The original church layout of 1619 ran east and west with the pulpit on the back wall lit by a small window on either side. The porch in the south east angle of the building covered two other doors: one into the main body of the church and the other into the lairds loft and pews. It was to the stone pillars of this entrance that delinquents were imprisoned in the "jougs": an iron collar locked around offender's necks and tethered to the pillar with an iron chain. The moderator and church session were charged with overseeing the well being and morals of their congregation. Any hint of moral decline and the suspected individual was cited by the church officer to appear before the session for interrogation. Accused, if found guilty, could be banished from the Parish, jouged, fixed by arms and legs in stocks or fined. They were often made to stand in full face of the congregation (usually dressed in sackcloth) for several Sundays to be publicly rebuked. Among the Sabbath day offences punished by fine and censure were: absence from sunday service, vaiging or wandering about, cursing and swearing, playing and scolding, fighting, fishing, grinding or winnowing corn and baking bread. Twice, we find children appearing before the session for profaning the Sabbath by gathering nuts in Cawdor woods, in spite of being warned from the pulpit. Gradually, over the years, the session took a more lenient stance in their dealings with wrong doers and towards the end of the 19th century they no longer had to appear before the congregation but the last named couple to appear before the session did so in 1904. However, the "jougs" remain! More on the church history at http://www.cawdorparishchurch.co.uk/history.htm