Birching
Birching is a type of corporal punishment where the delinquent is beaten with a bundle of birch twigs, called a birch or a birch rod.
History of birching[edit]
From Antiquity throughout the Middle Ages up to well into the 19th century, birching was very popular for both the punishment of criminal offenders (either given on the back or on the bare buttocks) and for the punishment of children at home and in school. Birching was extensively used in the great public schools, most notably Eton.
For a severe birching, often two birch rods would be made. The delinquent would be birched with the first rod until too many twigs had broken off and it was no longer deemed fit for use. This might be the case after, say, 24 strokes. Then the second, fresh, birch was taken and the birching was continued until the second birch was also "used up".
Birching was so popular for corporal punishment because it is very painful, but at the same time comparatively safe because the individual birch twigs are lightweight and air resistance ensures that you can't strike the skin too hard. Even heavy birching will cause only surface skin injuries (possibly drawing blood), but will do no deeper damage to the tissue or internal organs. Thus, a birching is generally safer than a flogging with a whip or cane.
In the UK[edit]
In the UK, birching as a judicial corporal punishment for young offenders was abolished in 1947. The Isle of Man (a small island between Britain and Ireland with its own legal system as a crown dependency outside the UK) caused a good deal of controversy by continuing to birch young offenders into the 1970s. There were generally two main types of birch:
The "spray" type (birch)
Used in schools, the British navy, and judicially in prisons and by police officers after summary judgement by magistrates. It consisted of a "spray" of (usually) birch twigs tied to form a fairly loose bundle with a handle at one end
The "Isle of Man" type (hazel or willow)
This was used, as the name implies, on the Isle of Man to birch young male offenders and consisted of four to six hazel or willow rods bound together. This was generally thought to be more painful than the spray birch because, in effect, several cane-like rods were being applied to the bare buttocks with each stroke.
For judicial use, the dimensions (overall length, length of handle, diameter of spray and weight, etc.) were all specified for various ages of miscreants. The smallest birch being for boys age 10 and under, a larger, heavier one for boys aged 11 to 15, and the largest and heaviest birch for boys aged 16+, and adult men. In practice, the dimensions could vary enormously, as could the severity with which the strokes were applied. Judicial birchings of both boys and adult men were always applied to the bare buttocks.
Birching in folklore[edit]
In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, boys traditionally awake young, nubile girls on the morning after Easter by dowsing them with water and whipping them on their buttocks or legs with a pomlázka, a specially-designed and decorated birch switch made from eight braided willow branches. The dowsing and whipping is thought to chase away illness and bad spirits, and to bring good luck, wealth and rich harvest for the whole year. See Easter and spanking.
In Britain, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the birch is found in folkloristic traditions around Christmas. See Christmas and spanking.
Birching 'furniture'[edit]
Institutions that meted out a lot of birchings, such as schools, reformatories and prisons, often had specially designed items of furniture called birching table, birching block, birching horse, or birching pony. The delinquent was laid (and often restrained) over these to keep him or her in a good position for the duration of the punishment (see lying position, half-standing position and bent-over-object position). When furniture was not used, it was common for the miscreant to be "horsed" on the back of another person to administer a birching.
Judicial and prison birchings of boys aged 16 and over, and adult men, were done with the miscreant secured to a flogging triangle or A-Frame, which was the same apparatus which was used for administering the Cat O’ Nine Tails. For both types of punishment, the miscreant’s ankles would be spread wide apart, and secured to the bottom legs of the A-Frame. However, whilst the Cat was applied to the bare back with the miscreant in a standing position, the birch was applied to the bare buttocks with the miscreant bent over the leather padded “cross bar” of the A-Frame. His wrists were then secured to the base of the A-Frame’s third leg, at the rear.
Spanking videos with birching[edit]
Of Freaks and Men (1998), is a Russian mainstream film about the filming of the earliest corporal punishment stag films, including two F/F birching scenes, in the 1900s. Video excerpts can be seen here and here.
