Slough of Despond

The Slough of Despond (/ˈslaʊ əv dɨˈspɒnd/; "swamp of despair") is a deep bog in John Bunyan's allegory The Pilgrim's Progress, into which the protagonist Christian sinks under the weight of his sins and his sense of guilt for them.

It is described in the text:

Bunyan likely derived some of his images in The Pilgrim's Progress from his own world. In this instance the "Slough of Despond" may have been inspired by Squitch Fen, a wet and marshy area near his cottage in Harrowden, Bedfordshire, which he had to cross on his way to church in Elstow, or "The Souls' Slough" on the Great North Road between Tempsford and Biggleswade.

Allusions in other literature

Slough

Slough (ⁱ/ˈslaʊ/) is a town in Berkshire, England, about 20 miles (30 kilometres) west of central London. It is bisected by the A4 and the Great Western Main Line. In 2011, the population of Slough was 140,200 and the most ethnically diverse in the United Kingdom outside London, with the highest proportion of religious adherents in England.Historically part of Buckinghamshire, Slough is home to the Slough Trading Estate, the largest industrial estate in single private ownership in Europe.

History

The first recorded uses of the name occur as Slo in 1196, Sloo in 1336, and Le Slowe, Slowe or Slow in 1437. It first seems to have applied to a hamlet between Upton to the east and Chalvey to the west, roughly around the "Crown Crossroads" where the road to Windsor (now the A332) met the Great West Road. The Domesday Survey of 1086 refers to Upton, and a wood for 200 pigs, worth £15. During the 13th century, King Henry III had a palace at Cippenham. Parts of Upton Court were built in 1325, while St Mary the Virgin Church in Langley was probably built in the late 11th or early 12th century, though it has been rebuilt and enlarged several times.

Slough (disambiguation)

Slough is a town in Berkshire, England.

Slough may also refer to:

Hydrology

Places

Biology and medicine

Literature

People

See also

Slough (hydrology)

A slough is a wetland, usually a swamp or shallow lake, often a backwater to a larger body of water. Water tends to be stagnant or may flow slowly on a seasonal basis.

In North America, a slough can be a side-channel from or feeding a river, or an inlet or natural channel only sporadically filled with water. An example of this is Finn Slough on the Fraser River, whose lower reaches have dozens of notable sloughs.

References