'Swale' is word I think of in terms of nature and the Romantic poets. It's a gorgeous, evocative, fully-developed one-syllable word, Jackie aside . It sounds to my ear like an old-fashioned word, but not obsolete at all--a word like 'dell' and 'copse'--still used but sounding as though from a slower, more pensive time than our too-rushed one. (I just can't imagine the Solitary Reaper thinking, "I'm stressed-out, overworked, underpaid." )

Anyway, yes, I'm familiar with 'swale,' and it holds a place of nostalgic affection in my heart.