Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1860-07-17
Obsolete Modes Of Punishment.

Obsolete Modes of Punishment
TnE WooDEN UoxsR-Captain Grose in hia
Military Antiquities" gives us some account
of the wooden horse. IL was formed Of planks
nailed together and shaped 80 as to roughly im
tate tho form Of n horse. the panks Of which it
composed being beveled of At the part rep
rescntine tho back, 40 M to form il into a sharp
ridge. !. was generally eight or nine feet long.
and to complete the resemblance n tail and head
added Tho body was supported on four
slrn ght legs, about six or seven feet high which
were framed into II w",den platform below. and
the whole machine was supported on four small
wheels Riding this horse was military pun
ishmcnt usually adopted in infantry regiments.
because the infantry soldiers were accustomed to
riding. The unfortunate sufferer was placed ON
the horse with his hands tied behind him. md To
increase his torture, muskcts were frequently fas
teucd to his legs, which. in the coarse and un-
feeling witicism oi the day, were said to be iur
the purpose Of preventing the h ,rse from throw
ing him of. Sir Walter Scott nlludes To this pun
ishmcnt in the fourth chapter # his novel "Od
Mortality" where Halliday snys. "Wc'l have Linn
t, the guardhouse and teach him to II lie the colt
f. acd of nm acorn, with brace Of carhnes at each
foot Ia ksep him steady"
TnE GANrFiorr This was nlso u military
punishment. and wns commonly administered ior
theft. II wns practised in two wnys. In one
which called tunning the gantelopc or ganlet
tho regiment WINS formed six deep, the ranks
olcned and faced inward, and each man being
provided with IA switch. the offender NH krd to tho
waist, was passed between tho ranks, preceded by
n sergeant carrying hnlbort reversed. tho point
OF which poised that if the cnlprl moyel
too quickly through the ranks he would run
AGAINST the puH,t AS he thus passed. each sci.
der gave him stripe; this method wna, however.
found inconvcnent, aud the other was. in sol4sr.
quence adopted. THIS consisted in tying the ul-
Nal hUlI, hn;,
form of pyramid, md the iorrlh across ~ IA. 10
keep the offender ON the outside. The regiment
then filed off and cat Of nine tails being placed
in the hands of the first man, he gave the culprlt
stripe in passing, and lavng down the pass-
ei on. The next soldier took up the cat and
peateh the operation, and So On, till the offender
had received lash from every man IN the regi-
mnnt. This practice, however, was thought to
degrade the soldiers, M it converted them into
executioners, and it too was given up for thu
more modern practice Of noSging hy drum
mers
The PIcKET.-Tbis was II punishment usually
inflicted in tho cavalry and artillery. post be-
ing driven into the ground. and II stool placed
alongside of it, the currit was made to mount
the stool, and n nose being thrown around one OF
his wrists, he WINS hosted up t'.nt he could
barely touch the stool with his feet. A stump,
rather higher than tho stool. was driven
into the ground alongside of the post and the
top of this stump was dressed to n rather blunt
poin,. The stool being removed the naked heel
of the criminal placed on the point of the
stump, which, although il did not break the
skin, yet caused in short time most intolera-
bic pain from which the poor sufferer had no 9th,
re means of relieving himself than by swinging
himself upward. 40 as to bear the whole weight II
his body upon tho wrist, and this created pnin
which was equally intolerable. Tho length If time
usually allotted to this punishment was fifteen
minutes, although it was sometimes continued for
n much longer perod. The serious conseq cnccs,
however which sometimes re, a ted from this bar.
barious mode Of punishment. cansed it's discon-
tinunnce lt was very extensively employed in
Ireland during the rebellion of 1893. by tho agents
of tho British Government upon any Of the insur
gents who had the misfortune to fall into their
hands.
Captain Grose saws that only one corporal pun.
ishment coulJ DO inflicted upon officer. This
boring the tongue with hot iron for blasphc-
my. The punishment remained in force in the
reign Of Queen Anne.
TmE DRrNKARD'- CtoAK-In the days of the
English Commonwealth the magistrates Of New
caslc,npon. Tyne punished drunkard- by making
them carry n tub called the drunkard's cpak.-
Ire, the reader imagine a common bnrrel with the
top knocked out. \ hole is bored in the bottom
large enougl. to nImit q mans head tn pass
through and in the si'les Of the barrel, md oppo
site 10 each other, two additional holes are cut,
barrel then being inverted upon the drunkardand
his head and arms being passed through the
aperture'. he was said to DO invested with the
drunkard's cloak, and was condemned to walk
through the streets Of the town during Pc
riod proportioned to the grossness Of the Of
fense.
THE DccxiNo SrooL on TRuMBELL.-This wa. u
punishment for scoldine, noisy women. 1t
sisted Of long bar made 10 turn horizontally
about it's middle point upon an upright post fixed
firmly in the ground, and arranged that one
end Of it. 70 which u chair was fixed, might
be swung over q sheet Of water. The vixen was
fastened in the chair, the bar turned and the
chair and woman dipped into the water; and the
operation twas repeated as often was thought
necessary for O punishment Of the offence This
was formerly the punishment in almost every
country town in Cheshire and Lancashire Eng
land,) and was not abolished in Liverpool until
l776 .a..-