Chapter 2 of 20 · 3873 words · ~19 min read

Part 2

---- High Price of, in London, 312

---- Extraordinary Ponds and, 561

---- Tame, 659

---- Wonderful, 542

Fishermen, Bulgarian, 497

Fleet Marriages, about 1740, 299

Floods, the Morayshire, 126

Flying Coach, 228

Fog of 1783, The Great, 414

Font at Kilcarn, The, 417

Food of the Ancients, 450

Foot-Racing in 1699, 457

Foreigners in London in 1567, 371

Fortune, Change of, 371

Fox Killed by a Swan, 4

Francis I., Funeral Oration of, 363

Franklin's Celebrated Letter to Strahan, 39

Frederick the Great at Table, 579

French Dress, 102

---- Assignats, the Origin, 253

Friars, Preaching, 221

Frost Fairs, 67

---- Extraordinary, 209

Funeral, an Eccentric, 395

---- Jar, 481

---- Obsequies, Strange, 108

Game Preserves at Chantilly, 362

Gamblers, Chinese, Playing for Fingers, 593

Gambling, Legalised, 141

---- Extraordinary, 359

Gaming, a National Taste for, 267

Gander, an Old, 27

Garden, an Egyptian, 349

---- at Kenilworth, when in its Prime, 641

---- Love of, 419

---- Sacred, 420

---- The Hanging, of Babylon, 558

Garrick's Cup, 232

Gauntlet of Henry, Prince of Wales, 661

George II., Proclamation for, 200

Georgians as Topers, 511

Giant Tree, 229

Gibraltar, Siege of, 6

Gigantic Bones, 248

Glaives, 504

Glove Money, 503

Gloves, Anne Boleyn's, 600

---- Origin of "Pin Money", 275

Grace Knives, 641

Graham Island, 443

Graves of the Stone Period, 363

Greek Vases, 501

Gretna Green Marriages, 159

Grey Man's Path, The, 528

Grinning for a Wager, 13

Groaning Boards, 66

Groat, a Castle for a, 470

Grotto, Remarkable, and Story connected with it, 625

Guillotine, Decapitation by the, 8

Gun, Celebrated, 568

Gunpowder, Making a Candlestick of, 249

Hackney Coach, The Earliest, 211

Hair, Ancient, Quantity and Colour of the, 4

---- Price of Human, 242

---- Remarkable Preservation of, 122

---- Transplantation of, 40

---- Turned Grey by Fright, 327

---- Two of the Fathers, on False, 24

Hamster Rat, The, 265

Handbills, Distributing, 178

---- from Peckham Fair, in 1726, 72

Hanging a Mayor, 140

"Happy Dispatch" in Japan, The, 578

Head Breaker, A., 338

Head-dress, Monstrous, 242

---- Ornament, Antique, 393

Hejirs, The, 222

Helmet, Early English, 632

---- of Sir John Crosby, 520

Henry I., Dream of, 26

---- II., Stripped when Dead, 39

---- V., Cradle of, 416

---- the VIIIth's Chair, 488

---- VIII., Curious Extracts from the Household Book of Lady Mary, Daughter of, 399

