Ducking/Swimming: Town Karen

What happens when being a little too outspoken could get you strapped to a chair and dropped into a river?

In this episode of Torture: A Dark History, Kevin Young and Dan Hourigan travel back to early 19th century England to explore the strange and humiliating history of the ducking stool. We begin with Jenny Pipes, who was publicly paraded through Leominster in 1809 before being strapped to a chair and carried toward the water as a crowd reportedly chanted, “Duck the scold!”

We look at the history of ducking, the women accused of being common scolds, the public humiliation that made the punishment so effective, and the communities that kept ducking stools ready for use. We also explore the tragic case of Mary Stemp, the woman whose ducking in the River Thames drew thousands of spectators, and a case in Nottingham where a ducking ended in death.

But ducking wasn't the only strange punishment involving water. We'll also get into the older cucking stool, the origins of its rather unfortunate name, and the very different practice known as swimming, which was later used in attempts to determine whether someone was a witch.

And because this is Torture: A Dark History, Kevin and Dan bring their usual dark humor to a punishment that was supposed to shut women up but occasionally seems to have had the exact opposite effect.

If you love torture history, dark history, medieval history, witch trials, ducking stools, cucking stools, common scolds, historical punishments, true crime, and bizarre laws and customs, this is one trip to the water you probably don't want to take.

Thank you to the Cola City Crimes podcast for starting off the show.

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The Sassholes Insta!!

https://www.epoch-magazine.com/post/sink-or-swim-the-swimming-test-in-english-witchcraft

https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2022/02/swimming-a-witch-evidence-in-17th-century-english-witchcraft-trials/#:~:text=Witch%20swimming%20was%20the%20practice,floating%20indicated%20a%20guilty%20verdict.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-authorities-dunked-outspoken-women-in-water-180980428/

https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Swimming+a+Witch