This instrument of torture was known as a “scold’s bridle ,” a device used on “rude, clamorous woman” in the workhouses through the early 19th Century.
A scold was defined as: “A troublesome and angry woman who by brawling and wrangling amongst her neighbours breaks the public peace, increases discord and becomes a public nuisance to the neighbourhood.” It remains unclear why men should not be pulled up on a similar charge. It was up to the judges to pronounce on whether a woman was indeed a scold. Frequently, it was a disgruntled husband bringing his wife to court. -Shanmonster
This scold’s bridle or brank has a bell on top to draw even more attention to the wearer as they walked the streets in shame, increasing their humiliation (that’s nothin’ compared to other versions with spikes that pierced the tongue). Another interesting feature is the intricate mouth piece with sharp spiky points made to look like some kind of monster mouth.
In the old-fashioned, half-timbered houses in the borough, there was generally fixed on one side of the large open fireplaces a hook so that when a man’s wife indulged her scolding propensities, the husband sent for the town gaoler to bring the bridle and had her bridled and chained to the hook until she promised to behave herself better for the future.” This was presumably carried out as a favour to the husband, to spare him the trouble of appearing in court.
The Surrey bridle was inscribed: “Chester presentes Walton with a bridle, To curb women’s tongues that talk too idle” ( Farrington 30 )
This scold’s bridle or brank has a bell on top to draw even more attention to the wearer as they walked the streets in shame, increasing their humiliation (that’s nothin’ compared to other versions with spikes that pierced the tongue). Another interesting feature is the intricate mouth piece with sharp spiky points made to look like some kind of monster mouth.
Hard to frickin’ believe.