Vagabonds and beggars could be a drain on parish resources, under the Elizabethan Poor Law. They could also be a potential source of crime. Constables were expected to implement the Vagabonds and Beggars Act 1494, under which vagabonds and beggars were to be set in the stocks for three days, and then whipped until they leave the parish. The constable also had general responsibility for the local stocks, as well as for the pillory, and was expected to punish poachers, drunks, hedge-damagers, prostitutes, church-avoiders, and fathers of bastards.