Reasons Not to Be Naughty Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pillory

A pillory is a wooden framework with holes for the head and hands, The offender was locked into place, usually on a platform for better visibility. This punishment was meant to shame and embarrass the offender. The offender was exposed to verbal abuse his community and often left in the pillory no matter the weather.

Answer: Dutch sailors

Keelhauling was a punishment seen in the 17th and 18th century mostly by the Dutch Navy. This punishment involved dragging the offender underwater, underneath the ship from one side to the other. This one of the most brutal punishments used at sea and sometimes resulted in death. If the sailor did not drown he suffered severe cuts from the ever-present barnacles found under the ship.

Answer: Women

Known as a scold's masks or scold's bridles these unusual looking devices were used on women. They came in a huge variety of styles, but all fit completely over the head and many had a piece that went inside the mouth with sharp points. They often looked like a birdcage on a woman's head.

They were a European punishment for offenses such as speaking back to their husband or father, for gossiping, or for disagreeing with someone above her. A woman wearing a scolds mask could not eat nor talk while wearing it.

Answer: Dunking stool

Variously known as dunking, ducking, and cucking stools, were a form of punishment that was sometimes preceded by beatings or being paraded in public as a form of humiliation. The unfortunate person was bound to a chair and then taken to the waterway. Usually in full view of their peers, they were then repeatedly dunked into the water over their heads and brought up before they drowned.

This action was repeated over and over. While generally meant as a form of punishment, the subject often drowned or died of shock.

Answer: False

Most people who were punished by the act of tar and feathering did not die. The tar was usually poured or painted on the upper body only and the subject was rolled around in feathers. The subject was then paraded around town for public humiliation. It could take years before all the tar wore off, and if you attempted to pull or scrub it off it removed the skin below exposing you to the probability of infection.

While it was painful, humiliating, and disfiguring it was not usually fatal.

Answer: Being a drunkard

This interesting punishment was known as 'the drunkard's cloak'. This usually consisted of a man being paraded up and down the busiest street in town wearing either a large tub or a barrel. There was a hole in one end for their head to be put through...there was usually a fine involved also. Public drunkenness was looked down on and thought of as shameful.

Answer: Cat o' nine tails

The whip known as the cat o' nine tails was known to be used in Ancient Egypt, China and Europe. Many different cultures have been using a variation of this flagellating device for centuries. It was commonly used as a method of punishment in the Navy and was notorious for the stinging pain that the knotted cords caused. Its exact inventor nor origin is unknown.

Answer: The Puritans

In colonial America, the Puritans were known for using branding as a punishment. The letter that was used usually related to the offense, such as 'A' for Adulterer or 'T' for thief. Brands were applied to the hands, cheeks, foreheads, and occasionally the shoulders.

This punishment was used on children, and women as well as adults. It was a very painful punishment that provided a scar for life.

Answer: False

The use of a sweat box, or simply "the box" has been used for centuries. This punishment sometimes involved no opening for the head, or a hole for the head that involved the subject to contort his body in order to get his head out. Being in a sweatbox caused heat stroke, dehydration, and mental torture.

It is used in dry arid regions, and was a common punishment in Mongolia and Vietnam.

Answer: Tawse

The tawse was primarily used on children as a form of educational corporal punishment. Being spanked with these leather straps hurt quite a bit. Most had a thin leather cord which was used to hang it on the wall in the classroom. Punishment was often a very public incident to ensure embarrassment and humiliation.