Let me pay my deepest respects to one of our predecessors, Henry M. Brooks.
Writing in 1886, Mr. Brooks inevitably lacked access to the internet. Instead, he had to gather his clippings together in book form. The wonderful Project Gutenberg has helpfully published his antiquarian equivalent of a kinky blog, entitled “The Olden Time Series, Vol. 5: Some Strange and Curious Punishments Gleanings Chiefly from Old Newspapers of Boston and Salem, Massachusetts”.
The table of contents – amidst many entries hat are admittedly not my kink – promises entries on topics that included “Sewed up in bed-clothes and thrashed”, “Tied to a gun and whipped”, “Tied to a tree and chastised”, “Whipped at the cart’s tail” and “Whipping-post (of frequent mention)”.
I liked, for example, the Boston newspaper account of 11 August 1798:
On Thursday, 11 culprits received the discipline of the post in this town. The person obtained by the High Sheriff to inflict the punishment, from sympathetick feeling for his brother culprits, was very tender in dealing out his strokes, and not adding weight to them, although repeatedly ordered; the Sheriff, to his honour, took the whip from his hand, by an application of it to his shoulders drove him from the stage, and with the assistance of his Deputies inflicted the punishment of the law on all the culprits. The citizens who were assembled, complimented the Sheriff with three cheers for the manly, determined manner in which he executed his duty.
We hear too of schoolmasters, with ideas I could readily adapt for scenes. Here’s my favourite:
There was another master who had what he called “the mansion of misery,” which was simply a line drawn with chalk on the floor in front of his desk, where for trifling offences such as whispering, etc., scholars were required to “toe the mark,” standing perfectly still and upright for a long time. This was often….painful enough. This master had a stock of cowhides and rattans besides.
I’ll post more from the fantastic Mr. Brooks before very long.
This seems a good place to publicize another Victorian spanking blog: a book with the longwinded title “Experiences of Flagellation;A Series of Remarkable Instances of Whipping Inflicted on Both Sexes; with Curious Anecdotes of Ladies Fond of Administering Birch Discipline”.
It was published privately in London in the late 19th century; I found it a research library, and carefully typed it up, with the intention of posting it somewhere. It’s available from my homepage.
Jefesse – this is a fantastic find: absolutely wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing. (I highly recommend other readers to head over to Jefesse’s site and read the document concerned).
Thanks, Abel. I’d completely forgotten I had this document until I saw this post, which prompted me to post it.