FLAIL (from

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• LAT

Lat. flagellum, a

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• WHIP

whip or

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• SCOURGE (Ital. scoriada, from Lat. excoriare, to flay, corium, skin)

scourge, but used in the

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• VULGATE (from Lat. vulgus, the common people)

Vulgate in the sense of " flail "; the word appears in Dutch vegel, Ger.

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• FLEGEL, EDWARD ROBERT (1855-1886)

Flegel, and Fr.

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• PAU

Pau)  , a farm hand-implement formerly used for threshing corn . It consists of a short thick club called a " Swingle " or " swipple " attached by a rope or leather thong to a wooden handle in such a manner as to enable it to swing freely . The " flail " was a weapon used for military purposes in the middle ages . It was made in the same way as a threshing-flail but much stronger and furnished with iron spikes . It also took the form of a chain with a spiked iron ball at one end swinging free on a wooden or iron handle . This weapon was known as the " morning star " or holy water sprinkler." During the panic over the Popish plot in England from 1678 to 1681, clubs, known as " Protestant flails," were carried by alarmed Protestants (see GREEN RIBBON CLUB) .