... Scold's Bridle
So this was a lovely little device, primarily used on women, as a means of torture or public humiliation. It was essentially a human muzzle. It was fixed around the woman's head, with a 2-in bridle-bit that projected backward so that it rested inside the woman's mouth---specifically atop her tongue. The bit was studded with spikes, which left a lovely impression on a woman's tongue if she were to try and speak.
Apparently, this was the "in thing" to do during the 16th and 17th centuries when a woman spoke her mind. Let a woman be declared a nag or a gossip or a "scold" and she could face being walked through town with a metal plate strapped to her face with a piercing bit in her mouth. It was not unheard of for churches to be gifted inscribed bridles, "to curb women's tongues that talk too idle."
Ah, humanity......
The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?
---Edgar Allan Poe
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| The Young Girl |
Apparently, this was the "in thing" to do during the 16th and 17th centuries when a woman spoke her mind. Let a woman be declared a nag or a gossip or a "scold" and she could face being walked through town with a metal plate strapped to her face with a piercing bit in her mouth. It was not unheard of for churches to be gifted inscribed bridles, "to curb women's tongues that talk too idle."Ah, humanity......
So awesome! Men are just as gossipy as women. Worse sometimes! Hypocrites! Grr!
ReplyDeleteLOL... I know----think it's about time we fashion some of these for modern men, see what kind of response we'd get! :-)
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