The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1912-12-25
DUCK|NC A SCOLD
A Custom Quite Popular at One
Time In This Country.
WOMEN ALWAYS THE VICTIMS.

Nowadays X 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 a person
Of some social standing her husband
may get a divorce. or IL she belongs
in one Of the lower strata he may
leave her without that little formality.
II 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 digni-
taries to cover whenever they show
themselves in public and knocks of
policemen's helmets she is called a SUI
fragette and sometimes imprisoned.
But even the most 'obstinately 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 s%ufragettes
complain that they are not taken Sc
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
ject Ut feminine self repression In
those days magistrates were unani-
is ye chojsest ointment for a woman"
and 1t was held a crime to speak dis
cornfully" Of those in authority. civil
or ecclesiastical A woman must not
eve 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 a SIM
pie yet spectacular manner.
She was bound securely to a stout
chair firmly fixed to the end Of q 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 contrivance by means Of a strong
chain. and she was given a ducking.
which lasted until justice was salts
fed or reform was promised. the popu.
lace Of course gathering in large num-
bers to assist at the function.
In England the practice was so gen.
erai that each town had it's ducking
pond conveniently located where petty
offenders OF various kinds were disci.
plined. The pond for the western part
OF London was what is now a 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 We're kept
in the church porches, where they
doubtless pointed a moral as to the
naughty spirit which goeth before a
fall. - pr
The first %colonists brought the insti,
tuition to this country. although 1t new
err hourished in New England. In fact,
there are no authentic records Of the
actual use of the ducking stool in
these colonies. although a 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 a cleft stick upon the
tongue.
In the central and southern colonies
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 confu.
ence Of the Ohio and Monongahela riv-
ers. In Virginia the penalty was often
employed. and In 1884 a Thomas Hart
~ Of that colony wrote. It Is said. to
Governor Endicott Of Massachusetts.
giving a detailed account of a ducking
John Tucker. who by violence Of her
tongue had made his home and ye
ne~ighborhood uncomfortable" After
describing the machine he adds: I'VE
rope was slackened BY ye officer. and
We woman was allowed to 60 down
under ye water for ye space of half a
minute. Betsey had a stout stomach
duO WOuIu uOt yAeAO uuIAl sue udu III
lowed herself to be ducked five several
times" After she promised to ''sin no
more" Betsey was united and allowed
to walk home In her wetted clothes.
a hopefully penitent woman"
The .ducking stool prevailed longer
In America than In England. In the
old country It does not seem to have
been used later than 1909, but In Geor.
gta women were ducked for scolding
as late as 1919. It Is Interesting to
note that in 1924 a woman in Phila-
| delphia was sentenced to be ducked.
but the decree was not carried out. as
It was deemed obsolete and contrary
to the spirit OF the times" A writer
on colonial customs states that n Of
the last indictments for ducking In
this country was that OF Mrs. Anne
Royal in Washington. a lobbyist. who
became SO abusive to congressman
that she was indicted as a common
I->-1A A~A1-~ A-> VU&Cf~~ fNnorA