In the early 1610s, the small village of Nettleton, north-west Wiltshire, was shaken by an ongoing row between two local women: Agnes Davis and Margaret Davis (they shared the same surname but were apparently unrelated).

By 1614, local authorities had had enough of their feuding: both women were hauled in before stewards and found to be common scolds. Margaret was sentenced to the usual punishment for scolds, a ducking in the local pond. Agnes, however, managed to talk her way out of this penalty.

Infuriated by this, Margaret’s family and supporters spent several days accosting Agnes, confronting her on the way to church and chasing her around the village.

On Christmas night 1614, they barged uninvited into Agnes’ house, “making affray”, eating her mince pies and “pissing into her pottage pot”. They then threw Agnes into the local pond.

This seems to have settled matters. If the feud continued after 1614 then its outcomes are not recorded.

Source: Various, including Records of the County of Wiltshire and D. Underdown, “The Taming of the Scold: the Enforcement of Patriarchal Authority in Early Modern England”, 1985. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.