42 



Facts relating to Marlboroiujh. 



B ranks " is given in the 

 Abbotsford edition of " The 

 Monastery," where it is 

 noticed. It precisely re- 

 sembles the specimen found 

 in 1848 behind the oak 

 panelling, in the ancient 

 mansion of the Earls of 

 Moray, in the Canongate, 

 Edinburgh. Of this, through 

 the kindness of Mr. Consta- 

 ble, I am enabled to offer Biank found m Moray House, Edinburgh. 



the accompanying representation. 



In the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland another 

 specimen may be seen, thus described by Dr. Wilson in the Synopsis 

 of that collection. — "The branks, an ancient Scottish instrument. 

 Its most frequent and effectual application was as a corrector of 

 incorrigible scolds. — Presented by J. M. Brown, Esq., F.S.A. Scot. 

 1848." 



The term brank is found in old Scottish writers in a more general 

 sense, denoting a kind of bridle. Jamieson gives the verb, to 

 Brank, to bridle, to restrain ; and he states that Branks, explained 

 by Lord Hales as signifying the collars of work-horses, " properly 

 denotes a sort of bridle, often used by the country people in riding. 

 Instead of leather, it has on each side a piece of wood joined to a 

 halter, to which a bit is sometimes added ; but more frequently a 

 kind of wooden noose resembling a muzzle. Anciently, this seems 

 to have been the common word for a bridle " (in the North of 

 Scotland).^ In regard to the etymology of the word, Jamieson 

 observes, " Gael, brancas is mentioned by Shaw, as signifying a 

 halter ; brans is also said to denote a kind of bridle. But our word 

 seems originally the same with Teut. pranghe, which is defined so 

 as to exhibit an exact description of our branks ; b. and p. being 

 often interchanged, and in Germ, used differently in many instances. 



^ Compare Brockett's explanation of the word branks used on the Borders. 

 North Country Words. 



