Identifier: siampeepsatmany00youn (find matches)
Title: Siam
Year: 1908 (1900s)
Authors: Young, Ernest, 1869-1952 Norbury, Edwin Arthur, 1849-
Subjects: Thailand -- Description and travel
Publisher: London : A. and C. Black
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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rthe longer of the two was the winner. If bothremained under water longer than a fixed time, theywere hauled up by the safety-ropes and the case wasdismissed. If the people who had quarrelled were rich,they could employ people to dive for them, instead ofgetting wet and breathless themselves ; and there is astory told of a man who once engaged a pearl-diver torepresent him, and so won easily. A trial of this kindoccurred at the northern town of Chiengmai as late asJanuary, 1882. Phya Tak, the man whom we spoke about in thefirst chapter of this book, once defeated the army ofa rebel who was also a priest. When the rebel wascaptured, a large number of yellow-robed brethren weretaken with him. The King called them all together,and as he could not tell the innocent from the guilty,he said to them : Those of you who confess your guiltmust leave the priesthood, but I will give you otherclothes, and set you free without punishment. Thosewho say they are innocent must prove their innocence 80
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A RELIGIOUS WATER PROCESSION Trial by Ordeal by the diving-test. If you fail in this test, you will beexecuted. Many priests confessed at once that they had beenhelping the rebel host. They were released as theKing had promised. But many others swore that theywere innocent. The King sat on a chair on the river-bank and watched the priests go down into the waterone by one. Some of them stayed under the water theproper length of time, and so proved themselves notguilty; but others who failed were stripped of theirrobes and executed on the spot. Their bodies wereburnt; their ashes were mixed with lime, and used towhitewash a part of a temple structure. Sometimes melted lead was used in trial by ordeal.The contending parties thrust their hands into moltenlead, and he who was not burnt won the case. Moltentin or boiling oil were used occasionally instead of themolten lead. A regular method of settling disputes about moneythat had been lent was the trial by swimming. Theparties had to swim

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