80 
5. Effigy of Sir Robert Demoke. Nos. 4 and 5 presented by Mrs. 
Blunt , Wallop House. 
6. Inscription to Richard Venard. 1586. 
7. Effigies of John Kent and wife. 1630. From St. John’s 
Church, Devizes. 
8. Edmund G-este, Bishop of Salisbury. 1576. 
9. William Bulkely. 1568. From Fordingbridge Church. 
10. John Coffer and wife. 1585. From Wilton Church. 
11. Effigies from the brass of Sir Edward Baynton. 1578. From 
Bromham Church. 
CASE F F. 
1. A brank, or scold’s-bridle. Deposited by Mr. Jephson. 
This instrument, used for the punishment of scolds, was affixed 
to the head; an aperture being left for the nose, and a plate of 
metal placed in the mouth for the purpose of controlling the unruly 
member. A leading chain, by which the offender was led, is 
usually attached in front, immediately over the nose. A similar 
example to the present is preserved in the Ashmolean Museum at 
Oxford. 
The origin of this grotesque implement of punishment, as well 
as the period of its earliest use in Great Britain, remain in con¬ 
siderable obscurity. No example of the scold’s bridle has been 
noticed of greater antiquity than that preserved in the church of 
Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, which bears the date 1633, with the 
distich— 
“ Chester presents Walton with a Bridle, 
To curb women’s tongues that talk to Idle.” 
Tradition alleges that it was given for the use of that parish by 
a neighbouring gentleman who lost an estate, through the indis¬ 
creet babbling of a mischievous woman to the kinsman from whom 
he had considerable expectations. 
It seems never to have been a legal punishment. The punish¬ 
ment for scolds was, and is still by the laws of England, the 
Cucking-stool. The locality in which this peculiar punishment 
was inflicted in Salisbury was at the open part of the New Canal, 
in Milford-street, a little to the east of the Red Lion. The site is 
indicated in an old map as “ Cage and Ducking-stool.” 
It has been well observed that “ these examples of ancient 
manners are worthy the attention of all who study what are fre¬ 
quently termed the good old times, and who may, by that study, 
have to be thankful that they did not live in them.” 
2. A truly royal example of the leathern black-jack or bombart, 
bearing the date 1646, surmounted by a crown, 24 inches 
high. Deposited by the Rev. W. Blunt } Wallop House. 
