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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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pillory
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and stocks Instruments of punishment in use in Britain from at least the 13C, in which offenders were exposed to public abuse and sometimes missiles. The culprit stood in the pillory, with head and hands held fast through holes in a cross-bar; the head was shaved in the case of a man, and the hair usually cut short for a woman. The stocks were slightly less unpleasant in that the miscreant could sit out the sentence with only the ankles trapped. Peter Bossy was the last to stand in the pillory (one hour for perjury at the Old Bailey in 1830), and the punishment was abolished by law in 1837.
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