Highlander, A Remarkable, 238

Highwaymen in 1782, 5

Hindoo Computation, 507

---- Rites, Cruelty of, 627

Historical Anecdote, 156

Holy Water Sprinkler, 532

Homer in a Nutshell, 127

Hooking a Boy Instead of a Fish, 319

Hoops, in 1740, 6

Horse, A, Getting himself Shod, 76

Horse-race, Indenture of a, 52

Horses of the Arabs, 498

Horses, Different Sorts of, in the 16th Century, 634

---- Feeding one another, 368

---- Vicious, Novel Way of Curing, 174

Hot Cross Buns, 251

House, Novel Way of Designating a, 539

---- of Hens' Feathers, 646

Household Rules of the 16th Century, 518

How Distant Ages are Connected, 200

Hudson, Jeffery, the Dwarf of the Court of Charles I., 472

"Humbug," Origin of the Term, 97

Hume, David, on his own Death, 215

Hundred Families' Lock, 435

Hunting Party, a Regal, 391

Husband, Novel way of Purchasing a, 275

Hydra, Extraordinary Reproductive Power of the, 490

Ice, Ground, 506

Ignorance and Fear, 290

Impostor, An, 50

Impudence or Candour? Which is it? 239

Incense Chariot, An Ancient, 513

Incremation, Instance of, 353

Indian Jugglers, European Balancing, 293

Inhumanity, Extraordinary Instances of, 436

Innkeeper's Bill in 1762, 431

Insects, Wonderful Formation of the Eye in, 467

Insect Life, Minuteness of, 338

Instinct of Animals, 410

Insurance Agent, Canvass of an, 465

Interesting and Fanciful Relique, 243

Inventors, The Perils of, 141

Irrigation, Turkish Machine for, 349

"It's much the same Now", 94

James II. and the Church of Donore, 557

James II., Spent by the Corporation of Coventry at the Entertainment of, in his Progress through Coventry, 378

Javanese, Superstition of the, 244

Jenny's Whim, 174

Jewel, A Curious, which belonged to James I., 456

Jews, Wealth of the, 359

Johnson, Dr., A Visit to the Residence of, 48

Joy, William, the English Sampson, 176

Judas Iscariot, Legends of, 339

Judges attending Public Balls, 303

---- Salaries, 446

Jugglers in Japan, 529

---- of Modern Egypt, 342

Kildare, Death of the Earl of, 172

Killed by eating Mutton and Pudding, 73

King Edward I., Household Expenses of, 231

---- Fine for Insulting a, 149

---- of Kippen, The, 139

---- John and Pope Innocent, 463

King-Maker, Warwick the, 527

King's Bed, Ceremonial for Making the, 562

---- Cock Crower, The, 137

---- Dishes with the Cook's Name, 235

---- Stone, The, at Kingston, 461

Kitchen, Spacious, 383

Knight's Costume of the 13th Century, 480

Knives and Forks, 133

Knox, John, The Pulpit of, at St. Andrews, 269

Lady, Origin of the Word, 147

Lagmi, and the Use made of it, 623

Lambeth Wells, the Apollo Gardens, 272

Lamps, Roman, 437

Land, Change in the Value of, 196

Landslip at Colebroke, Shropshire, 184

Lantern, Curious, 100

Lauderdale, The Duchess of, 403

Law of the Mozcas, 454

Law and Order in the Streets of London, 131

Laws, a Hundred years ago, Severity of, 234

Leadenhall Street, Old Dial and Fountain in, 553

Legend, A Superstitious, 351

Legends among Savage Nations, 146

Length of Life without Bodily Exercise, 274

Lepers, Treatment of, in England, 493

Leprosy, Lazars, and Lazar Houses, 169

Letter, Extraordinary, 322

Lettsom's (Dr.) Reasons, 71

Lewson, The Eccentric Lady, 221

Life, An Eventful, 427

---- in Death, 443

Lighting the Streets, Bequests for, 310

Lightning, Calmuc's Opinion of, 63

Living, Style of, among the Nobility of the 15th Century, 533

---- in the 16th Century, 357

Lizards, Swallowing, 41

Loaf Sugar, 166

Locomotives, the First, 96

Locusts, 151

London Localities in the 16th Century, 526

London Water Carrier in Olden Time, 258

---- in 1756, State of, 147

London Resorts a Hundred Years Ago, 197

Longevity, 269

Long Meg and her Daughters, 394

Lord Mayor's Feast in 1663, 551

Lotteries, 619

Louis XVI., Execution of, 258

Luther's (Martin) Tankard, 149

Luxury in 1562, 418

Lynch's Castle, Galway, 581

Mackarel, Price of, 576

Madness, Sudden Recovery from, 168

Madyn, the Capital of Persia, Magnificence of, when invaded by the Saracens A.D. 636, 554

