The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1911-07-06
DUCKING A SCOLD
A Custom Quite Popular at One
Time In This Country.
WOMEN ALWAYS THE VICTIMS.

! II Colonial Days Ouckis9 otoo'a "o'S
Common In Maryland, In Virginia
the Penalty Was Often inflicted, and
Georgia sinned as Late as 1919.
Nowadays II q woman forms the
habits of talking too loud and too long
or insists upon saying unpleasant
things In wrong places and at wrong
seasons there are several things which
may happen to her. Ii she Is person
of some social standing her husband
NAV get divorce. or II she belongs
In one of the lower strata he may
leave her without that little Formally.
~ she makes life too unbearable for
the neighbors she may possibly be ar
rested and fined II she lives in Eng
land and interrupts the proceedings OF
parliament calls names, chases olgnl-
taries to cover whenever they show
themselves In public and knocks on
policemen's helmets she Is called sur
fragette and sometimes imprisoned
But even the most "obstinateiy Oppro-
brious and virulent woman" to quote
the stately Addison, may be confident
that she will escape the punishment
melted out to her sister Of old What
ever happens, she won't be sentenced
to the ducking stool. In many ways
modern life Is tame and lacking In
dramatic incident for a self assertive
lady, and even the English suffragettes
complain that they are not taken Sc
J riously enough.
No such claim could have been made
In the past, say between the fifteenth
and eighteenth centuries. when Far
more rigid views prevailed on the sub
iect of feminine self repression. In
those days magistrates were unani-
nous In the conviction that "meekness
is We chojsest ointment for woman
and II was held a crime to speak dis
cornfully" of those in authority. civil
| or ecclesiastical. woman must not
even indulge In too great freedom OF
speech In the privacy Of her own home
and neighborhood. Sometimes she did,
and then she was attended to in SIM
pie yet spectacular manner.
She was bound securely to stout
chair firmly fixed to the end Of long
beam, arranged to work up and down
on the principle of the seesaw. on
the edge OF a river or pond. On the
! bank at the other end a man worked
the contriyance by means of strong
chain, and she was given ducking.
which lasted until justice was salts
fed or reform was promised. the popu-
lace OF course gathering In large mum
bers to assist at the function.
In England the practice was 80 gen.
eral that each town mad Its ducktng
pond conveniently located where petty
offenders of various kinds were disci-
plined. The pond for the western part
Of London was what is now portion
of Trafalgar square, ~Charing Cross
Many Of the old ducking stools are
still In existence as curiosities. In the
days of their activity they were kept
In the church porches, where they
doubtless pointed moral as to the
naughty spirit which goeth before a
fall.
The first colonists brought the insti-
tuition to this country. although 1t new
er iourished In New England. In fact,
there are no authentic records Of the
actual use of the ducking stool In
these colonies. although number OF
women were sentenced to be so pun
ished They had, however. other meth
DDS of treatment for ladies' Of a shrew-
ish disposition, one of these being
the wearing of cleft stick upon the
tongue.
the custom was quite popular. In the
seventeenth century ducking stools
were In every county in Maryland, and
In ITS one was placed at the conflu-
ence of the Ohio and Monongahela riy-
ers. In Virginia the penalty was often
employed, and In 1884 Thomas Hart
ly Of that colony wrote. 1t Ii said, to
Governor Endicott of Massachusetts,.
giving a detailed account of ducking
administered to lone Betsey. wife of
John Tucker. who by violence of her
tongue had made his home and ye
neighborhood uncomfortable" After
describing the machine he adds: Eye
rope was slackened by ye officer. and
ya woman was allowed to 60 down
under We water for ye space of half q
minute Betsey had stout stomach
and would not yield until she had al.
lowed herself to be ducked Ave SEVERAL
times" After she promised to ''sin no
more" Betsey was united and allowed
to walk home In her wetted clothes.
hopefully pcnitent woman"
The ducking stool prevailed longer
in America than In England. In the
old country 1t does not seem to have
been used later than 1909. but in Geor-
gia women were ducked for scolding
as late as 1919. 1t Is interesting to
note that In 1924 woman In Phila-
delphia was sentenced to be ducked.
but the decree was not carried out, as
1t was deemed obsolete and contrary
to the spirit of the times" A writer
on colonial customs states that one Of
the last indictments for ducking In
this country was that Of Mrs. Anne
Royal In Washington. a lobbyist, who
became 80 abusive to congressman
that she was indicted as a common
scold before Judge william Cranch
and was sentenced by him to be duck
ed in the Potomac. She was. howev-
er. not subjected to the ducking indig-