The Ducking Stool

The Ducking Stool

The ducking stool or diving chair was a punishment which most often befell women prisoners. Grossly unpleasant, and often fatal, the woman would be strapped into a seat which hung from the end of a free-moving arm. The seat and the woman would be dunked into the local river or pond. The dunking could last for an entire day or just a few seconds. "It was up to the operators of the stool as to how long she remained under the water." Many elderly women were killed by the shock of the cold water.

The ducking stool was used in America for witches, and in Britain for the punishment of minor offendors, prostitutes, and scolds (Farrington 30).

Also see Ducking the Witch.

Lost?

Punishment, Torture, and Ordeal copyrighted 1996-1998 to Shantell Powell.