seam, border; akin to OE sceat, SHEET16
1 an opening in a wall or roof, fitted with a lid or cover
2 a small, covered opening or hatchway in the outer hull or deck of a ship
3 the lid or cover for any such opening
vt.
3tled, 3tling
1 to make or open holes in the hull of (a ship or boat) below the waterline; esp., to sink in this way
2 to scrap or abandon (a plan, undertaking, etc.)

And on long voyages, many a butt gets scuttled. Some get basckscuttled.

T;he scuttlebutt was a barrel or cask of water that had been opened.
Scuttlebutt was the gossip that centered acround it.
I'm glad you didn't ask for a divinition of backscuttle.

>I'm glad you didn't ask for a divinition

well how about a pronouncement then, oh Second Master of the Divine Typo..

Sounds like scuttlebutt is the precursor to today's gossip heard 'round the water-cooler.

Yeah...what would be a good word derived from that? Coolbuzz?

I wonder if I heard it on the 'grapevine' has a similar origin? ICLIU, but gotta close in a moment.

if I heard it on the 'grapevine' has a similar origin?

Michael Quinion seems pretty confident on this:

http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-gra2.htm

Thanks for that - it does seem a pretty clear and interesting derivation.