A formidable looking British prison flogging apparatus. It is interesting to note that the last floggings of convicts for offences against prison discipline took place as recently as the 1960s.
A 19th century birching table used in Scotland. This ingenious design subdues the prisoner by confining his arms through two holes cut into the table top. It is recorded that the officer deputed to wield the birch received half a crown (121/2p) for dealing with the first offender and one shilling (5p) for each additional whipping carried out on the same day.
Birching 'ponies' were the standard apparatus for flogging young offenders in England. Pictured on the left is the 1874-vintage boys' birching pony from Clerkenwell Prison in London. The rather more substantial pony in the colour picture can be viewed at the Galleries of Justice Museum in Nottingham.
This Edwardian drawing shows a boys' birching pony in use. At that time the flogging of juveniles was a relatively commonplace occurrence and in 1917, to take just one year as an example, 5210 youths were birched by order of magistrates courts.
Read a brief historical account of juvenile birching in Britain.