A popular corruption of the preceding entry. This alternative form is in fact nonsensical, as muckle is merely a variant of the dialectal mickle ‘a large quantity or amount’.
A Scotch addage, than which nothing in nature is more true‥‘many mickles make a muckle.’
[1793 G. Washington Writings (1939) XXXII. 423]
He said at the close of his address ‘As the Scots say, and they should know, mony a mickle mak's a muckle.’‥As the Scots know, he had quoted the proverb wrongly.
[1940 Huntly Express 19 Jan. 3]
Amelia's mind had gone off at a complete tangent, trying to work out however many Puckles there must be in the firm. The old saw about thrift came into her mind: ‘Many a mickle makes a muckle. ‥’ Could it be a case of many a client making a Puckle?
[1993 ‘C. Aird’ Going Concern (1994) i. 5]
Related to: great and small
Bibliography of major proverb collections and works cited from modern editions is available here.
