selecting a switch

The Isle of Man, until recently, used the birch on juveniles. I watched a television program only about six months ago when a policeman described the birch that was used. It consisted of 3 straight, smoothed, hazel switches about 3 feet long. When held up in the hand the tips must not splay more than six inches. Until then I had always thought a birch was made from silver birch twigs. Apparently not.

I don't think anyone has mentioned the hickory switch, or hickory stick, as it is more commonly called. A neighbor of mine once told me that when he was a little boy, his mother gave him a bath and dressed him in clean clothes, because she planned for the two of them to go somewhere together. After she had cleaned him up she went to take a bath, and while she did that, he found a mud hole to play in. When she came out and saw him muddy, in his words, "My kind, sweet gentle Mama cut a switch and turned into a wild woman." He related this to me when he was in his 40s, and added, "I still get nervous today if she gets too close to a hickory tree."

I'm afraid I had a little chuckle when I read CanadianSpankee's comment, although I do think he might have got the wrong end of the stick, so to speak. When your protagonist is standing there with an angry expression and waving a thin rod of correction in his or her hand, you might wonder whether his definition of switching might be slightly inappropriate when you turn round and find a troll standing there!

Birches were sometimes soaked in vinegar which may be where the expression "pickle" came from. The advantage of soaking birches in brine or vinegar is that they are an antiseptic for the small cuts that a birching produces and it also increases the sting.

In the Library you will find several letters that I sent in from the Englishwoman's Domestic Journal printed in 1885. One of them, Birched for Thieving from Miss. C., mentions the beneficial effects of soaking the birch in vinegar.

Tiptopper

Hazel is usually considered the best, young growth is usually straight, thin and very very flexible, whippy and strong. As an advantage it is common and can be cut without harm-to the tree that is. It is used for pea and bean stakes and home decorations, so can be purchased ready cut, but old and not green.
That is for Europe, I dont know about hickory but it appears to be the tree of choice in the USA.
Of course any wood can be used as long it is straight, thin, flexible, whippy and strong.
The exception being spray birches where the branches and knobbles are deliberately used to enhance the sensation!

Raspberry switches would be an option that have died and gone brown in the garden. They are long and straight, they can be soft and not too hard, although they are brittle. Light, thin, whippy switches are the best perhaps green willow switches.

Such whippy thin switches are great for the backs of the legs on the girl's calves and thighs as effective correction while wearing those unbelievably very short shorts.

A good situation would be girl who is wearing very short shorts looking rather leggy and is switched up and down the whole backs of her legs on the calves and thighs and the backs of the knees by her strict religious parents. And is made to wear those unacceptably very short shorts until the cuts and welts have disappeared. So everyone can see that those sinful temptations have been severely dealt with. When the marks and welts have gone then she is allowed to cover up her legs.

For choosing a switch the girl walks out and is expected to bring back a variety of different ones, with different lengths and thickness but they must be whippy.

I remember listening to a conversation between two African friends of mine who mentioned that when they were young their parents had a preference for switches cut from the jacaranda tree. The impression left was that this was a particularly effective instrument.

@opb. The Jacaranda tree is very common in South Africa especially in Pretoria where there are around 70000 growing around the streets of the city: http://showme.co.za/pretoria/tourism/the-jacaranda-city/

I don't know which tree or shrub would best match the characteristics of this 'mystery switch.'

"Removing her jeans as ordered, Mary watched fearfully out the window while her step-dad went to the back yard to get a switch. Her heart sank as she saw him cut not one or two, but three branches from *that* bush. She didn't know the name of the bush, but she knew its characteristics. The slender, straight branches were very tough, yet incredibly flexible, more so than the willow. You could easily bend a two-foot long switch into a complete circle without breaking it.

To her chagrin, Mary's step-dad had discovered how effective were those switches the previous year when he had been in too much of a hurry to make the longer walk to the willow tree, and now they had become his weapon of choice. Other switches he had used in the past had been more stiff and springy, which had absorbed some of the energy as the swiftly moving branches flexed and rebounded when meeting her rounded backside. Not so these switches! They were small and pliable enough to conform perfectly with the curves of her buttocks, delivering every bit of the energy from his strong arm to her soft flesh. When the tips of those branches wrapped around her buttock or found the tender flesh of her inner thigh, the fiery welts they made were agonizing. And because the switches were so thin and light, her bottom could absorb many strokes before her step-dad was convinced the lesson was properly learned. Listening to the measured tread of his returning footsteps, she began to cry."

I have occasionally wondered whether a birching (from several switches bundled together) might really be more painful than a switching. It seems to me that the wind resistance from a bundle might well slow the implement and actually reduce its impact. Is there anyone here that can testify from personal experience which is really the more painful, a birch or a switch?

I would of course volunteer as a recipient in order to make this comparison, however my training as a scientist has always stressed the importance of objectivity, which would obviously preclude my personal participation. Now as far as being the wielder of each implement, that might work.