The Scold’s Bridle They called it discipline. It was really a cage. Between the 1500s and 1700s, in Britain, Scotland, and parts of Germany, women who spoke too loudly, too boldly, or too freely were punished with an iron device known as the Scold’s Bridle — or the brank. It locked around the head like a mask. Inside waited a cold metal plate… sometimes sharpened. It pressed down on the tongue. Every word became pain. Every attempt to speak became blood. The crime was not violence. It was a voic