Stocks are devices used since medieval times for
tortureTorture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is:In addition to state-sponsored torture, individuals or groups may be motivated to inflict torture on others for similar reasons to those of a state; however, the motive for torture can also be for the sadistic gratification of...
,
public humiliationPublic humiliation was often used by local communities to punish minor and petty criminals before the age of large, modern prisons .- Shameful exposure :...
, and
corporal punishmentCorporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to change an undesirable attitude or behaviour...
. The stocks partially immobilized its victims exposing them in public place to the scorn of the local people, who often took to
insultAn insult is an expression, statement which is considered degrading and offensive. Insults may be intentional or accidental...
ing,
kickIn martial arts, combat sports, and violence, a kick is a strike using the foot, leg, or knee . This attack is often used in hand-to-hand combat, especially in stand-up fighting...
ing,
spitSpit may refer to:* Spitting, the act of forcibly expelling from the mouth** Spit, another word for saliva* Spit an archaeological term for a unit of archaeological excavation...
ting and in some cases urinating and defecating on its victims.
Form and application
The stocks are similar to the
pilloryThe pillory was 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, sometimes lethal....
and the
prangerThe Pranger is a German physical punishment device related to the stocks and the pillory. The Middle Low German word means something that pinches badly.The pranger chained the victim's neck to a pair of leg restraints fastened around the ankles...
, as each consists of large, hinged, wooden boards; the difference, however, is that when a person is placed in the stocks, their feet are locked in place, and sometimes as well their hands or head, or these may be chained.
With stocks, boards are placed around the legs or the wrists, whereas in the pillory they are placed around the arms and neck and fixed to a pole, and the victim stands. However, the terms can be confused, and many people refer to the pillory as
the stocks.
Since stocks served an outdoor or public form of punishment its victims were subjected to the daily heat or to the rain and cold. As a consequence it was not uncommon for people kept in stocks over several days to die from heat exhaustion or frost bite.
The practice of using stocks continues to be cited as an example of
tortureTorture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is:In addition to state-sponsored torture, individuals or groups may be motivated to inflict torture on others for similar reasons to those of a state; however, the motive for torture can also be for the sadistic gratification of...
,
cruel and unusual punishmentCruel and unusual punishment is a statement implying that governments shall not inflict suffering or humiliation on the condemned as punishment for crimes, regardless of their degree of severity...
.
Historical uses
The stocks were popular in medieval times by the authorities because they were greatly feared by the people. They were also used as punishment for military
desertersIn military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission from one's Government or superior. The term AWOL is an acronym for "Absent Without Leave." Ultimate "duty" or "responsibility," however, under International Law, is not necessarily always to a "Government"...
or for dereliction of military duty. In the stocks, an offender's hands and head, or sometimes their ankles would be placed and locked through two or three holes in the center of a board. Either before or after this the wrongdoer might have his or her footwear removed, exposing their
bare feetThe foot is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion...
. Exhibiting an offender's bare feet was considered a form of
humiliationHumiliation is the abasement of pride, which creates mortification or leads to a state of being humbled or reduced to lowliness or submission. It can be brought about through bullying, intimidation, physical or mental mistreatment or trickery, or by embarrassment if a person is revealed to have...
. Offenders were forced to carry out their punishments in the rain, during the heat of summer, or in freezing weather, and generally would receive only bread and water, plus anything brought by their friends. Finger pillories often went by the name of "finger stocks".
Public stocks were typically positioned in the most public place available, as public humiliation was a critical aspect of such punishment. Typically, a person condemned to the stocks was subjected to a variety of abuses, ranging from having refuse thrown at them, paddling, and
ticklingTickling is touching a part of the body , so as to cause involuntary twitching movements or laughter. Such sensations can be pleasurable or exciting, but are sometimes considered highly unpleasant, particularly in the case of relentless heavy tickling.-Etymology:The word evolved from the Middle...
, to whipping of the unprotected feet - bastinado.
The stocks were used in Elizabethan
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and by the
PuritanA Puritan of 16th and 17th-century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of worship and doctrine, as well as personal and group piety. Puritans felt that the English Reformation had not gone far enough, and that the Church of England was tolerant...
s in the colonial period of American history. Their last recorded use in the United Kingdom was in 1872 at Adpar,
Newcastle EmlynNewcastle Emlyn is a town, straddling the counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire in west Wales , lying on the River Teifi.Adpar is part of the town that lies on the Ceredigion side of the River Teifi...
, west
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
.
The Spanish conquistadores introduced stocks as a popular form of punishment and humiliation against those that impeded the consolidation of their settlements in the new world. They were still used in the 19th century in
Latin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish, Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,501 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
to punish indigenous miners in many countries for rebelling against their bosses.
Examples
An excellent example of stocks can be seen in
Dromore, County DownDromore is a small market town in the Lagan Valley, in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies 19 miles south-west of Belfast, on the A1 Belfast to Dublin road. It had a population of 4,968 people in the 2001 Census. The town is in the Banbridge District Council area.The town's centre is Market...
, in
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
.
Locations of examples in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
include:
- Aldbury
Aldbury is a village in Hertfordshire, England, near the borders of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, in a valley close to Ashridge Park. The nearest town is Tring; Tring railway station, 1 mile west, is in the parish of Aldbury...
- Chapel en le Frith
- Chapeltown, Lancashire
Chapeltown is a village of the civil parish of North Turton, in the Blackburn with Darwen unitary authority, in the north west of England. It is situated on the B6391 and lies on southern slopes of the West Pennine Moors. The village was once the historic centre of the old Turton Urban District.The...
- Grappenhall, Cheshire
Grappenhall is a village in Cheshire, England near Warrington. It is situated along the Bridgewater Canal, and forms one of the principal settlements of Grappenhall and Thelwall civil parish...
- Lymm, Cheshire
Lymm is a large village and civil parish in Warrington, Cheshire, in North West England. Lymm was an urban district of Cheshire from 1894 to 1974....
- Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England and is one of only eight members of the English Core Cities Group....
- Prestbury, Cheshire
Prestbury is a village, civil parish and ecclesiastical parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village is about 1.5 miles north of Macclesfield....
- Seamer, North Yorkshire
- Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire
Stow-on-the-Wold is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is situated on top of an 800 ft hill, at the convergence of a number of major roads through the Cotswolds, including the Fosse Way . The town was founded as a planned market place by Norman lords to take advantage...
- Kidwelly
Kidwelly is a town in Carmarthenshire, west Wales, approximately 10 miles west of the main town of Llanelli.It lies on the River Gwendraeth above Carmarthen Bay. The town is twinned with French village St Jacut de la Mer.-History:...
, CarmarthenshireCarmarthenshire is a unitary authority in the south west of Wales and one of thirteen historic counties. Its three largest towns are Carmarthen, Llanelli and Ammanford...
See also
- Barrel pillory
- Stock (cage)
External links