E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Cog’geshall.
A Coggeshall job. The saying is, that the Coggeshall folk wanted to divert the current of a stream, and fixed hurdles in the bed of it for the purpose. Another tale is that a mad dog bit a wheelbarrow, and the people, fearing it would go mad, chained it up in a shed. (See GOTHAM.)
