The tawse[a] (kent as the Lochgelly tawse[1] an aw, efter the Scots toun in whilk maist were craftit) wis an implement uised for corporal punishment. It wis maistlins uist in Scots schuils til the 1980s, whan it wis bannit acause o a judgment bi the European Court o Human Richt. The tawse wis o a strip o lether, wi yin end split intae several tails. The thickness o the lether an tails differed.
Mony Scots saddlers made tawses fur local schuilmasters (dominies). The official name tawse wis barelins uist bi either dominies or pupils, wha cawed it the schuil strap or the belt.
Etymology - belike fae an auld French measure, the toise, at a speel whan the Scots leid borraed mony French wurds.
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- ↑ Phrase "Lochgelly tawse" uised:
- Gray, Alasdair (2007). Old Men in Love: John Tunnock's Posthumous Papers: Introduced by Lady Sara Sim-Jaegar (in Inglis). Bloomsbury. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-7475-9353-9.
- Clark, Peter (2005). The Lefties' Guide to Britain: From the Peasants' Revolt to the Granita Restaurant (in Inglis). Politico's. p. 350. ISBN 978-1-84275-144-2.
- MacLeod, Ken (2012). The Execution Channel: Novel (in Inglis). Little, Brown Book Group. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-4055-1940-3.