The Scavenger's Daughter

The Scavenger's Daughter, or Skeffington's Irons, was the invention of the Lieutenant of the Tower of London in Henry VIII's reign, Sir Leonard Skeffinton or Skevington - hence, by corruption, its popular name.

It was conceived as the perfect complement to the rack because it worked the opposite principle by compressing the body rather than stretching it.

The neck was placed inside the hoop, the hands placed through the smaller loops, and the legs stuck between the bars with the feet locked into the bottom stirrups. This placed the prisoner into a painful foetal position with the knees and hands drawn up to the chin.

Any kind of significant movement was painfully impossible and the very lack of movement would have caused painful cramping - most often in the abdomen and rectum.

Variations existed which allowed the torturer to slowly compress the distance between the knees and chin. This resulted in broken bones throughout the ribcage and spine.


The device was probably not used much as it is rarely mentioned in documents of its time. The best-documented use is that on the Irishman Thomas Miagh, charged with being in contact with rebels in Ireland. It may be in connection with Scavenger's Daughter that Miagh carved on the wall of the Beauchamp Tower in the Tower of London,

"By torture straynge my truth was tried, yet of my libertie denied. 1581. Thomas Miagh."


Back to History Index

Back to Main Index