ng the Commonwealth, and it was to the
effect that every woman who had been the mother of an illegitimate
child, and had not been previously punished, be committed for trial. Mr.
Hamilton, in his work on the "Quarter Sessions from Queen Elizabeth to
Queen Anne," has many curious notes on the subject. The Scotch pedlars
and others who wended their way to push their trade in the West of
England, ran a great risk of being whipped. At the Midsummer Sessions,
in the year 1684, information was given to the court showing that
certain Scotch pedlars, or other petty chapmen, were in the habit of
selling their goods to the "greate damage and hindrance of shopp
keepers." The Court passed measures for the protection of the local
tradesmen, and directed the petty constables to apprehend the strangers,
and without further ceremony to strip them naked, and whip them, or
cause them to be openly flogged, and sent away.

The churchwardens' accounts of Barnsley contain references to the
practice of whipping. Charges as follow occur:

1622. William Roggers, for going with six wanderers to Ardsley ijd.

Mr. Garnett, for makinge them a pass iijd.

Richard White, for whippeinge them accordinge to law ijd.

The constable's accounts of the same town, from 1632 to 1636, include
items similar to the following:

To Edward Wood, for whiping of three wanderers sent to their
dwelling-place by Sir George Plint and Mr. Rockley iiijd.

It appears from the Corporation accounts of Congleton, Cheshire, that
persons were whipped at the cart tail. We find it stated:

1637. paid to boy for whippinge John ffoxe 0 2 0

paid for a carte to tye the said ffoxe unto when he
was whipped 0 2 0

The notorious Judge Jeffreys, on one occasion, in sentencing a woman to
be whipped, said: "Hangman, I charge you to pay particular attention to
this lady. Scourge her soundly, man; scourge her till her blood runs
down! It is Christmas, a cold time for madam to strip. See that you warm
her shoulders thoroughly!"

At Worcester, in 1697, a new whipping-post was erected in the Corn
Market, at a cost of 8s. "Men and women," says a local historian, "were
whipped here promiscuously in public till the close of the last century,
if not later. Fourpence was the old charge for whipping male and female
rogues."

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