Branks were used in Scotland to punish slander, cursing, or irreligious speech.

A scold's bridle (also the brank or branks) was a torture device for women, resembling an iron muzzle or cage for the head with an iron curb projecting into the mouth and resting precariously atop the tongue. The curb was frequently studded with spikes so as to cruelly torture the tongue if it dared stir: lying calmly in place, it inflicted a minimum of pain. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (792x1036, 86 KB) Branks, or Scolds bridle, a medieval instrument used to punish common scolds, slanderers, or people called cursing. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (792x1036, 86 KB) Branks, or Scolds bridle, a medieval instrument used to punish common scolds, slanderers, or people called cursing. ... This article is about the country. ... Torture is defined by the United Nations Convention Against Torture as any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he...

It was designed as a mirror punishment for "scolds"—women whose speech was "riotous" or "troublesome"—by preventing them from speaking. However it was also used as corporal punishment for other offences, notably on female workhouse inmates. There are no records of it being used on men. However, a similar punishment, where a cleft stick was placed on the tongue was used on men. Records exist for such a punishment in the town of Boston, England. The scold's bridle did not see much use in the New World. Punishment is the practice of imposing something unpleasant on a wrongdoer. ... Punishing a common scold in the ducking stool. ... Corporal punishment is forced pain intended to change a persons behaviour or to punish them. ... Former workhouse at Nantwich, dating from 1780 A workhouse was a place where people who were unable to support themselves could go to live and work. ... Statistics Population: 35,124 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TF329437 Administration District: Boston Borough Shire county: Lincolnshire Region: East Midlands Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Lincolnshire Historic county: Lincolnshire Services Police force: Lincolnshire Police Fire and rescue: {{{Fire}}} Ambulance: East Midlands Post office and telephone... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto)1 Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Monarch Queen Elizabeth II... Frontispiece of Peter Martyr dAnghieras De orbe novo (On the New World). Carte dAmérique, Guillaume Delisle, 1722. ...

In Walton on Thames, also in England, a scold's bridle is displayed in the vestry of the church, dated 1633, with the inscription 'Chester presents Walton with a bridle, To curb women's tongues that talk too idle.' The story is that one Chester lost a fortune due to a woman's gossip, and presented the town with the instrument of torture out of anger and spite. Walton-On-Thames is a town in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey in South East England. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto)1 Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Monarch Queen Elizabeth II... Events February 13 - Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition. ...

The culture of the time, which would be one of extreme religious fundamentalism by modern standards, would have easily supported the practice with scripture. For instance, Timothy 2:11-12 in the King James Bible reads "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." A church would therefore have been considered an appropriate place to display such a device.

The tongue curb could be as gentle as a flat iron plate that passively discouraged tongue movement or as painful as a spike-festooned iron bit that punished it rather more painfully. Other variants are shaped like an animal's head, such as a donkey or a pig. Modern variants of the scold's bridle designed not to be injurious are used in BDSM play on both genders as a form of gag. Binomial name Linnaeus, 1758 For other uses, see Donkey (disambiguation). ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... // A collar is a common symbol in BDSM. Female bottom in bondage with leather monoglove BDSM is any of a number of related patterns of human sexual behavior. ... A model wearing a ball gag Gags are sometimes used in consensual BDSM play. ...

The Scold's Bridle is the title of a novel by Minette Walters, where a scold's bridle is a key element in the plot. The Scolds Bridle is a 1994 mystery novel by Minette Walters. ...

This device may have been the inspiration for the mask trap in the 2004 film "Saw".