![Scottish branks (scold's bridles), Abbot House Dunfermline](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Scottish_branks_%28scold%27s_bridles%29%2C_Abbot_House_Dunfermline.jpg)
A scold's bridle, sometimes called a witch's bridle, a gossip's bridle, a brank's bridle, or simply branks,
was an instrument of punishment, as a form of
public humiliation
Public humiliation or public shaming is a form of punishment whose main feature is dishonoring or disgracing a person, usually an offender or a prisoner, especially in a public place. It was regularly used as a form of judicially sanctioned puni ...
.
It was an iron muzzle in an iron framework that enclosed the head (although some bridles were masks that depicted suffering). A
bridle
A bridle is a piece of equipment used to direct a horse. As defined in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', the "bridle" includes both the that holds a bit that goes in the mouth of a horse, and the reins that are attached to the bit.
Headgear w ...
-bit (or curb-plate), about in size, was slid into the mouth and pressed down on top of the tongue, often with a spike on the tongue, as a compress. It functioned to silence the wearer from speaking entirely, and caused extreme pain and physiological trauma to scare and intimidate the wearer into submission. The scold's bridle was overwhelmingly used on women, often at the request of husbands or other family members.
This prevented speaking and resulted in many unpleasant side effects for the wearer, including excessive salivation and fatigue in the mouth. For extra humiliation, a bell could also be attached to draw in crowds. The wearer was then led around town by a leash.
Origin and purpose
England and Scotland
First recorded in Scotland in 1567, the branks were also used in England and its colonies. The
kirk-sessions and barony courts in Scotland inflicted the contraption mostly on female transgressors and women considered to be rude, nags or
common scold
Common may refer to:
Places
* Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
* Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts
* Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts
* Clapham Common, originally com ...
s.
Branking (in Scotland and the North of England)
[http://www.walsall.gov.uk/museum_history_talk_sheds_light_on_the_scold_s_bridle.htm ] was designed as a
mirror punishment
A mirror punishment is a penal form of poetic justice which reflects the nature or means of the crime in the means of (often physical) punishment as a form of retributive justice—the practice of "repaying" a wrongdoer "in kind".
It can be an a ...
for shrews or scolds—women of the
lower classes
A social class is a grouping of people into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle and lower classes. Membership in a social class can for example be dependent on education, wealth, occupation, inco ...
whose speech was deemed "
riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people.
Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...
ous" or "troublesome"—by preventing them from speaking. This also gives it its other name, 'The Gossip's Bridle'.
It was also used as
corporal punishment for other offences, notably on female
workhouse
In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...
inmates. The person to be punished was placed in a public place for additional humiliation and sometimes beaten. The
Lanark
Lanark (; gd, Lannraig ; sco, Lanrik) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a population of 9 ...
Burgh Records record a typical example of the punishment being used: "Iff evir the said Elizabeth salbe fund
hall be foundscolding or railling … scho salbe sett
he shall situpone the trone in the brankis and be banishit
anished ofthe toun thaireftir
hereafter
The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...
(1653 Lanark B. Rec. 151).
Though primarily used on women, the Burgh Records of Scotland's major towns reveal that the branks were at times used on men as well: "Patrick Pratt sall sit … bound to the croce
ross Ross or ROSS may refer to:
People
* Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan
* Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning
* Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland
Places
* RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...
of this burgh, in the brankis lockit
ranks lockèd (1591 Aberd. B Rec. II. 71) / "He shall be put in the branks be the space of xxiiij houres thairafter" (1559 (c 1650) Dundee B. Laws 19).
When the branks was placed on the "
gossip
Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling.
Gossip is a topic of research in evolutionary psychology, which has found gossip to be an important means ...
er's" head, they could be led through town to show that they had committed an offence or scolded too often. This was intended to
humiliate
Humiliation is the abasement of pride, which creates mortification or leads to a state of being humbled or reduced to lowliness or submission. It is an emotion felt by a person whose social status, either by force or willingly, has just decr ...
them into "repenting" their "riotous" actions. A spike inside the
gag
A gag is usually an item or device designed to prevent speech, often as a restraint device to stop the subject from calling for help and keep its wearer silent. This is usually done by blocking the mouth, partially or completely, or attemptin ...
prevented any talking since any movement of the mouth could cause a severe piercing of the tongue.
When wearing the device, it was impossible for the person either to eat or speak.
Other branks included an adjustable gag with a sharp edge, causing any movement of the mouth to result in laceration of the tongue.
In Scotland, branks could also be permanently displayed in public by attaching them, for example, to the
town cross,
tron
''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action-adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer a ...
or
tolbooth
A tolbooth or town house was the main municipal building of a Scottish burgh, from medieval times until the 19th century. The tolbooth usually provided a council meeting chamber, a court house and a jail. The tolbooth was one of three essen ...
. Then, the ritual humiliation would take place, with the miscreant on public show. Displaying the branks in public was intended to remind the populace of the consequences of any rash action or slander. Whether the person was paraded or simply taken to the point of punishment, the process of humiliation and expected repentance was the same. Time spent in the bridle was normally allocated by the kirk session, in Scotland, or a local magistrate.
