Taws n. (Written also tawes, tawis, and tawse) A leather lash, or other instrument of punishment, used by a schoolmaster. (Scot.) "Never use the taws when a gloom can do the turn."
... five years old, he was sent to school, chiefly no doubt to get him out of the way; but Scotch schools for the children of the working classes were in those days very rough hard places, where the taws or leather strap was still regarded as the chief instrument of education. Little Edward was not a child to be restrained by that particular form of discipline; and after he had had two or three serious tussles with his instructors, ... — Biographies of Working Men • Grant Allen
... narrative is laid in the South of England and takes place in and around Knotacentinum Towers (pronounced as if written Nosham Taws), the seat of Lord Knotacent (pronounced as if ... — Nonsense Novels • Stephen Leacock
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