Magic Rain Stone, 168

Magician's Mirror and Bracelet, 344

Magnet, The Summers' or Loadstone, 41

Magnificence of Former Times, 111

Magpie Stoning a Toad, 92

Mahomet, Personal Appearance of, 571

Mail, Ancient suit of, 483

Malady, Extraordinary, 670

Mandrin, the Smuggler, 167

Manners, Ancient, of the Italian, 585

Man without Hands, 77

Manufacture, One of the Effects of, 142

Marat, Funeral of, 375

Marriage Custom, Curious, 543

---- Lottery, 91

---- Vow, 419

Mary, Queen of Scots, her First Letter to English, 370

Mary Queen of Scots, her Candlestick, 436

Maternal Affection in a Dumb Woman, 140

May-pole in the Strand, 534

---- Fate of the Last, in the Strand, 682

May-poles, 100

Mecca, The Black Stone at, 550

Medmenham Abbey, 429

Memento-Mori Watch, 285

Mental Affection, A Curious, 335

Merman, A, 16

Mexican Tennis, 375

Michaelmas-day, Origin of eating Goose on, 198

Military Hats in Olden Time, 75

Mill at Lissoy, 469

Miraculous Escape, 266

Misers, Two, 459

Missal, The Bedford, 163

Mob Wisdom, 294

Monasteries, Libraries of destroyed, 334

Monkeys Demanding their Dead, 415

Monkish Prayers, 383

Monks, Gluttony of the, 347

---- and Friars, 680

Monsey (Dr.) bequeaths his own Body, 93

Monsoons, 179

Monument, Rock-cut, of Asia Minor, 441

Monuments, Wayside, 587

Mosque of Omar, 316

Mother Mapp, the Bone Setter, 158

Mountains, Height of, 148

Mouth, Character of the, 106

M.P.'s and Mayors, Privateers, 176

Mulgrave, Origin of the House of, 602

Mullet and Turbot, with the Romans, 488

Mummy Cases, 409

Murderess, a Young but Cruel, 392

Music, Effect of, on a Pigeon, 64

---- of the Hindoos, 683

---- ---- ---- Sea, 351

Musical Instrument, A Curious, 628

Musical Instruments, Burmese, 629

---- ---- Egyptian, 404

Names, Strange Custom about, 295

Naora, The, 635

Narrow Escape, 121

Nature, Wonderful Provision of, 55

Nebuchadnezzar, Gold Mask of, 105

Necklace, Ancient Jet, 529

Negro, Bill of Sale for a, in 1770, 39

Nell Gwynne's Looking-Glass, 237

Never Sleeping in a Bed, 331

Newspapers, Vacillating, 514

New South Wales, Dances of the Natives of, 225

Newton, A Visit to the Observatory of, 10

New Zealand, The Wingless Bird of, 307

Norman Caps, 44

North American Indian War Dispatch, 45

Nose, Effect of a New, 102

Nostrums, 63

Nun, The First English, 330

Nut Crackers, Ancient, 236

Oaks, Extraordinary, 310, 426, 466, 455

---- Remarkable, 405

Old Age, Dying of, at Seventeen Years, 47

Old Books, 360

Old London Signs, 118

Opera, The First, 567

Opium, Best Position for Smoking, 675

Oraefa Mountain, in Ireland, 356

Ornaments, Personal Antique, 293, 400, 447, 452

Orthography in the Sixteenth Century, 17

Pagoda, The Great Shoemadoo, 572

Pailoos, Chinese, 625

Panama, Isthmus of, Passage through, 148

Paper, 619

Papyrus, The, 82

Parental Authority, Too Much, 513

Paris Garden at Blackfriars, 465

Parlour Dogs, 320

Passport, A Traveller's, 679

Pastimes, Popular, 514

Pates de Foies Gras, 142

Peacocks, 366

Pear-Tree, Great, 454

Pearls, British, 363

---- Fondness of the Romans for, 208

Pedestrian Feat, Wonderful, 327

Peg Tankards, 43

Penn, Tea Service which belonged to, 201

Penny Post, Origin of the, 47

Pennsylvania Journal, 63

Perfumes, 253

Persecution, 430

