ngs of all fingers, as
represented in the table." We reproduce a sketch of Plot's picture.

[Illustration: FINGER-PILLORY, LITTLECOTE HALL.]

In an account of the Customs of the Manor of Ashton-under-Lyne, in the
fifteenth century, it is stated at the manorial festivals, "in order to
preserve as much as possible the degree of decorum that was necessary,
there were frequently introduced a diminutive pair of stone stocks of
about eighteen inches in length, for confining within them the fingers
of the unruly."

[Illustration: FINGER-PILLORY, BEAUDESART.]

In connection with this chapter may be fitly included a picture of a
finger-pillory in the possession of Mr. England Howlett,
Kirton-in-Lindsey, Lincolnshire. Our illustration is half the size of
the original implement represented, which is from a Welsh village. This
ingenious contrivance was used until the early part of this century. It
was kept on the dame's desk, and when the children went up to say their
lessons they had to place their hands behind them, putting their fingers
into the holes of the pillory, and bringing their hands back to back.
When properly fixed, the hands were quite fast and the shoulders held
well back. This kind of finger-pillory was frequently used as a means of
punishment in schools.

[Illustration: FINGER-PILLORY FROM AN OLD DAME'S SCHOOL.]

The Jougs.

This old-time instrument of punishment was more generally used in North
Britain than in England. It was employed in Holland, and most likely in
other countries. In Scotland, its history may be traced back to the
sixteenth century, and from that period down to about a hundred years
ago, it was a popular means of enforcing ecclesiastical discipline, and
was also brought into requisition for punishing persons guilty of the
lesser civil offences. In Scotland the jougs were usually fastened to a
church door, a tree in a churchyard, the post of a church gate, a market
cross, or a market tron, or weighing-post, and not infrequently to
prison doors.

The jougs are simple in form, consisting of an iron ring or collar, with
a joint or hinge at the back to permit its being opened and closed, and
in the front are loops for the affixing of a padlock to secure it round
the neck of the culprit.

The "Diary of Henry Machyn, Citizen and Merchant-Taylor of London, from
A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1563" (published by the Camden Society in 1848),
contains the following note on the use of the jougs: "The 3