CentralNotice From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation , search Ducking stool at Leominster . Last used in 1809 Punishing a common scold in the ducking stool Illustration from a Pearson Scott Foresman text book Ducking or cucking stool, a historical punishment for the common scold, 1896 Cucking stools or ducking stools were chairs formerly used for punishment of disorderly women, scolds , and dishonest tradesmen in England, Scotland, [1] and elsewhere. [2] The cucking-stool was a form of wyuen pine ("women's punishment") as referred to in Langland's Piers Plowman (1378). They were both instruments of public humiliation and censure primarily for the offense of scolding or back biting and less often for sexual offenses like bearing an illegitimate child or prostitution . The stools were technical devices which formed part of the wi...