Ducking Stool in St. George

Did you behave well? Did not you curse anyone? Did not you steal wallets of respectable citizens? No? Then come to the Royal Square in St. George County, in the eastern part of Bermuda. A very interesting exhibit is located there.

Now “Ducking Stool” is an entertainment for the public, but earlier, it was a true instrument of execution. Residents were afraid to get on the chair and imagined terrible punishment passing by. 

In the XVI-XVIIII centuries, the chair was used to punish people who committed minor crimes. It was also available for witches or women, most likely red-haired and with green eyes, who were suspected of witchcraft.

Sinners were placed on a chair, tightly tied, without any opportunity to escape. And they were put into water in front of a large audience. If it was a punishment, the person was taken back after several dipping. If it was witchcraft, women were left there…

And it is installed on the streets of modern St. George. But calm down! Professionals work here. Three times a week, an interesting performance takes place on St. George's main square. A man dressed in a colonial-style costume appears here. He leads a woman, who protests and screams, by a hand. A man does not pay any attention to her plea for help and makes her seat on a chair. He ties her, pronounces a sentence, and puts her into water… The audience is surprised, but in a minute, the imaginary criminal is lifted back. It happens several times… and the show ends. It is an almost complete reproduction of a criminal’s punishment.

If you want to see this chair in action, look at the schedule of performances. They take place three times a week: Monday, Thursday, Saturday at 12:30 in the main square of St. George.