E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Boots (an instrument of torture).
They were made of four pieces of narrow board nailed together, of a competent length to fit the leg. The leg being placed therein, wedges were inserted till the sufferer confessed or fainted.
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“All your empirics could never do the like cure upon the gout as the rack in England or your Scotch boots.”—Marston: The Malcontent.
