I’m going on the Pill(ory)!
DID YOU KNOW: That an infamous bawd (that is, owner of a brothel) by the name of Mother Needham was put on the pillory (like the stocks, only for your head and hands rather than your feet) in 1731 for keeping a “disorderly” (ahem) house. She died in prison before she could be pelted with mud ‘n’ stuff (such as rotten veg, stones, dead cats, ya know, the usual) a second time on the pillory stand.
Anyways, she was quite famous in her day – William Hogarth
even painted her as part of his A Harlot’s
Progress series…
HINT: Needham’s the one on the right, looking a little
syphilis-y.
The pillory wasn’t much used compared to other corporal
punishments (like whipping for instance) by the time poor ol’ Mother Needham
found herself in there, but it could still be pretty horrific. Indeed, it was
not unknown for men to die on there after being pelted with all sorts of
near-to-hand ammunition.
Below is an illustration of John Waller, one of those unlucky
enough to die on the pillory, on which he stood for the crime of perjury…
