Morbid Fact Du Jour For November 14, 2010
Today’s Standard Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
Once Britain finally established a standing army in the late 17th century, the maintenance of discipline among the soldiery became a necessity. The Mutiny Act of 1689 authorized that flogging with the cat-o’-nine-tails should be the standard method of punishment in the army. The ‘cat’ was made up of nine separate lengths of whipcord, each being tied with three knots at separate places along its length. The victim was strapped to a wooden triangle and beaten, often by the regimental drummer. The thin cords would slash through the victim’s skin at each stroke, while the knots tore out gobbets of flesh. The sensation was said to be ‘as though the talons of a hawk were tearing the flesh off the bones’.
Culled from: The History Of Torture
And here’s a view of the cat-o’-nine-tails itself. It doesn’t look nearly as ferocious as it sounds, does it?
I say whip it.
Whip it good!
I guess it’s ferocious enough in skilled hands.
Even in unskilled hands it has a very painful bite. I still have a couple of stripes from when my sister caught me with one at the age of 9. My mother was considering it as a swatting tool. Thankfully she stuck with the razor strap and my dad’s belt or I’d have no hide left.