Tawse
The tawse[a] (kent as the Lochgelly tawse[1] an aw, efter the Scots toun in whilk maist were craftit) wis an implement uised for corporal punishment. It wis maistlins uist in Scots schuils til the 1980s, whan it wis bannit acause o a judgment bi the European Court o Human Richt. The tawse wis o a strip o lether, wi yin end split intae several tails. The thickness o the lether an tails differed.
Mony Scots saddlers made tawses fur local schuilmasters (dominies). The official name tawse wis barelins uist bi either dominies or pupils, wha cawed it the schuil strap or the belt.
Etymology - belike fae an auld French measure, the toise, at a speel whan the Scots leid borraed mony French wurds.
Schuils[eedit | eedit soorce]
Scots public (state) schuils uised the tawse tae malagarouse pupils, baith lads an lasses, on their luif (paum o the outstretched haun). Pupils were forordinar instructed tae haud oot yin haun, palm uppermaist, supported by the ither haun below, whilk made it pernicketie tae shift the haun awa an ensured that the full force o ilk an every hit wis tane by the haun bein strapped. The punishment wis forordinar inflicted bi the dominie fernent the entire class tae act as a deterrent tae ithers; whiles by a designated teacher, sic as the deputy heidmaister, tae wham the pupil wis sent.
Pupils were aften tawsed on their buttocks; Scots Office owersears in the 1960s noted wi concern that lads in the approved schuils woud bytimes defecate while waitin to be hit bi the 'licht' tawse.[2] This wis wielded in primary as weel as secondary schools fur baith trivial an serious raisons, an lassies git belted as weel as lads[3] (nearly 6 in 10 lasses wur strapped in school[4]).
In 1954, the tawse was banned bi the Dunbartonshire Eddication Committee; this muiv wis opponed bi mony at the time,[5] an wis reversed yin month later.[6] In 1982 twa Scots maws gaed tae the European Court o Human Richt, wha passed a judgement whilk said parents haed the richt tae refuise ony form o corporal punishment tae a bairn.[7] This judgement led indirect tae the uise o the tawse (and aw ither forms o corporal punishment) bein banned bi law in UK state schools.[8] The legislation cam intae force in 1987, bit maist Scots local eddication authorities awready abolished it bi the earlie 1980s.
John J. Dick Leather Goods wis a manufacturer in Lochgelly estimated tae hae craftit anent 70% o tawses whan thay wur uised in schuil.[9][10] Original tawses sold fur aroond £6 in 1982; bit twenty years later, some collectors wur paying hundred o poonds fur these nou-seendle items.[11]
Judicial[eedit | eedit soorce]
The tawse wis wuised by judges fur judicial corporal punishment in Scotland an aw, as an alternative tae the mair usual birch. Courts coud sentence bairns ower 14 (bit unner 16) tae up til 36 strokes wi an extra-heavy tawse fur ony offence. This wis administered tae the offender's bare buttocks. Judicial corporal punishment wis abolished in the UK in 1948.[12]
Notes an references[eedit | eedit soorce]
- ↑ Lang syne spelt taws whiles, the plural o Scots taw (thong o a whip)
- ↑ Phrase "Lochgelly tawse" uised:
- Gray, Alasdair (2007). Old Men in Love: John Tunnock's Posthumous Papers: Introduced by Lady Sara Sim-Jaegar (in Inglis). Bloomsbury. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-7475-9353-9.
- Clark, Peter (2005). The Lefties' Guide to Britain: From the Peasants' Revolt to the Granita Restaurant (in Inglis). Politico's. p. 350. ISBN 978-1-84275-144-2.
- MacLeod, Ken (2012). The Execution Channel: Novel (in Inglis). Little, Brown Book Group. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-4055-1940-3.
- ↑ Henderson, David (9 Januar 1998). "Sixties discipline was 'savage business'". Times Educational Supplement (in Inglis). Retrieved 19 September 2020.
- ↑ "Scottish Review: Carol Craig". www.scottishreview.net. Archived frae the original on 12 Februar 2020. Retrieved 17 Mairch 2020.
- ↑ "Corporal punishment of schoolgirls". aristasia.net. Archived frae the original on 5 September 2018. Retrieved 17 Mairch 2020.
- ↑ "Prohibition of Tawse Criticised". The Glasgow Herald. 20 November 1954. p. 9.
- ↑ "Scottish Schools Go Back To Tawse - And Peace". The West Australian. 26 November 1954. p. 2.
- ↑ Linklater, John (26 Februar 1982). "Victor in belt trial set to sue". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 28 Januar 2017.[deid airtin]
- ↑ Gould, Mark (9 Januar 2007). "Sparing the rod". The Guardian (in Inglis). Retrieved 19 September 2020.
- ↑ "How the tawse left its mark on Scottish pupils". BBC News Scotland. 22 Februar 2017. Retrieved 13 Mairch 2017.
- ↑ Making the Lochgelly tawse. BBC. 20 Februar 2017. Retrieved 13 Mairch 2017.
- ↑ "Cash-strapped teachers offer shy collectors six of the best". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 25 August 2002. Archived frae the original on 15 December 2017. Retrieved 13 Mairch 2016.
- ↑ Auberjonois, Ferdnand (18 Januar 1978). "Isle Of Man Fighting To Keep Whipping As Legal Punishment". Toledo Blade.
Sources an links outwith[eedit | eedit soorce]
- The Cane and the Tawse in Scottish Schools, article at World Corporal Punishment Research
- "The Belt (Factsheet 12)" (PDF). Heatherbank Museum of Social Work. Glasgow: Glasgow Caledonian University. Archived frae the original (PDF) on 1 Juin 2010. Retrieved 16 Julie 2017.
- The True History of the Lochgelly Tawse Archived 2019-09-06 at the Wayback Machine