Although originating in the 15th Century as a means of finishing a legal argument, most typically over rent payments, a gavel is not historically used by a judge in the UK, and is more commonly used by an auctioneer or during meetings to call for silence, or to indicate a point of discussion has finished. In the US the custom of using a gavel by a judge appears to have entered the courtrooms around 1789 and is sill in use today. Nowadays they make a handsome present for anyone who likes to call people to order….