Defoe had to stand in the latter, and celebrated his defiance of his punishment in 'a Hymn to the Pillory.' It was all very well for him to write—
Hail Hi'roglyphick State Machin,
Contriv'd to Punish Fancy in:
Men that are Men, in thee can feel no Pain,
And all thy Insignificants Disdain
—but even his proud boasting has to recognise unpleasantly—
The undistinguish'd Fury of the Street,
Which Mob and Malice Mankind Greet,
No Byass can the Rabble Draw,
But Dirt throws Dirt without respect to Merit or to Law.
Everyone is familiar with the general features of the pillory, but yet a contemporaneous account, by a keen-sighted witness, will materially help to bring it vividly before us. 'This Punishment is allotted for those who are convicted of any notorious Cheat, or infamous Imposture; of having publish'd defamatory Libels against the King or Government; of false Testimony, and of publick Blasphemy; They are expos'd in a high Place, with their Heads put thro' two Pieces of notch'd Wood; the uppermost whereof being made to slide down, shuts the Neck into the Notch. The Criminal's Hands are confin'd on each Side his Head in the same Manner; and thus he stands in this ridiculous Posture for more or less time, or with more or fewer Repetitions, according to his Sentence. If the People think there is nothing very odious in the Action that rais'd him to this Honour, they stand quietly by, and only look at him; but if he has been guilty of some Exploit dislik'd by the Tribe of 'Prentices, he must expect to be regaled with a hundred thousand handfuls of Mud, and as many rotten Eggs as can be got for Money. It is not lawful to throw Stones, but yet 'tis often done. Generally the honest Man wears a large Sheet of Paper like a Cravat, containing his Elogium in great Letters.'[653]
There was a lawful punishment for scolding women in the ducking-stool, of which Gay sings:—
I'll speed me to the Pond, where the high Stool
On the long Plank hangs o'er the muddy Pool;
That Stool, the Dread of every scolding Quean,
Yet, sure a Lover should not die so mean.[654]
The cucking stool is often used as being synonymous with ducking stool, but in reality it is not. The cucking stool is by far the more ancient, and is described in Domesday Book (speaking of Chester) as 'Cathedra Stercoris.' It was a solidly made chair with a hole in the seat, and a rail in front to keep the offender in; and at first the punishment was confined to exhibition of the scold in front of her house, where, for a certain length of time, she was exposed to the jeers of the neighbourhood. Afterwards it was mounted on wheels, being then called a tumbrel, or trebucket, and moved about the town. It then was improved by ducking the offending woman in some pond; and at last permanent ones were set up in divers towns and villages, as described by Gay, and especially well by Misson, who says: 'The way of punishing Scolding Women is Pleasant enough; They fasten an Arm Chair to the end of two Beams, twelve or fifteen Foot long, and parallel to each other: So that these two Pieces of Wood, with their two Ends, embrace the Chair, which hangs between them upon a Sort of Axel; by which Means it plays freely, and always remains in the natural horizontal Position in which a Chair should be, that a Person may sit Conveniently in it, whether you raise it or let it down. They set up a post upon the Bank of a Pond, or River, and over this Post they lay, almost in Equilibrio, the two Pieces of Wood, at one End of which the Chair hangs just over the Water; they place the Woman in this Chair, and so plunge her into the Water, as often as the Sentence directs, in order to Cool her immoderate Heat.'
CHAPTER XLI.
PRISONS.
Dreadful condition of Prisons — Bridewell — Description of — Flogging — Houses of Correction — Compters — Description of the Poultry compters — 'Garnish' — Newgate — Description of — Marshalsea — Queen's Bench — Fleet and Ludgate — Poor Debtors — Kidnappers — Country prisons — Bankrupts.