To read the rest of Robyn’s fabulous work, click on ‘Links and Contributors’ above, then click on ‘Contributors’ and scroll down to her pages…

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continued…

Here is a drawing by Louis Malateste I’ve used before in a post devoted to the practice of horsing. It was an illustration from ‘The Memoirs of Dolly Morton’ by Anonymous. The text of this part of the story occurs in an earlier post I made some time ago:

Below is a Paula Meadows’ illustration used in a Janus series on ‘Moments in CP History’ written by Paul Melrose (Alex Birch). This particular image is of one of Catherine The Great’s Maids of Honour being horsed and birched:

‘The girl was responsible for the Empress’s intimate dressing and bathing, thus of course found herself privy to some very private secrets including the sight of certain of Catherine’s lovers arriving and departing the boudoir. The girl was engaged to be married and could not resist passing some juicy tittle-tattle to her fiance who, in turn, repeated it at one of his dining clubs in St Petersburg. Inevitably the gossip got back to the Empress who was livid with rage. Instead of reacting immediately, Catherine bided her time until the girl’s wedding. After the happy couple had retired to the bedroom to consummate their marriage, the bedroom was forced open by six men of Catherine’s personal bodyguard. Without ceremony, the sheets were stripped from the naked couple and the girl dragged out of bed. She was ‘horsed’ on the back of one of the guards while another birched her bottom mercilessly. The helpless husband was ordered to kneel naked and watch the proceedings on his knees.’

Another image of a horsing by Paula Meadows. It looks as though a Victorian or Edwardian housekeeper has been instructed to birch one of the young maids! Her skirts are well rolled up, leaving her naked bottom and thighs exposed for a good thrashing. Her stocking-clad legs dangle helplessly. What a spectacle she will make as she frantically kicks and squirms in a hopeless attempt to escape the sting of the birch!

A Herric (Cherie Herouard) drawing showing a young lady being ‘horsed’, although being ‘piggy-backed’ might be a more appropriate term in this instance?

This seems a good place to finish today, because next is a new section on…

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