~ stocks or pillory ~

The victim, with his or her hands and feet locked into the appropriate holes and bracket irons, was set out in the square, where the mob, in the mildest of cases, poked him, slapped him and soiled him with feces and urine. It was smeared into his (or here)mouth, ears, nose, hair; but in many instances he, more often she, was beaten badly, stoned, burnt, cut and even severley mutilated. constant tickling on the soles of the feet and in the flanks also soon became unbearable. Only the most inoffensive criminal could hope to get away with no more than a few black-and-blue marks and a couple of bumps.

Children's books, movies, television and the modern image industry generally often portray the stocks in humourous colors, centred on a grumpy victim being coaxed and reviled, but always kindly, by his rough-and-tumble neighbours. Reality was much different.