Just a quick note regarding Oxford English Dictionary definitions of Sough:
There is a noun referring to the sound of wind going back to Chaucer - could
there be a link? - but there are two more suitable noun meanings referring (a)
to a boggy place, traceable back to 1300 and (b) to a gutter or drain going
back to 1440. In 1523, there is a reference to someone making "a sough
underneath therthe as men do to gette cole" and in 1619 to mine adits as "a long
sowgh or scowring place". Manlove is quoted referring to sough in 1653 in
Derbyshire. I get the feeling that an older pronunciation might have been as in SOW
rather than SUFF. If anyone wants more, let me know as I have access to the
OED through a university.
Regards to all,
Nigel Dibben
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