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The son of a shoemaker, Bough received his initial training with a local amateur painter and then spent a short period in London in 1838 where he learnt landscape engraving. In 1845 he worked as a scenery painter at the Theatre Royal in Manchester and in 1848 as a scenery painter in Glasgow. Between 1848 and 1855 he was painting in the area of Cadzow with his close friend the landscape painter Alexander Fraser. In 1855 he moved to Edinburgh and briefly attended the antique class at the Trustees Academy. From the late 1850's he became interested in marine painting often working in Fife. He painted in oils and watercolours and is particularly noted for his watercolour landscapes and his advocacy of a freer, plein air approach to this medium. He was a prolific exhibitor at the RSA Annual exhibitions from 1844 until 1878. He became an Associate Member of the RSA in 1856 and an Academician in 1875.