A scold's bridle was another punishment device. It was known in Scotland as a brank. A scold's bridle was a metal mask that locked around a person's head. For that reason it was sometimes called a "head cage". The scold's bridle had a tab that went into the victims mouth to make it difficult to talk. Some people say that common scolds had to wear a scold's bridle to stop them from scolding. Some say they were used only to punish. No legal source known mentions the use of scold's bridals to punish a common scold. However, some less formal sources do tell of scolds being punished with scold's bridles. In the United States, scolds, or people found guilty of similar crimes, were sometimes punished using a cleft stick. A cleft stick was similar to a scold's bride, but they were easier to make. The ducking stool was taken to the U.S. when British people went to live there during colonial times.