disordered
persons (women) within this citie that be scolds, brawlers, disturbers,
and disquieters of theire neighbors, to the great offence of Almightie
God and the breach of Her Majestie's peace: for the reformation of such
abuses, it is ordered and enacted at this leet, that if any disordered
and disquiet persons of this citie do from henceforth scold or brawle
with their neighbo'rs or others, upon complaint thereof to the Alderman
of the ward made, or to the Maior for the time being, they shall be
committed to the cooke-stoole lately appointed for the punishment of
such offenders, and thereupon be punished for their deserts, except they
or everie of them, do presentlie paie iijs iijd for their redemption
from that punishment to the use of the poore of this citie." The old
accounts of the City of Coventry contain numerous items bearing on the
ducking-stool.

In a volume of "Miscellaneous Poems," by Benjamin West, of Weedon Beck,
Northamptonshire, published in 1780, we find some lines entitled, "The
Ducking-Stool," which run:

"There stands, my friend, in yonder pool,
An engine called the ducking-stool,
By legal pow'r commanded down,
The joy and terror of the town,
If jarring females kindle strife,
Give language foul or lug the coif;
If noisy dames should once begin
To drive the house with horrid din,
Away, you cry, you'll grace the stool,
We'll teach you how your tongue to rule.
The fair offender fills the seat,
In sullen pomp, profoundly great.
Down in the deep the stool descends,
But here, at first, we miss our ends;
She mounts again, and rages more
Than ever vixen did before.
So, throwing water on the fire
Will make it but burn up the higher;
If so, my friend, pray let her take
A second turn into the lake,
And, rather than your patience lose,
Thrice and again repeat the dose.
No brawling wives, no furious wenches,
No fire so hot, but water quenches.
In Prior's skilful lines we see
For these another recipe:
A certain lady, we are told
(A lady, too, and yet a scold),
Was very much reliev'd, you'll say
By water, yet a different way;
A mouthful of the same she'd take,
Sure not to scold, if not to speak."

A footnote to the poem states: "To the honour of the fair sex in the
neighbourhood of R----y, this machine has been taken down (as useless)
several years." Most probably, s