---- in the Reign of Queen Mary, 587

Perseverance rewarded by Fortune, 287

Persia, Drinking Bouts in, 547

Personal Charms Disclaimed, 118

Peru, Condor in, 170

Peruvian Bark, 51

Pest-house, during the Plague, in Tothill Fields, 573

Pestilence, The Black, 402

Peter the Great at Zaandam, 544

Physic, A Friend to, 267

Physick for the Poor, Choice Receipts for, 117

Pigeon Catching near Naples, 437

Pig, Roast, Advertisement of, in 1726, 46

Pike, An Old, 667

Pilgrim Fathers, Chair belonging to, 186

Pillory for Eating Flesh in Lent, 68

Plague in England, The, 183

---- Corpse Bearers during the, 283

Plantagenets, Yellow Hair in the Time, 103

Plate, Use of, in the time of Henry VIII., 523

Platypus, the Duck-billed, 273

Playbill, Curious, 227

---- in the time of William III., 530

Ploughing and Threshing, Ancient, 66

Poets, English, Fates of the Families of, 471

Pogonias Vocal Fish, 478

Poison Cup, The, 485

Poisoning the Monarch, 12

Police, London, Disgraceful State of, 193

Pont du Gard, Great Aqueduct of, 312

Pope's Chair, 577

Porcelain, Anecdote in, 517

Port Coon Cave, 516

Poet Haste One Hundred Years ago, 182

"Postman," The, Paragraph from, in 1697, 219

Pottery in China, Art of, 321

Powerscourt Fall, Phenomenon at the, 304

Prayers, Unusual Locality for Saying, 171

Praying by Machinery, 314

---- by Wheel and Axle, 539

Pre-Adamite Bone Caverns, 199

Precocious Children, 64

Presence of Mind--Escape from a Tiger, 330

Priests in Burmah, Knavery of the, 266

---- of Sikkim, 663

Prince of Wales, Origin of the Crest of the, 115

Prince Rupert, at Everton, 291

Prolific Author, 320

Proteus Anguinus, The, 152

Psalm, Value of a Long, 512

Pterodactylus, The, 360

Pulpit, Refreshments for the, 262

Punishing by Wholesale, 680

Punishment, Ancient Instrument of, 680

---- Russian, 654

---- and Torture, Ancient Instruments of, 58, 88

Puritan Zeal, 579

Purple, Tyrian, 643

Quackery in the Olden Time, 671

Queen Elizabeth, Banquets of, 414

---- ---- Dresses of, 501

---- ---- Old Verses on, 204

---- ---- saddle of, 340

---- ---- State Coach of, 128

---- ----'s Laws, 151

Raffaelle, Tomb of, 568

Raffle, A, in 1725, 47

Raleigh, Sir Walter, Residence of, 160

Ranelagh, 204

Ranz des Vaches, 173

Rats, Destructive Force of, 463

Ravilliac, Execution of, 132

Receipts, Quaint, 153

Red Sea, Luminous Appearance of the, 454

Regiments, The Modern Names of, 639

Reichstadt, The Duke de, 435

Relics, 393

---- A Group of, 261

---- Rescued, 618

Remarkable Events and Inventions, 145

Revenge, New Mode of, 423

Rheumatism, Strange Cure for the, 201

Rhinoceros, First in Europe, 655

Richardson, the Showman, 251

Ringing the Changes, 192

Rings, Calcinated, 408

Rites, Hindoo, Cruelty of, 627

Roads in 1780, 327

Rock of Cashel, 352

Romans in Britain, Dress of Native Females at that Period, 86

Rouen, The Great Bell of, 650

Royal Touch, The, 42

Royal Giants, Specimens of, 121

---- Prisoner, Expenses of, 260

Sack Pot, Old English, 521

Sacro Catino, The, 608

Sadler's Wells, 112

Saint George, Tomb of, 281

Saint Lawrence, 464

Salagram, Hindoo Adoration of the, 589

Sand Columns in Africa, 610

Sandwiches, Origin of the, 563

Sardonyx Ring, with Cameo Head of Queen Elizabeth, in the possession of Rev. Lord Thynne, 373

