Duke Bottomley

One of the old men and farm hands with whom Death as Bill Door becomes friends live somewhere in the Ramtops and occasionally work for such smallholders as Miss Flitworth. They drink scumble, a fermented drink made from apples. Well, mainly from apples. They are weather-beaten and uneducated, simple and uncomplicated but they teach Bill Door a lot about what it is to be human. See also Gabby Wheels and William Spigot.

Duke's name came from his upwardly-mobile parents. They named his brothers 'Earl', 'Squire' and 'King'.