Stocks

Stocks

Stocks is a devise used to publicly punish and humiliate a person accused of a crime. This form of torture was used from medival times up until 1872...The Puritans of colonial America also used stocks...

The accused is placed in a sitting position and their bare feet and hands are locked in place between two wooden boards...(see picture above..I could hardly comfortably get my hands and feet thru)

Stocks were positioned in the most public place available, cuz public humiliation was a critical aspect of such punishment. A person condemned to the stocks was subjected to a variety of abuses, ranging from having garbage thrown at them to tickling or burning of the feet by passerbys or have rocks thrown at them...

You had to stay there in the rain or snow or heat...you were given bread and water or food left by friends...

When I went to the Red Lion Cottage in Litton there was stocks outside on the green..its not used today but in one village I went to, called Eyam, they had a list posted telling the tourists to respect their village by keeping it clean and not to disturb the residents and then at the bottom of the list it says they still use the stocks!! Haha...Don't worry, they don't really....thats just Brit humor..so give 'em a smile!