cat-o'-nine

Updated: May 17, 2025

Then I'm afraid you will have to go with me as prisoners!" said the officer. "Hor hor hor! Here's a game! Prisoners! Cat-o'-nine tails, or hanging." "Silence, you scoundrel!" roared the officer. "Forward with these prisoners." Mike and his companions were marched on out of hearing, and then, after a turn or two, the officer spoke. "It is true then, my lads, you deserted your ship?"

George Manville Fenn - The Adventures of Don Lavington: Nolens Volens

He loved to talk of his cruises in the Mediterranean, of the whizzing of cannon balls, the mutilation of limbs, decks slippery with gore, levanters, pressgangs, boatswains' calls, and the cat-o'-nine tails of the boatswains' mates.

John Sherburne Sleeper - Jack in the Forecastle: or, Incidents in the Early Life of Hawser Martingale

"Oh, some people don't stop there," said Charles. "Aunt Mary, in my young days, used to think nothing of the grave if I had displeased her. She still revels in a future court of justice, and an eternal cat-o'-nine tails beyond the tomb. Well, Molly, so here you are, back again! What's the last news?"

Mary Cholmondeley - The Danvers Jewels, and Sir Charles Danvers