He was lucky, in fact, to escape a whipping from his father for telling a lie.
In one instance, he and his brother John had a physical altercation because Robert put salt in a blind cousin's coffee; in another, his mother gave him a "tremendous whipping" for beating an old slave.
And for those of you looking for a whipping boy for today's celeb obsessed culture, then Frith is probably your man.
The nickname became a whipping stick for Mr. Royko.
"It seems I am a whipping post for bringing it up".
"He's not going to be a whipping boy for me or anyone else.
To the extent that Mr. Bush has been part of the dialogue this year, it has been as a whipping boy for Mr. Obama and other Democrats.
No longer can Scotland be considered a soft-touch, a whipping boy for the Six Nations elite.
"NAFTA is used as a whipping boy for all the problems that these areas are struggling with," says Zandi.
"The new coach will be given the opportunity to do his job - he won't be a whipping boy for me.
