It must be set down that he was not indolent when it seemed to him
that one of us should be punished. As Captain Standish said, after he
had looked into the room to see James Billington whipped for having
been idle, the teacher "had a rare brain for inventing instruments for
discipline."
[Illustration]
It was the flapper which the captain had seen in use upon James, and
surely it must have caused great pain when laid on with all Master
Lyford's strength. A piece of tanned buckskin, six inches square,
with a round hole in the middle large enough for me to thrust my thumb
through, fastened to a wooden handle,--this was the flapper, and when
it was brought down heavily upon one's bare flesh, a blister was raised
the full size of the hole in the leather.
He had also a tattling stick, which was made of half a dozen thick
strips of deer hide fastened to a short handle, and when he flogged the
children with it, they were forced to lie down over a log hewn with a
sharp edge at the top. This sharp edge of wood, together with the blows
from the stout thongs, caused great pain.
Master Lyford was not always so severe in his punishment. He had
whispering-sticks, which were thick pieces of wood to be placed in a
child's mouth until it was forced wide open, and then each end of the
stick was tied securely at the back of the scholar's neck in such a way
that he could make no manner of noise. Sarah wore one of these nearly
two hours because of whispering to me, and when it was taken out, the
poor child could not close her jaws until I had rubbed them gently
during a long while.
[Illustration]
Then there was the single-legged stool, upon which it was most tiring
to sit, and this was given to the child who would not keep still upon
his bench. I was forced to use it during one whole hour, because of
drumming my feet upon the floor when the cold was most bitter, and the
fire would not burn owing to the wood being so wet. It truly seemed to
me, before the punishment was come to an end, as if my back had been
broken.
Master Lyford was also provided with five or six dunce's caps, made
of birch bark, on which were painted in fair letters such names as
"Tell-Tale," "Bite-Finger-Baby," "Lying Ananias," "Idle Boy," and other
ugly words.
[Illustration]
However, I dare say this was for good, and went far toward aiding us in
our studies. Master Allerton declares that there are no truer words in
the Book, than those which teach us that to spare the rod is to spoil
the child, and surely we of Plymouth were not spoiled in such manner by
Master Lyford, nor by the other teachers who came to us later.