CATHOLE

A localism used by early settlers in southern Michigan for very small (usually less than an acre) shallow depressions or holes. The name presumably originated from the characteristic aquatic plant, the cattail, (Typha spp.). Later, the term came to be applied loosely to any shallow boggy or miry depression especially in the till clay plains. These depressions represented minor inequalities in the plains left by the ice sheet and were originally numerous but have been largely obliterated by land clearing and land drainage. The term cathole is also an old colloquialism for a hole or pond, in a stream, or swamp, frequented by catfish.