- Asking For It (G) (Firm Hand Spanking, 2014), Camilla Scott, photos
- Bella's Bathtime Birching (Triple A Spanking, 2022), Bella Bird, Mistress Scarlet, bathing, photos
- The Birch for Clover (English Spankers/Red Stripe), photos
- The Birched Maid (Triple A Spanking), Kami Robertson, photos
- The Birching of Bernadette O'Neil (Nu-West/Leda Productions)
- Birching For Remembrance & Late Night Maid (California Star)
- The Birching Rod (Triple A Spanking), Kami Robertson, striking the hand, photos
- Caught In the Act - Ava's Birching (Punished Brats)
- The Deep Impact (Lupus Pictures), photos
- Essie's Judicial Birching, 36 Strokes (At Home with Miss Iceni), Irish Essie, stealing, photos, video preview
- Five O'Clock Birching 1 (Well Smacked Seat), vaulting buck, photos
- Five O'Clock Birching 2 (Well Smacked Seat), vaulting buck, photos
- Five O'Clock Birching 3 (Well Smacked Seat), Miss Elsa Svenson, Rebecca, striking the hand, ponytail, photos
- German outdoor birching video clip
- Introducing Mrs Smith (Dreams of Spanking), Amelia Jane Rutherford
- Judicial Birching with Amy (Spanking Teen Jessica), Jessica, spanking bench, hands on head, photos
- Lucy vs the Isle of Man (Eris Martinet Female Evil), Lucy Lauren, Manx birch, spanking bench, photos
- Maid for Discipline (Firm Hand Spanking), Amelia Jane Rutherford, Pandora Blake (Part G photos)
- Maids Birched (Spanking Sarah), Edwardian era, photos
- Maids for the Birch (Moonglow)
- Matron Punishes Essie, Part 3: Birching (At Home with Miss Iceni, 2022), Irish Essie, Eton block, photos, video preview
- Mrs. Smith's Method (Dreams of Spanking), 2017), Adele Haze, Amelia Jane Rutherford, Pandora Blake, photos
- The Recognition of the Great Marquis (Lupus Pictures), photos
- The Rites of Spring (Dreams of Spanking), Alex Reynolds, Pagan Mythology, outdoor spanking, photos
- Rogue Model (Firm Hand Spanking, 2014), Amelia Jane Rutherford, Christian Fennington, photo
- Santa (Lupus Pictures), photos
- Spanking Expose (G) (Firm Hand Spanking, 2007), Amelia Jane Rutherford, photos
- Thou Shalt Not Steal 7 (Well Smacked Seat), stealing, photos
- Thou Shalt Not Steal 8 (Well Smacked Seat), photos
- Thou Shalt Not Steal 9 (Well Smacked Seat), Lucy Lauren, photos
- Thou Shalt Not Steal 10 (Well Smacked Seat), Lucy Lauren, hands on head, photos
- Thou Shalt Not Steal 11 (Well Smacked Seat), Lucy Lauren, photos
- Three Schoolgirls Birched (Sarah Gregory Spanking), Irish Essie, Helen Stephens, photos, video preview
- A Very Victorian Birching (Northern Spanking), Victorian era, photos
- What the Dickens (Firm Hand Spanking), Amelia Jane Rutherford, Niki Flynn
- A Yuletide Birching (Dreams of Spanking)
Gallery (art)[edit]
MM/f art (pairing changed from MM/m) after Riis.
Medieval woodcut (1592) showing a school birching over a low block.
Marginal drawing of a teacher/pupil birching, possibly by Hans Holbein the Younger (c. 1497-1543).
European birching and breast torment (c. 1500).
"The naughty little drum player", late 17th century painting by Nicolaes Maes.
Illustration from “Histoire de la prison de Saint-Lazare du Moyen-Âge à nos jours”.
Jan van Bijlert: Venus Chastising Cupid (1628).
"La femme qui fouette son mary" (1670).
A girl is prepared for a birching. Note the tub in which two birch rods are soaked.
"Thomas Hinshaw scourg'd by Bp Bonner in his Orchard at Fulham" (c. 1703).
Mother threatens to punish daughter with the rod (1712).
Detail from "School for Boys" by Philipe Mercier (1738).
Harlequin birching his son OTK, Columbine intervenes (1745?).
"La maîtresse d'école" (The schoolmistress). Engraving by Jean Baptiste Le Prince after François Boucher (1769).
French engraving (1767).
"Westminster School", cartoon by James Gillray (1785).
Detail from an engraving by James Gillray (1787).
Vintage French drawing of an F/m birching, with the caption "Zon, Zon, Zon. Ahi, Ahi, Ahi."
"Spanking y grabados"
Vintage M/F birching scene.
Colorized drawing of a man birching a boy.
Political spanking caricature depicting Tsarina Olga, by Gustave Doré (1832-1883).
From The Convent School by Rosa Coote (1876).
Victorian F/F birching, tied onto a table.
Illustration by Hans Gude (1879).
"Birching" by Pavel Osipovich Kovalevsky (1880).
Illustration from The Mysteries of Verbena House (1882).
Illustration from The Mysteries of Verbena House (1882).
Colorized lithograph by Josef Mukařovský (c. 1895).
Illustration from c. 1900.
Drawing by Andreas Bloch (1905).
Cartoon by Wilhelm Busch (1832-1908).
19th century erotic birching drawing.
Illustration by an unknown artist.
Spanking art by Gaston Smit.
F/m spanking illustration by Alphonse Friaux (1927).
Chastising a convict-girl at Bridewell prison.
"The Rod of Learning", AI-generated artwork by Spankart (2023).
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Gallery (photos)[edit]
French postcard of domestic M/F birching, (c. 1890).
Sex and birching brothel fantasy (c. 1890).
A vintage F/F birching photo (c. 1890-1900s).
Another birching photo from the same series.
Another birching photo from the same series.
Woman spanking another woman with birch rod (1895-1898).
A matron thrashes two young ladies. (c. 1900).
F/F image, probably French (c. 1900).
Woman birched kneeling in a chair (c. 1900?).
Hooded monk beats two women (c. 1900s).
Birching photo by Jean Agélou (c. 1905).
Vintage F/F birching photo (c. 1920).
French erotica (c. 1930s).
Schoolgirl birched in "Final Exam", a video by Jameslovebirch.
A sassafras birch hits its mark in "Punished Schoolgirl", a film by Jameslovebirch.
Spray birch and birched male buttocks.
Suitable position for birching a male.
Photo by Asa Jones (2022).
Two maids being birched (photo: Asa Jones, 2022).
Birching photo by Asa Jones (2022).
See also[edit]
Links[edit]
- Legal aspects of judicial birching in 1972 on the Isle of Man, on World Corporal Punishment Research
- Isle of Man officer holding a birch
- Birching photos (M/F) on Discipline Domestique Warning:
- Beauty and the Birch, a blog with pictures and stories of the birching and other corporal punishment of women Warning:
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This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Birching. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Spanking Art, the text of Wikipedia is available under a copyleft license, the Creative Commons Attribution Sharealike license. |