Tawse Tawse The tawse, sometimes formerly spelled taws (the plural of Scots taw, a thong of a whip) is an implement used for corporal punishment. It was used for educational discipline, primarily in Scotland, but also in schools in the English cities of Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, Manchester and Walsall. A tawse consists of a strip of leather, with one end split into a number of tails. The thickness of the leather and the number of tails is variable. Many Scottish saddlers made tawses for local schoolmasters. The official name "tawse" was hardly ever used in conversation by either teachers or
Strapping (punishment) more tails, colloquially known as the belt, and was the standard implement of punishment in state schools until it was banned in 1987. The strap has also been used on minors in reformatories and in schools. The latter was particularly prevalent in Canada, applied to the student's hand, until the practice was abolished in 2004, but there, in modern times at least, it was generally made of canvas/rubber rather than leather. Martin Tabert, a 22-year-old man arrested for vagrancy, died after being hit about 100 times with a 5-foot leather strap in 1921. The strapping was punishment for Tabert failing