All the numerous people who were accustomed to wander about the country, earning their living by amusing the inhabitants, and carrying news from village to village – bearwards, fencers, common players in interludes, jugglers, pedlars, tinkers and chapmen, had to obtain a licence from the two Justices of the Peace or else they were liable to be classed as vagabonds.
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Rogues were branded, generally in the presence of the court. Sometimes women were whipped instead of being burnt in the shoulder, but they did suffer this penalty also. Every village was expected to keep its stocks in repair for the punishment of rogues.
Trotter/Parish, 1919
THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT 
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