The Brank, or Scold's Bridle, was a metal mask placed on a woman's head. It was used as a punishment to silence loud, scolding nags or gossips. Branks were also used on witches to prevent them from incanting spells or hexing their captors.
The most popular form was a head cage that incorporated a mouthpiece, most often covered with spikes, which filled the hollow of the mouth. Any attempted to speak would cause pain to the tongue and soft tissues of the mouth.
Many branks were fitted with chains so the wearer could be secured in public or to the goal wall.
Branks appear to have originated in Scotland in the 16th century and passed from there to England and thence to the Americas, although there is evidence that a type of brank was in use in medieval England.
In England the brank was used as a torture device whereas in America it was a form of humiliation.
Ralph Gardner related the following account from Newcastle-on-Tyne
"There he saw one Anne Bridlestone drove through the streets by an officer of the same corporation, holding a rope in his hand, the other end fastened to an engine called the branks, which is like a crown, being of iron, which was musled over the head and face, with a great gag or tongue of iron forced into her mouth, which forced blood out; and that is the punishment which magistrates do inflict upon chiding and scolding women; and he hath often seen the like done to others."
(England's Grievance Discovered in Relation to the Coal Trade, 1665)
