Tarring and feathering

Tarring and feathering is a form of public torture where a victim is stripped naked, or stripped to the waist, while wood tar (sometimes hot) is either poured or painted onto the person. The victim then either has feathers thrown on them or is rolled around on a pile of feathers so that they stick to the tar.

Used to enforce unofficial justice or revenge, it was used in medieval Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, as well as the early American frontier, mostly as a form of vigilante justice.

The image of a tarred-and-feathered outlaw remains a metaphor for severe public criticism.^[1][2]

Tarring and feathering was a very common punishment in British colonies in North America during 1766 through 1776. The most famous American tarring and feathering is that of John Malcolm, a British loyalist, during the American Revolution.