The Scavenger's daughter was a type of torture device invented during the reign of King

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...

History

The Scavenger's Daughter (or Skevington's Daughter) was invented as an instrument of torture in the reign of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...

by Sir Leonard Skevington, Lieutenant of the Tower of London, a son of

Sir William Skeffington Sir William Skeffington (c. 146531 December 1535) was an English knight who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland. Early life William Skeffington was born in Skeffington Hall, Leicestershire, the eldest son of Thomas Skeffington by his wife, Mary. ...

(died 1535),

Lord Deputy of Ireland The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland. The plural form is ...

, and of his first wife, Margaret Digby. The device consisted of a metal rack shaped into an A-frame; the victim's head was strapped to the top point of the A, the hands at the midpoint, and the legs at the lower spread ends. The frame could fold, swinging the head down and forcing the knees up into a sitting position, compressing the body so as to force blood from the nose and ears. The Scavenger's Daughter was conceived as the perfect complement to the

Duke of Exeter's Daughter The Duke of Exeter's daughter was a torture rack in the Tower of London. Its presence is said to have been due to John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon, (29 March 1395 – 5 August 1447) ...

(the rack) because it worked according to the opposite principle - by compressing the body rather than stretching it. 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 the 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." Another victim of the Scavenger's Daughter was

Thomas Cottam Thomas Cottam (1549 – 30 May 1582) was an English Catholic priest and martyr from Lancashire, who was executed during the reign of Elizabeth I. Life Cottam was born to Protestant parents, Laurence Cottam of Dilworth and Anne Brewer, but was ...

, an English Catholic priest and martyr from

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

, who suffered it twice in the 1580s before being released. Cottam would eventually be executed in 1582 during the reign (1558-1603) of Henry's daughter,

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

. Likewise, on 10 December 1580, the priest Luke Kirby was subjected to it.Challoner, Richard. ''Memoirs of Missionary Priests'', Thomas Richardson & son, 1843, p. 110
/ref> The Scavenger's Daughter is also known as Skevington's gyves, as iron shackle, as the Stork (as in Italian ''cicogna'') or as the Spanish A-frame. Further it is known as Skevington's daughter, from which the more commonly known folk etymology using "

Scavenger Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding b ...

" is derived. There is a Scavenger's daughter on display in the Tower of London museum.

Notes

Sources

Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the '' Encyclopædia Britannica''. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. S ...

, "Duke of Exeter's Daughter". {{commons category, Scavenger's daughter English inventions European instruments of torture Modern instruments of torture

History

See also

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Sources