A cleft stick was similar to a scold 's bride , but they were easier to make . The ducking stool was taken to the U.S. when British people went to live there during colonial times . In the United States , scolds or those convicted of similar offences could be sentenced to stand with their tongue in cleft stick , a more primitive but easier to construct version of the scold 's bridle , but the ducking stool also made the trip across the Atlantic .