To give some idea of just how severe that might be it is worth noting that in almost every case of birching in Scotland the court ordered that the boy be medically examined before the execution of the sentence and that the doctor be present throughout its infliction.
The regulations stipulated that if the doctor considered that the prescribed number of strokes could not be inflicted consistent with the health of the boy he could fix a smaller number of strokes and the punishment would be modified accordingly. The doctor was also given the power to stop the punishment “on medical grounds” at any time during the course of it.
To ease the task of the police in carrying out corporal punishment a number of courts and police stations were equipped with specially manufactured benches to which boys could be securely strapped down so that they could not move.