The problem this addresses arises from the fact that "gh" is no longer
sounded in English. It was once a hard version of the "ch" in the Scottish
"loch". Its disappearance has meant that the pronunciation of words using
it varies widely:
enough - enuff
Though - tho
through - throo
Thorough - thoru in English but (I think) thorow in American English
ought - ort
This is presumably a change since Samuel Johnson codified the orthography of
English. It is thus hardly surprising that the English should say suff and
the Americans sow: both are correct in their own lands.
The origins of the sough are considerably earlier than the first (or first
identified one) in Derbyshire: see John Hatcher's book on coalmining
identifies a few medieval examples. My article on Black Country Mining in
Mining History 16(6) identifies an example there from 1564.
Peter King
49, Stourbridge Road,
Hagley,
Stourbridge
West Midlands
DY9 0QS
01562-720368
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-----Original Message-----
From: mining-history [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
sougher
Sent: 25 January 2009 20:54
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Sough
Most definately in Derbyshire pronounced "suff". The earliest one at
Cromford being driven from 1631 and 1651 by Sir Cornelius Vermuyden to the
Gang mines, and the last large one, Magpie sough being driven from
1873-1881, lock gates were installed and a boat was used in it, it
discharges into the river Wye upstream from Ashford-in-the-Water. The tail
became blocked by a fall in spring 1963 and a back up of water built up
which resulted in 1966 with the "tail" blowing out which caused a landslip
and almost blocked the river Wye. Peak District Mines Historical Society in
1973 reopened the sough by constructing a new sough tail. The longest one
was Hillcarr sough, approximately four and a half miles long, driven from
1766 it took twenty one years in construction and cost around £32,000. The
sough tail (a beautiful gritstone arch) on is on the west bank of the river
Derwent at Darley Dale and the sough was driven westwards beneath Stanton
Moor to Guy Vein at Alport, the furthest mine it dewaters is the Mawstone
Mine at Youlgreave. There are now problems in the area caused by blockages
in the sough.
Briefly, most people must be aware that soughs are drainage levels or adits
driven from the lowest point of a valley, horizontal into a hillside to
dewater mines often discharging into a stream or river, sometimes they were
used as pumpways. The driving of soughs greatly changed the water table
in the Peak District. Nellie Kirkham in her book "Derbyshire Lead Mining
Through the Centuries" (1968) worked out that the gradient of the "sole" ie.
the floor, of the sough was about ten feet in a mile. The partners of the
Company that paid for the cost of the work were mainly composed of the lead
merchants and smelters of the lead field who were in turn called
"Adventurers", the men who drove the soughs were called "soughers". Much
money could be made or lost during the construction of a sough and monies
were paid to the company driving the sough by all the mines which received
water easement from it (see "Lead and Lead Mining in Derbyshire by Arthur H.
Stokes), therefore, if no mines were encountered whilst driving a sough no
monies were paid and a loss was incurred. In my youth living back in Derby
if people gambled their money away it was said that "they'd thrown their
money down a sough!", it was a very common expression. At grammar school
we had an English teacher (from the south) who said that all Derbyshire
people were born with a "plum" in their mouths, i.e. spoke with a broad "u",
and it was her mission in life to iron this broad (i.e. northern) sound from
our speech. I think she succeeded with some of us.
Margaret Howard
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