A swamp, mire or marshy place. Particularly associated with those places where soft,wet ground presents a significant obstacle to free movement or even to escape – metaphorically illustrated by the “slough of despond” in which John Bunyan’s hero is bogged down by sin and guilt in “Pilgrim’s Progress”.
See also “Slough“, John Betjeman’s hate poem to the eponymous town.
Etymology
Old English slōh ‘soft, muddy piece of ground’. Uncertain origin
Example locations
- Slough of Firbriggs
The Cabrach, Moray, Scotland - Black Slough
Saxmundham
Entry contributors:
M. Hamilton, Alex Thurley-Ratcliff