Scape Goat, Camel as a, 190

Sceptre, Ivory, of Louis XII., 476

School, Chinese, 525

School Expenses in the Olden Time, 427

Science and Perseverance, Triumphs of, 123

Scottish Wild Cattle, 278

Scriptural Antiquities, 215

Sea, Phosphorescence of the, 418

Sea Serpent, Immense, 42

Sea-Urchin, Wonderful Construction of, 475

Second Sight, 65

Seeing Two Generations, 211

Self-Nourishment, 315

Selkirk and the Dancing Goats, 22

Sepulchral Vase from Peru, 320

Sermons, Anecdotes in, 147

Serpent, Anecdote of a, 85

Seven, The Number, 354

Sevres Porcelain, Prices of, 487

Sex, Change of, 189

"Sforza," Origin of the Title, 554

Shakspeare's Jug, 575

Sham Prophets, 319

Sharks, The Queen's, 203

Sheba, The Queen of, 518

Sheep Killer, Hunting a, 268

Shell Fish, in 1675, Price of, 178

Shetland, The Noss in, 324

Shield, Ancient Danish, 420

Shilling, Cutting a Wife off with a, 359

Shocking Depravity, 117

Shoes, Long-toed, Origin of, 646

Shrine, Curious Figures on a, 202

Shrine of St. Sebald at Nuremberg, 271

Simoom, The, 662

Skin, Human, a Drum made of, 398

Slave Advertisements, 25

Slave Trade, Iniquities of the, 175

Slaves, Recent Prices of, 435

Sleep, Protracted, 483

---- State of the Mind during, 350

Sleeper, An Extraordinary, 28

Smoking, Attachment to, 322

Snake Charmers, 299

Snakes, Power of Fascination in, 64

Snow Storm, Memorable, 327

Snuff Boxes, Ancient, 209

Snuff, Time Wasted in taking, 512

Something like a Feast, 129

Somnambulism, 72

Sound, Phenomena of, 367

Southcottian Delusion, A Phase of the, 230

South-stack Lighthouse, 239

Spain, Wealth of, under the Moors, 235

Spider, Bite of the Tarantula, 13

Spiders Fond of Music, 157

Spirit Drinker, An Aged, 228

Spontaneous Combustion, 431

Sports of the Lower Classes, 155

Sportsman, A Royal, 443

Springs, Intermittent, 455

Stage Coach in 1760, 155

Stag-Hunt in the 16th Century, 511

Stags like Cattle, Driving, 208

Stamps, Antique Roman, 448, 643

Standards, Ancient Banner and, 396, 583

State Coach in 1796, 156

Statue, Metal, the Largest in the World, 454

Steam boat, Facsimile of the First, 301

Stevens's Specific, 50

St. George's Cavern, 421

St. James's Square, 123

St. Paul's, Old, 162

St. Paul and the Viper, 125

St. Winifred's Well, 303

Sticks, Old Walking, 387

Stirrups, 571

Stomach Brush, 55

Stoneware, 649

Strasburg, Curious Custom at, 185

Strength, Feats of, in 1789, 9

Street Cries of Modern Egypt, 401

Stuff Ball at Lincoln, Origin of the, 49

Sultan, City of the, 103

Sun and Moon, Worship of the, 81

Superstition in 1856, 538

---- Curious, 424

---- Death caused by, 124

---- in France, 519

---- Vitality of, 474

Sweating Sickness, 110

Sweets, Artificial, 579

Sword, Curious Antique, 596

---- Executioner's, 340

---- The Hawthornden, 353

---- The Seton, 356

---- Fish and Whales, 565

Sword-Breaker, An Ancient, 672

Taking a Man to Pieces, 79

Tapestry, The Bayeux, 642

Tar and Feather, Notices to, 38

Taxation, Universality of, 318

Tea, 94

Tea-Drinkers, The First, Puzzled, 532

Teapot, The, 482

Temple of Pou-tou, The, 673

---- at Simonbong, 620

Temples of Brambanam, 442

Terrier, Anecdote of a, 358

Thames, Frost Fair on the, 106

---- The First Bridge over the, 428

Thanksgiving Day in 1697, 527

Theatre, Roman, at Orange, 366

Theatres in the Time of Shakespeare, 597

The First Hermits--Why so Called, 125

The Ruling Passion, 32, 188