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
women were sometimes punished with the branks by the non-Quaker authorities for preaching their religious doctrine in public places.
Jougs
The jougs, juggs, or joggs ( fro, joug, from Latin , a yoke) is a metal collar formerly used as an instrument of punishment in Scotland, the Netherlands and other countries.
Purpose
The jougs was an iron collar fastened by a short chain to a wa ...
were similar in their effect to a
pillory
The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. The pillory is related to the stocks ...
, but did not restrain the sufferer from speaking. They were generally used in both England and Scotland in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The New World
The scold's bridle did not see much use in the
New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...
, though
Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano (; c. 1745 – 31 March 1797), known for most of his life as Gustavus Vassa (), was a writer and abolitionist from, according to his memoir, the Eboe (Igbo) region of the Kingdom of Benin (today southern Nigeria). Enslaved as ...
recorded that it was commonly used to control Virginia
slaves
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
in the mid-18th century.
Escrava Anastacia ("Anastacia the female slave") is a Brazilian
folk saint
Folk saints are dead people or other spiritually powerful entities (such as indigenous spirits) venerated as saints, but not officially canonized. Since they are saints of the "folk", or the ''populus'', they are also called popular saints. Like o ...
said to have died from wearing a punitive iron muzzle.
Historical examples
;Scotland
In 1567, Bessie Tailiefeir (pronounced Telfer) allegedly
slander
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
ed Baillie Thomas Hunter in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, saying that he was using false measures. She was sentenced to be "brankit" and fixed to the cross for one hour.
[Chambers, Robert (1885). ''Domestic Annals of Scotland''. Eddinburgh : W & R Chambers. p. 37.]
;England
Two bridles were bought for use by the magistrates of
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
in the 17th century, but it is not clear what happened to them or even whether they were ever used.
In
Walton on Thames
Walton-on-Thames, locally known as Walton, is a market town on the south bank of the Thames in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Walton forms part of the Greater London built-up area, within the KT postcode and is served by a wide ran ...
,
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
, a replica of a scold's bridle that was stolen in 1965, dated to 1633, is in a dedicated cabinet in the vestry of the
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
, with the inscription "Chester presents Walton with a bridle, To curb women's tongues that talk too idle."
Oral tradition
Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...
is this Chester lost a fortune due to a woman's gossip, and presented the instrument of restraint or torture out of anger and spite.
[''Mediæval London'' Sir ]Walter Besant
Sir Walter Besant (14 August 1836 – 9 June 1901) was an English novelist and historian. William Henry Besant was his brother, and another brother, Frank, was the husband of Annie Besant.
Early life and education
The son of wine merchant Will ...
: Adam & Charles Black, London; 1906 Vol.1 pp356-35
archive of section
/ref> The church states it came to the parish in 1723 from Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
.[
''Mediæval London'' (1906) named six instances "of branks preserved, I believe, to this day ... at Worcester, Ludlow, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Oxford, Shrewsbury ... Lichfield ... and many other places".][
As late as 1856 such an item was used at ]Bolton-le-Moors
Bolton le Moors (also known as Bolton le Moors St Peter) was a large civil parish and ecclesiastical parish in hundred of Salford in the historic county of Lancashire, England. It was administered from St Peter's Church, Bolton in the township of ...
, Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
.
In fiction
''The Scold's Bridle
''The Scold's Bridle'' (1994) is a crime novel by English writer Minette Walters. The book, Walters' third, won a CWA Gold Dagger.
Synopsis
Mathilda Gillespie, an eccentric recluse known for her incredible meanness of nature, is found dead in h ...
'' is the title of a novel by Minette Walters
Minette Caroline Mary Walters DL (born 26 September 1949) is an English crime writer.
Life and work
Walters was born in Bishop's Stortford in 1949 to Samuel Jebb and Colleen Jebb. As her father was a serving army officer, the first 10 year ...
, where a scold's bridle is a key element in the plot.
In ''Brimstone'' (2016 film) actress Carice van Houten
Carice Anouk van Houten () is a Dutch actress and singer (born 5 September 1976 in Leiderdorp). Her first leading role in the television film '' Suzy Q'' (1999) won her the Golden Calf for Best Acting in a Television Drama; two years later, she ...
is wearing a scold's bridle in some scenes.
See also
* Jougs
The jougs, juggs, or joggs ( fro, joug, from Latin , a yoke) is a metal collar formerly used as an instrument of punishment in Scotland, the Netherlands and other countries.
Purpose
The jougs was an iron collar fastened by a short chain to a wa ...
* Shrew's fiddle
A shrew's fiddle or neck violin is a variation of the yoke, pillory or rigid irons whereby the wrists are locked in front of the bound person by a hinged board or steel bar. It was originally used in the Middle Ages as a way of punishing those w ...
* Stool of repentance
* Slave iron bit
References
External links
*
Bygone Punishments of Scotland by William Andrews 1899 on electricscotland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scold's Bridle
Modern instruments of torture
Physical restraint
European instruments of torture
Violence against women
Punitive masks
Masks in Europe
Torture in Scotland
Torture in England
Women in Scotland
Women in England
Iron objects