droke
A narrow valley with steep sides, sometimes with a stream.
I sent Fogarty forward to Foul-weather Droke to prepare for the night; while I walked to Condon Tickle and measured the breadth of it. I then went over Lower Table to the Droke; where I observed much old slot of deer, […]
A thick grove or belt of trees, especially in (and stretching across) a valley.
In passing through a droke of woods they came up with a wigwam which they entered, and took three Indian females, which have since been found to be Mother and her two daughters. These women they brought to their own homes, where they kept them[…]
Where it comes from
As a term for a valley with a stream, or a stream itself, found in various dialects as droke, drock, or drook; in various dialects one or more of those words can also denote other clefts, coves, drainage ditches, and furrows, or part of a plough. Perhaps related to Old Norse or Icelandic drag (“soft slope or valley”).
Adapted from the Wiktionary entry droke (CC BY-SA 4.0).