Theodora de Verdion, 207

Thief Caught in his own Trap, The, 77

---- Singular Discovery of a, 115

Thugs, The, 574

Tiger Cave at Cuttack, 361

Tilbury Fort, 189

Time, Division of, in Persia, 633

Tobacco, Origin of the Use of, 57

Toilet, Absurdities of the, 536

---- Boxes, Egyptian, 381

Tomb, Chinese, 508

---- of Caecilia Metella, 477

---- of Darius, 560

Tomb of the Emperor Maximilian at Inspruck, 590

"Too Late," quoth Boice, 489

Tope, the Sanchi, 389

Topers, Georgians as, 511

Toping in the Last Century, 314

Torture, 639

---- Chamber at Nuremberg, 615

Tower of the Thundering Winds, 93

Trajan, Arch of, at Beneventum, 112

Trance, A, 354

---- at Will, 462

Trap-door Spider, 383

Travelling, Common, 220

---- in Olden Times, 108,162

---- in the United States, 208

Treaty-Stone at Limerick, 563

Tree, Extraordinary Situation for a, 313

Trees, Age of, 521

---- that Grow Shirts, 62

Tripod, Ancient, 549

Trivial Circumstances, A Great Result from, 605

Tumbrel, The, 2

Tunisians, Ingenuity of the, 652

Turban, The, in Arabia, 618

Turkish Mode of Reparation, 326

Twin-Worm, Extraordinary Formation of the, 136

Types, the Invention of, 152

Umbrella, Anglo-Saxon, 624

Upas Tree, 123

Useful and the Beautiful, 647

Vampire, The Blood-sucking, 417

Varnish-Tree of the Japanese, 615

Vases, Ancient, 337

---- Greek, 169

---- Greek, Prices of, 385

---- Roman, in Black Ware, 373

---- Sepulchral, of Greek Pottery, 616

---- Sepulchral, of Ancient Egypt, 607

---- Teutonic, Hut-shaped, 580

Vauxhall, 380

Venetians, The, 428

Vengeance, Novel Mode of taking, 586

Ventriloquist, a Female, 62

Vesuvius, Crater of, in 1829, 165

Vinegar on the Skin, Effect of, 115

Vishnu, Incarnations of, 645

Volcanic Eruption in Japan, 601

Volcano of Jurullo, Formation of the, 163

Volition, Suspended, 199

Voltaire, English Letter of, 422

Vow, Singular Hindoo, 658

Wagers, Curious, 373

Walking-Sticks, Old, 387

Wall, Governor, Execution of, 154

Wallace, the Hero of Scotland, 99

War Boat, A Dyak, in Borneo, 540

---- Dance of the Dyaks of Borneo, 540

---- Chariot of Ancient Egypt, 365

Warwick, the King-Maker, 527

Washing Account, Method of Keeping, 3

Washington, 583

Watch, An Antique, 368

---- presented by Louis XIII. to Charles I. of England, 640

Watches, the First in England, 515

Water for Old London, Supply of, 282

---- Preservative Power of Coal-pit, 25

---- Supply of, for London, in Olden Times, 546

---- Snakes, Battle of, 470

"We hae been", 47

Weapon, Ancient, 660

---- A Poison, 672

Weaver-Bird, The Sociable, 440

Wedding, A, A Hundred Years Ago, 640

Weight, Reducing, 85

Whipping Prisoners, 175

Whitehall, Ceiling of, 121

Whitsuntide, at Durham Cathedral, 8

Why a Man Measures more in the Morning than in the Evening, 75

Wife, Diving for a, 479

Wigs, 17, 31

Will, Eccentric, 209

William the Conqueror, Courtship of, 555

Willow, Weeping, Introduction of the, 148

Wind Mills, The First, 577

Witch-Testing, at Newcastle, in 1649, 21

Wolves in England, 441

Woman, The Hairy, of Burmah, 677

Woman's Cleverness, 260

Women of England, The, 159

---- in Former Times, 127

Wonderful Escape, 215, 300

Wren's (Sir Christopher) Cost of Churches, 171

---- ---- ---- Report, 183

Writing Materials, 481

Writings, Terra Cotta, 466

Yorkshire Tike, The, 24

Yorkshire in the Last Century, 283

TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS.

