Simple English definitions for legal terms
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A cucking stool, also known as a castigatory or ducking stool, is a device used in the past to punish people who were considered scolds or troublemakers. The person would be repeatedly plunged underwater as a form of correction. It was also used to punish bakers and brewers by dunking them into stinky water. The term comes from the Saxon language and means "scolding stool."
A cucking stool is a device used in the past to punish scolds by repeatedly plunging them underwater. It was also used to punish bakers and brewers by ducking them into "stinking water". The device is mentioned by the ancient Saxons and in Domesday Book. It is also known as a ducking stool, castigatory, or trebucket.
For example, if a woman was convicted of being a common scold, she would be sentenced to be placed in the cucking stool. The stool would be plunged into the water, and the woman would be repeatedly dunked as punishment.
This punishment was used to shame and humiliate the person being punished. It was believed that the repeated dunking would help to "cool their tongue" and stop them from being a scold.