Tawse
The Scottish strap: heavy bridle leather, usually split into two tails, brought down across the palms. Of everything in this glossary it is the one where the fantasy and the safe version diverge most.
Consenting adults only. Everything on this page is about adults over 18 who have freely agreed to it.
In short
- A tawse is a thick leather strap, usually split into two tails and occasionally three, traditionally used across the palms.
- It is a Scottish design, and today it is hand made by a small number of leatherworkers in Britain for consensual use between adults.
- Most of what people want from it is the ritual, which can stay on the hands while the force goes somewhere else.
- On the hands it is far less forgiving than the buttocks. Use it light, use it few, stop at any numbness.
Everything on this page concerns consenting adults over 18.
What it means
A tawse is a strip of thick leather, usually around two feet long and two or more inches wide, with the far end cut into tails, usually two and occasionally three. The tails are the distinguishing feature. They flex independently on impact and spread the landing across the whole hand rather than concentrating it into a single band. It is a Scottish design, and today it is hand made by a small number of leatherworkers in Britain for consensual use between adults.
It is used flat across the outstretched palm, with the receiver holding one hand out and supporting it underneath with the other. That position is the correct one, because it stops the hand dropping on contact and the stroke landing across the wrist.
In practice
On the buttocks a tawse behaves like a heavy strap and is straightforward enough. On the hands, which is what people actually want it for, the picture changes.
There are 27 bones in each hand, with tendons and the ulnar and median nerves close to the surface and essentially no fat to absorb anything. That is why a hard tawse across the palms can leave hands swollen, split and unable to hold a pen.
So the version I would actually do is light, few, and heavy on ritual. A flexible strap rather than anything rigid. The palm only, never the back of the hand or the fingers. A few strokes at most, with no building up. Stop immediately at any tingling or numbness, which is nerve rather than skin. Nothing at all if the hand took something earlier in the week.
Almost everyone who wants this wants the ritual rather than the damage: being told to stand, holding the hand out and not being allowed to pull it away. Keep the ceremony on the hands and put the force somewhere else and you have most of what you were after.
Under R v Brown [1993], consent is not a defence to actual bodily harm in England and Wales. A fracture in the hand is the single most likely way for consensual play to cross that line, and both people are exposed if it happens. See is it legal in the UK.
Sources
- R v Brown [1993] UKHL 19, House of Lords. bailii.org
Where this page mentions the law, it is general information written from an England and Wales position unless it says otherwise, and it is not legal advice. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own law. If your own legal position matters, speak to a solicitor.
Common questions
What is a tawse?
A heavy leather strap, usually split into two tails at the business end, occasionally three, and brought down across the palms of the hands. It is a Scottish design, and today it is hand made by a small number of leatherworkers in Britain for consensual use between adults.
How should a tawse be used on the hands, if at all?
It is far less forgiving there than on the buttocks. Each hand has 27 bones, with tendons and nerves close to the surface and essentially no fat to absorb anything. If you do it at all, use a flexible strap on the palm only, keep it to a few strokes, and stop immediately at any tingling or numbness.