I am not very likely to speak up.
Unless, of course, I know the person or group of people I am with really well. In most social situations (which are not many for me), I tend to keep my thoughts to myself.
I have friends who are not this way at all. In fact, I know a lot of people who speak their mind, who tell it like it is, and who will give you what it’s for.
Every so often, I will be slightly more vocal on social media. And, of course, there have been times when I am quite opinionated here on my little blog.
These days, speaking up seems to be the thing to do. But it hasn’t been this way always. In fact, at times in history, it might have gotten any of us in a whole lot of trouble.
One era I am thinking of is during the early times of England. Women who spoke their minds or who were sharped-tongued were accused of being “common scolds.” And when they were accused, it didn’t take long for punishment to occur. They would soon be immersed in rivers or lakes while strapped to contraptions known as “ducking stools.”
Crowds would gather to witness the punishment of the boisterous woman. They would chant, “Duck the scold! Duck the scold!”
It has a familiar ring in modern times with a similar phrase aimed at a woman who could speak her mind — “Lock her up. Lock her up.”
Anyway. This practice started some time prior to 1600. I am not sure how many “common scolds” were “ducked,” but I imagine it turned out to be quite a few over the next couple of centuries. I mean, they built a specific contraption for the practice.
Though the dunking practice was not intended to be fatal, it often ended up that way. Usually, the women who ended up on the ducking stool risked being accused of witchcraft as well.
But “ducking” was never used to determine if someone was a witch. Finding out if someone was a witch came in the way of a separate test, known primarily as “swimming” a witch.
Swimming a witch involved throwing a bound woman into a body of water to see whether they’d float. If the person floated, they were guilty of being a witch. But if they sank, they were found innocent. Of course, the subjects who sank often wound up dead if they weren’t rescued from the water in time. Heavy clothing, cold water, disaster.
Back to ducking. There are not many records about the women who were actually ducked. However, a lot of information is still available about the ducking stools themselves. Clear records were kept about their upkeep and how much was spent on their construction. Repairs, and such.
The actual device consisted of a wooden or iron chair. This chair was fastened to a beam. The victim could be lowered into and raised out of the water. Up and down. They mounted these contraptions on wheels. Roll ‘em on down to the river.
But one thing is sure. The duckings happened often. For speaking one’s mind.
As I mentioned. I’m glad I am living now. In a hundred years, people will look back and shake their heads at our archaic behavior. Earth probably won’t be inhabitable then, so they’ll be looking down on us from some space station somewhere. Somewhere without rivers, and no ducking, and for that matter, no ducks.
And so we go along. We humans. Speaking and doing as we must.
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“I believe that words are strong, that they can overwhelm what we fear when fear seems more awful than life is good.”
― Andrew Solomon
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“Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.”
― Benjamin Franklin
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“Some people talk nonstop, but say nothing. Ducks speak only one word, quack, and communicate everything.”
― Jarod Kintz
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Ducking the Wordy
