The Scavenger's daughter was a type of torture device invented during the reign of King
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
.
History
The Scavenger's Daughter (or Skevington's Daughter) was invented as an instrument of torture in the reign of
Henry VIII by Sir
Leonard Skevington,
Lieutenant of the Tower of London
The Lieutenant of the Tower of London serves directly under the Constable of the Tower. The office has been appointed at least since the 13th century. There were formerly many privileges, immunities and perquisites attached to the office. Like the ...
, a son of
Sir William Skeffington
Sir William Skeffington (c. 146531 December 1535) was an English knight who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland.
Early life
William Skeffington was born in Skeffington Hall, Leicestershire, the eldest son of Thomas Skeffington by his wife, Mar ...
(died 1535),
Lord Deputy of Ireland, and of his first wife, Margaret Digby.
The device consisted of a metal rack shaped into an A-frame; the victim's head was strapped to the top point of the A, the hands at the midpoint, and the legs at the lower spread ends. The frame could fold, swinging the head down and forcing the knees up into a sitting position, compressing the body so as to force blood from the nose and ears.
The Scavenger's Daughter was conceived as the perfect complement to the
Duke of Exeter's Daughter (the
rack
Rack or racks may refer to:
Storage and installation
* Amp rack, short for amplifier rack, a piece of furniture in which amplifiers are mounted
* Bicycle rack, a frame for storing bicycles when not in use
* Bustle rack, a type of storage bi ...
) because it worked according to the opposite principle - by compressing the body rather than stretching it.
The best-documented use is that on the Irishman Thomas Miagh, charged with being in contact with rebels in Ireland. It may be in connection with the Scavenger's Daughter that Miagh carved on the wall of the Beauchamp Tower in the Tower of London, "By torture straynge my truth was tried, yet of my libertie denied. 1581. Thomas Miagh."
Another victim of the Scavenger's Daughter was
Thomas Cottam, an English Catholic priest and martyr from
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 Lancash ...
, who suffered it twice in the 1580s before being released. Cottam would eventually be executed in 1582 during the reign (1558-1603) of Henry's daughter,
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...
. Likewise, on 10 December 1580, the priest
Luke Kirby
Luke Farrell Kirby (born June 29, 1978) is a Canadian actor. In 2019, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for his guest role as Lenny Bruce on the television series ''The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel''.
Early life
Kirby was born in Hamilton, Ontario, to ...
was subjected to it.
Challoner, Richard. ''Memoirs of Missionary Priests'', Thomas Richardson & son, 1843, p. 110
/ref>
The Scavenger's Daughter is also known as Skevington's gyve
A shackle (or shacklebolt), also known as a gyve, is a U-shaped piece of metal secured with a clevis pin or bolt across the opening, or a hinged metal loop secured with a quick-release locking pin mechanism. The term also applies to handcuffs ...
s, as iron shackle, as the Stork (as in Italian ''cicogna'') or as the Spanish A-frame. Further it is known as Skevington's daughter, from which the more commonly known folk etymology using " Scavenger" is derived. There is a Scavenger's daughter on display in the Tower of London museum
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
.
See also
* ''Captain's daughter'', referring to the naval Cat o' nine tails
The cat o' nine tails, commonly shortened to the cat, is a type of multi-tailed whip or flail that originated as an implement for severe physical punishment, notably in the Royal Navy and British Army, and as a judicial punishment in Britain ...
Notes
Sources
* Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the '' Encyclopædia Britannica''. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. S ...
, "Duke of Exeter's Daughter".
{{commons category, Scavenger's daughter
English inventions
European instruments of torture
Modern instruments of torture