Editing Birching (section)

==Position==
[[Image:Koerperstrafe- MA Birkenrute.png|thumb|upright|Medieval schoolboy birched on the bare buttocks (by [[Hans Holbein the Younger]])]]

Only if the recipient was a small child could he or she practicably be punished over the knee of the applicant. Otherwise the child would be bent over an object such as a chair. For judicial punishments the recipient could even be tied down if likely to move about too much or attempt to escape.

In some prisons and reformatories, a wooden apparatus known as '''birching donkey''' or '''birching pony''' was specially constructed for birchings. As there were no detailed rules, prisons and police stations devised, adapted and used many different contraptions under various names that juvenile and adult offenders were bent over for punishment. Some models also allowed a standing or leaning position for other implements.

A simple alternative position known from school discipline is '''horsing''', where the person to be punished is held by the arms over the back of another person (e.g. a classmate), or on the shoulders of two or more colleagues. However, at [[Eton College]] and schools of similar standing, the recipient was made to kneel on a special wooden block.

Another device used to immobilise offenders was a '''birching table''', used in Scotland, with two holes in it through which the offender's arms were inserted but otherwise left free and untied. The offender's feet were tied into position and a strap fastened immediately above the waist.<ref>[http://www.westhighlandmuseum.org.uk/collections/the-fort/item-one/ The Birching Table] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906224906/http://www.westhighlandmuseum.org.uk/collections/the-fort/item-one/ |date=6 September 2015 }}, West Highland Museum.</ref>

Whatever position is adopted, care must be taken not to strike the back of the genitals (e.g. by having the recipient's legs kept together).