PUNISHMENTS IN PROVINCIAL TOWNS IN THE OLDEN TIME.

The instruments most in vogue with our ancestors were three--the cucking-stool, the brank, and the tumbrel.

The Cucking-stool was used by the pond in many village greens about one hundred years ago or little more, and then deemed the best corrective of a scolding woman.

[Illustration: The Cucking-stool.]

By the sea, the quay offered a convenient spot. The barbican, at Plymouth, was a locality, doubtless terrible to offenders, however careless of committing their wordy nuisance of scolding. Two pounds were paid for a cucking-stool at Leicester in 1768. Since that it has been placed at the door of a notorious scold as a warning. Upon admission to the House of Correction at Liverpool, a woman had to undergo the severity of the cucking-stool till a little before the year 1803, when Mr. James Neild wrote to Dr. Lettsom. The pump in the men's court was the whipping-post for females, which discipline continued, though not weekly.

_Kingston-upon-Thames._ _s._ _d._

1572, The making of the cucking-stool 8 0 Iron work for the same 3 0 Timber for the same 7 6 Three brasses for the same, and three wheels 4 10 ----------- L1 3 4

At Marlborough, in 1625, a man had 4_d._ for his help at the cucking of Joan Neal.

_Gravesend._

1636, The porters for ducking of Goodwife Campion 2 0 Two porters for laying up the ducking-stool 0 8

[Illustration: The Brank.]

The Brank, for taming shrews, was preferred to the cucking-stool in some counties, and was used there for the same purpose. The brank was in favour in the northern counties, and in Worcestershire, though there were, notwithstanding, some of the other instruments of punishment used, called in that county gum-stools.

The brank was put over the head, and was fastened with a padlock. There are entries at Worcester about mending the "scould's bridle and cords for the same."

The cucking-stool not only endangered the health of the party, but also gave the tongue liberty 'twixt every dip. The brank was put over the head, and was fastened with a padlock.

[Illustration: The Tumbrel.]

The tumbrel was a low-rolling cart or carriage (in law Latin, _tumberella_) which was used as a punishment of disgrace and infamy. Millers, when they stole corn, were chastised by the tumbrel. Persons were sometimes fastened with an iron chain to a tumbrel, and conveyed bareheaded with din and cry through the principal streets of towns.

_Court of Hustings Book, 1581._ (_Lyme._)

"The jury present that the tumbrel be repaired and maintained from time to time, according to the statute."

In 1583, Mr. Mayor was to provide a tumbrel before All Saints Day, under a penalty of 10_s._

ANCIENT METHOD OF KEEPING A WASHING ACCOUNT.

Shakerley Marmion, in his "Antiquary," says:--

"I must rev'rence and prefer the precedent Times before these, which consum'd their wits in Experiments; and 'twas a virtuous Emulation amongst them, that nothing Which, might profit posterity should perish."

[Illustration: [++] Washing Tablet.]

Without a full adherence to this dictum, we would nevertheless admit that we are indebted to the past for the germ of many of our most important discoveries. The ancient washing tablet, although of humble pretensions to notice, is yet a proof of the simple and effective means frequently adopted in olden times for the economy of time and materials.

A reference to the engraving obviates a lengthened explanation. It will there be seen that if the mistress of a family has fifteen _pillow-covers, or so many collars, or so many bands_, to be mentioned in the washing account, she can turn the circular dial, by means of the button or handle, to the number corresponding with the rough mark at the bottom of the dial, above which is written _sheets_, _table-cloths_, &c. This simple and ingenious contrivance, obviates the necessity of keeping a book.

The original "washing board," from which the engraving is taken, was of a larger size, and showed the numbers very distinctly. Similar dials may be made of either ivory or metal.

THE HAIR.