Shrew's fiddle

A shrew's fiddle at the torture museum in Freiburg im Breisgau
A shrew's fiddle for two at the torture museum in Freiburg im Breisgau
A shrew's fiddle being worn by a dummy at the Oberhausmuseum in Passau

A shrew's fiddle or neck violin is a variation of the yoke, pillory, or rigid irons whereby the wrists are locked in front of the bound person by a hinged board, or steel bar. It was originally used in the Middle Ages as a way of punishing those who were caught bickering or fighting.

History

The shrew's fiddle was used in medieval Germany and Austria, where it was known as a Halsgeige, meaning "neck viola" or "neck violin". It was originally made out of two pieces of wood fitted with a hinge and a lock at the front. The shrew's fiddle had three holes: one was a large hole for the neck, and the other two were smaller holes which fastened the wrists in front of the face.

A bell was sometimes attached to this portable pillory, to alert townspeople that the victim was approaching so that they might be mocked and otherwise humiliated. Another version was a "double fiddle," by which two people could be attached together face-to-face, forcing them to talk to each other. They were not released until the argument had been resolved.

See also

References

Uses material from the Wikipedia article Shrew's fiddle, released under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.