mple is
one in the parish church of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, which has
been frequently described and illustrated. An account of it appears in
_Notes and Queries_ of October 25th, 1851. It is described as "fastened
at its right hand extremity into a wall, and consists of two pieces of
oak; the bottom and fixed piece is three feet eight inches long; the
width of the whole is four-and-a-half inches, and when closed, it is
five inches deep: the left hand extremity is supported by a leg of the
same width as the top, and two feet six inches in length; the upper
piece is joined to the lower by a hinge, and in this lower and fixed
horizontal part are a number of holes, varying in size; the largest are
towards the right hand: these holes are sufficiently deep to admit the
finger to the second joint, and a slight hollow is made to admit the
third one, which lies flat; there is, of course, a corresponding hollow
at the top of the moveable part, which, when shut down, encloses the
whole finger." Thomas Wright, F.S.A., in his "Archaeological Album,"
gives an illustration of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch example, and we reproduce
a copy. It shows the manner in which the finger was confined, and it
will easily be seen that it could not be withdrawn until the pillory was
opened. If the offender were held long in this posture, the punishment
must have been extremely painful.

[Illustration: FINGER-PILLORY, ASHBY-DE-LA-ZOUCH.]

Amongst the old-time relics at Littlecote Hall, an ancient Wiltshire
mansion, may still be seen a finger-pillory. It is made of oak. We give
an illustration of it from a drawing executed expressly for this work.
At Littlecote Hall it is spoken of as an instrument of domestic
punishment.

Plot, in his "History of Staffordshire," published in 1686, gives an
illustration of one of these old-time finger-pillories. "I cannot
forget," writes Plot, "a piece of art that I found in the Hall of the
Right Honourable William Lord Paget, at Beaudesart, made for the
punishment of disorders that sometimes attend feasting, in Christmas
time, etc., called the finger-stocks, into which the Lord of Misrule
used to put the fingers of all such persons as committed misdemeanours,
or broke such rules as, by consent, were agreed on for the time of
keeping Christmas among the servants and others of promiscuous quality;
these being divided in like manner as the stocks of the legs, and
having holes of different sizes to fit for scantli