A very effectual
punishment! The form of the chair varies. The Leominster ducking-stool
is still preserved, and this implement was the latest in use, having
been employed in 1809 for the ducking of Jenny Pipes, _alias_ Jane
Corran, a common scold, by order of the magistrates, and also as late
as 1817; but in this case the victim, one Sarah Leeke, was only
wheeled round the town in the chair, and not ducked, as the water in
the Kenwater stream was too shallow for the purpose. The cost of
making the stool appears in many corporation accounts. That at
Hungerford must have been in pretty frequent use, as there are several
entries for repairs in the constable's accounts.[55] Thus we find the
item under the year 1669:--
"Pd for the Cucking stoole 01,10,00"
and in 1676:--
"Pd for nailes and workmanship about
the stocks and cucking stoole 00,07,00"
[55] The corporation of Hungerford is peculiar, the head official
being termed the constable, who corresponded with the mayor in
less original boroughs.
At Kingston-upon-Thames in 1572 the accounts show the expenditure:--
"The making of the cucking-stool . 8s. 0d.
Iron work for the same . . . 3s. 0d.
Timber for the same .
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