Brewer's: Skevington's Daughter

corrupted into Scavenger's Daughter, was an instrument of torture invented by Skevington, lieutenant of the Tower under Henry VIII. It consisted of a broad hoop of iron in two parts, fastened together by a hinge. The victim was made to kneel while the hoop was passed under his legs; he was then squeezed gradually till the hoop could be got over his back, where it was fastened.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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