Not Waving but Drowning Not Waving but Drowning "Not Waving but Drowning" is a poem by the British poet Stevie Smith. It was published in 1957 as part of a collection of the same title. The most famous of Smith's poems, it gives an account of a drowned man whose distressed thrashing in the water had been mistaken for waving. The poem was accompanied by one of Smith's drawings, as was common in her work. The poem's personal significance has been the topic of several pieces of literary criticism because Smith was treated for psychological problems. She contemplated suicide at the age of eight
Drowning-pit privileges, the most valued of which was the right of drowning in the River Thames traitors taken within their jurisdiction. Drowning was the punishment ordained by Richard the Lionheart for any soldier of his army who killed a fellow crusader during the passage to the Holy Land. Drowning-pit A 'Drowning-pit', 'Drowning pool' or 'Murder-hole' was a pit or well dug for the purpose of specifically executing females under Scottish feudal laws. Rivers, lochans, etc. were used if conveniently situated near to the Moot hill where the baronial court dempster would announce the death penalty. The term 'Fossa' was also used