> But a sough doesn't necessarily have to be anything
> whatever to do with a mine. A field drain, of the cut and
> cover variety, is also a sough (at least in N. Derbyshire).
And something similar in Manchester, at least in 1832. A pamphlet
written in the aftermath of the cholera epidemic of that year says of
"Little Ireland":
> A portion of low, swampy ground, liable to be frequently
> inundated, and to constant exhalation, included between
> a high bank over which the Oxford Road passes and a bend
> of the river Medlock, where its course is impeded by a weir.
> ... The soughs are destroyed, or out of repair; and these
> narrow abodes are in consequence always damp, and
> are frequently flooded to depth of several inches, because
> the surface water can find no exit.
Sough is given four entries in the Shorter OED, one of which is (1) A
boggy or swampy place; a small pool. (2) A drain, sewer, trench 1440.
(3) An adit of a mine 1619.
Stephen Benham
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