Cucking and ducking stools were chairs used for punishment of disorderly women, scolds, and dishonest tradesmen in England, Scotland, and in the English colonies of North America. They were instruments of public humiliation and censure primarily for the offense of scolding and less often for sexual offenses like bearing an illegitimate child or prostitution. The cucking stool was usualy a commode or toilet, placed in public view, upon which the targeted person was forced to sit, and often while being paraded through the town.
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