Social problems, SC style
Posted by Stolzi on October 18, 1997 at 10:54:52:
In response to Or even worse!, written by Lesley on October 07, 1997 at 23:10:03
] My dear grandmother told me that the women in Gaffney, S.C. took care of irritating social problems, such as adultery, by tarring and feathering the guilty female party. She said the incident she could remember took place when she was a child, probably around the year 1920. I know this is a hundred years later than the Regency but was presumably a continuing practise from older times. The woman escaped her pursuers by jumping across a rather large ravine. I can't remember if she told me what happened to the guilty male party. Considering the double standard, probably nothing.
This is an interesting story! I grew up in SC myself and was told of the existence of a certain swamp: called Scape-ore Swamp (sp?). In polite histories it was said that this came from Scape-o'er (over). In less polite oral history, another origin was given for "-ore." Starting with the letters "wh." In fact I wonder if this is part of the same story.
On what happened to guilty male parties: up until about the period you are mentioning, the husband could =shoot= the wife's lover and no jury would convict. I believe this was known as "the unwritten law."
One must remember that manners in the former Colonies were far more rude and one cannot necessarily extrapolate back to the Old Country.
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