of punishment was a tumbrel. The following amounts
were paid in 1572:

The making of the cucking-stool 8s. 0d.
Iron work for the same 3s. 0d.
Timber for the same 7s. 6d.
Three brasses for the same, and three wheels 4s. 10d.
------------
L1 3s. 4d.

In the _London Evening Post_, April 27th to 30th, 1745, it is stated:
"Last week a woman who keeps the Queen's Head alehouse, at Kingston, in
Surrey, was ordered by the court to be ducked for scolding, and was
accordingly placed in the chair and ducked in the river Thames, under
Kingston Bridge, in the presence of 2000 to 3000 people."

We have previously mentioned the fact that at Leicester the
cucking-stool was in use as early as 1467, and from some valuable
information brought together by Mr. William Kelly, F.S.A., and included
in his important local works, we learn that the last entry he has traced
in the old accounts of the town is the following:

1768-9. Paid Mr. Elliott for a Cuckstool by order of Hall L2 0s. 0d.

Mr. Kelly refers to the scolding cart at Leicester, and describes the
culprit as seated upon it, and being drawn through the town. He found in
the old accounts in 1629 an item:

Paid to Frauncis Pallmer for making two wheels and one barr for
the Scolding Cart ijs.

Scolding Cart is another name for the tumbrel.

The latest example of Leicester cucking-stool is preserved in the local
museum, and was placed there at the suggestion of Mr. Kelly.

[Illustration: LEOMINSTER DUCKING-STOOL.]

The Leominster ducking-stool is one of the few examples still preserved.
It was formerly kept in the parish church. We have an excellent drawing
of it in that building from the pencil of the genial author of "Verdant
Green," Cuthbert Bede. The Rev. Geo. Fyler Townsend, M.A., the erudite
historian of Leominster, furnishes us with some important information on
this interesting relic of the olden time. He says that it is a machine
of the simplest construction, "It consists merely of a strong narrow
under framework, placed on four wheels, of solid wood, about four inches
in thickness, and eighteen in diameter. At one end of this framework two
upright posts, about three feet in height, strongly embedded in the
platform, carry