both. It will be observed that the chairs are made of iron.

[Illustration: PLYMOUTH DUCKING-STOOL.]

The last time the Bristol ducking-stool was used was, it is said, in the
year 1718. The Mayor gave instructions for the ducking of scolds, and
the immersions took place at the weir.

[Illustration: PLYMOUTH DUCKING-STOOL.]

We have numerous accounts of this engine of punishment in Lancashire. In
the "Manchester Historical Recorder" we find it stated, in the year
1775: "Manchester ducking-stool in use. It was an open-bottomed chair of
wood, placed upon a long pole balanced on a pivot, and suspended over
the collection of water called the Pool House and Pool Fold. It was
afterwards suspended over the Daubholes (Infirmary pond) and was used
for the purpose of punishing scolds and prostitutes." We find, on
examination of an old print, that it was similar to the example at
Broadwater, of which we give a sketch. According to Mr. Richard Brooke's
"Liverpool from 1775 to 1800," the ducking-stool was in use in 1779, by
the authority of the magistrates. We have details of the ducking-stool
at Preston, Kirkham, Burnley and other Lancashire towns.

At Wootton Bassett there was a tumbrel, which, until within the last
few years, was perfect. The chair is still preserved by the corporation
of that town. We give a drawing of it from the _Wiltshire Archaeological
and Natural History Magazine_. It will be seen from the picture that the
machine, when complete, consisted of a chair, a pair of wheels, two long
poles forming shafts, and a rope attached to each shaft, at about a foot
from the end. The person to be ducked was tied in the chair, and the
machine pushed into a pond called the Weirpond, and the shafts being let
go, the scold was lifted backwards into the water, the shafts flying up,
and being recovered again by means of the ropes attached to them. The
chair is of oak, and bears the date of 1686 on the back. In some places,
millers, if detected stealing corn, were placed in the tumbrel.

[Illustration: TUMBREL AT WOOTTON BASSETT.]

The wheels of a tumbrel are preserved in the old church of St. Mary's,
Warwick, and the chair, it is said, is still in the possession of an
inhabitant of the town.

At Kingston-upon-Thames ducking was not infrequent. The Chamberlain's
accounts include many items relating to the subject. We are disposed to
believe, from the mention of three wheels, in a payment made in 1572,
that here the engine