Willow

Pussy Willow

Willow refers to a family of trees and shrubs from the genus Salix. They are primarily found on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. A well-known willow hybrid is the Weeping willow.

Willows have slender, pliant and elastic branches. Stripped from their leaves, these are suitable for wickerwork (e.g. baskets), brooms, and are also sometimes used for spanking implements.

Pussy Willow

Pussy willow is a name given to many of the smaller species of the genus Salix (willows and sallows) when their furry catkins are young in early spring. These species include (among many others):

Goat willow or goat sallow (Salix caprea) is a small tree native to northern Europe and northwest Asia.

Grey willow or grey sallow (Salix cinerea) is a small tree native to northern Europe.

American pussy willow (Salix discolor) is native to northern North America.

Before the male catkins of these species come into full flower, they are covered in fine, greyish fur, leading to a fancied likeness to tiny cats, also known as “pussies”. The catkins appear long before the leaves and are one of the earliest signs of spring. At other times of the year, trees of most of these species are usually known by their ordinary names.

Use for spanking

They are either used as single willow switches or a bundle of thin willow rods is bound together in the fashion of a birch. Another technique is to braid several rods together -- this is found in some European Easter and spanking traditions.

The willow as a chastisement instrument is featured in the British folk song The Bitter Withy.

List of Spanking Implements
Flat spanking implements bath brush (wooden or plastic) belt bimmy cooking spatula (wooden or plastic) dough scraper (rubber or silicone) flyswatter hairbrush (wooden or plastic) leather paddle Newspaper paddle (wooden paddle) ping-pong paddle ruler (wooden or plastic) slapper/flapper slipper / Plimsoll strap / Strop tawse wooden spoon Stick-like spanking implements blackboard pointer cane (rattan, bamboo etc.) crop ferula stick switch yardstick Other spanking implements baccalà (clipfish) birch carpet beater Quirt rope's end scourge stinging nettles Whipping implements include bullwhip cat o' nine tails chicotte (an African whip) flail flogger horsehair whip human hair whip klopfpeitsche loopy johnny martinet quirt rebenque (South American gaucho whip) rubber hose single-tail whip sjambok (South African whip)
Some spanking implements produce more "sting" while others produce more "thud". See "sting and thud" for more on this distinction.

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