18th-century Scottish sex club relic sold

An 18th century wooden cup belonging to a notorious Scottish sex club has been sold at auction for £2,700. The three-handled laburnum "quaich" belonged to the Beggar's Benison, a club which met in the fishing village of Anstruther in Fife.

Members of the group would perform public sexual acts and watch local girls dance naked. . .

The club was founded in 1732 by John McNachtane, a minor Highland chief who made a living as a crooked Customs officer in Fife.

Members included the Earl of Elgin, the Earl of Lauderdale and the Duke of Gordon, as well as wealthy merchants and church elders. Relics of the club are well recorded and include seals, medals, punch bowls and glasses. Many are adorned with phallic symbols with the inscription "may prick nor purse never fail".

From the BBC, with thanks to reader Ian Swanwick for the pointer).

Incidentally, what the BBC story doesn't make clear is that the central activity of the Beggar's Benison was mutual male masturbation -- as is described in a 2001 monograph, The Beggar's Benison: Sex Clubs of Enlightenment Scotland, reviewed here, here, and here. More on the auctioned cup here.

Posted by David on December 14, 2003 4:25 PM