"he thrimbled like a dog in a wet sack"

brilliant!

Sounds like Bride to me, FW. The way she appeared in the middle of the fire, and also the connection with holy wells.

No need for translation! I'm usually quite good at deciphering dialect. Even I had problems with some of this, though:

http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/25868

My neighbours speak a bit like that.