The scold’s bridle was an instrument of punishment used almost exclusively on women whose language was considered to be unacceptable, either by scolding too frequently or excessive gossiping. It consisted of an iron frame around the head with a sharp metal gag to restrain the tongue,[1] and was known as a brank, or more usually branks, in Scotland.[2] The large nose and grotesque ears were intended to further humiliate the wearer as she was paraded in public.[3]
The word scold was used as a legal term to describe women, and very occasionally men, “who disturbed their neighbours’ peace with loud quarrelling, gossiping, slanderous speech or brawling”. The repression of what was considered to be “disruptive speech” began in late medieval England with the Statutes of Westminster in 1275, which prohibited the defamation of the king or his magnates; by the late 14th century it had been extended to anyone accused of “rabble rousing through troublesome speech”.[4]
Although it was never legal to punish scolds by the use of bridles, the devices were nevertheless employed by magistrates in England and Scotland during the 16th and 17th centuries.[3] One of the earliest recorded uses of the scold’s bridle occurred in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1567, when Bessie Tailiefeir was accused of slandering Baillie Thomas Hunter by claiming that he was using false measures.[5]
The crime of being a “common scold” remained an offence in England and Wales until the passage of the Criminal Law Act 1967.[6]
We use cookies to optimise our website and our service. By clicking on “All cookies”, you consent to us using all cookies and plug-ins as described in our Cookie policy.
Functional cookies
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.