The wearer was then led around town by a leash. For extra humiliation, a bell could also be attached to draw in crowds. This prevented speaking and resulted in many unpleasant side effects for the wearer, including excessive salivation and fatigue in the mouth. The scold's bridle was used primarily on women. It functioned to silence the wearer from speaking entirely, and caused extreme pain and physiological trauma to scare and intimidate the wearer into submission. A bridle-bit (or curb-plate), about 5 cm × 2.5 cm (2 in × 1 in) in size, was slid into the mouth and pressed down on top of the tongue, often with a spike on the tongue, as a compress. ![]() It was an iron muzzle in an iron framework that enclosed the head (although some bridles were masks that depicted suffering). ![]() Andrews 17th century Dunfermline branksĪ scold's bridle, sometimes called a witch's bridle, a gossip's bridle, a brank's bridle, or simply branks, was an instrument of punishment, as a form of public humiliation. 16th-century instrument of punishment or torture A branked scold in Colonial New England, from a lithograph in A Brief History of the United States by Joel Dorman Steele and Esther Baker Steele from 1885 18th century scold's bridle in the Märkisches Museum Berlin 16th-century Scottish branks, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, Scotland A scold's bridle, having a hinged iron framework to enclose the head and a bit or gag to fit into the mouth and compress the tongue 'The 'Bishop's branks' of St.
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