Hanging in Chains
PIRATE’S CHAINS.
(From the Thames.)
Hanging in Chains
BY
ALBERT HARTSHORNE, F.S.A.
“No, no; let them hang, and their names rot, and their
crimes live for ever against them” (Mercy to Greatheart:
The Pilgrim’s Progress, Chapter iv.).
New York
THE CASSELL PUBLISHING COMPANY
104 & 106 FOURTH AVENUE
MDCCCXCIII
PREFACE.
Of the twelve regular methods of proceeding in the courts of criminal jurisdiction in England, the last—that of execution—is the only one that is particularly treated of in the following pages. “Sus. per col.” has been, as it were, the only warrant; but in attempting to trace some items in a record that runs like a scarlet thread through the long course of events that constitutes history, it has not been possible, on the one hand, to avoid touching upon other modes and details of capital punishment in England, or, on the other, to escape from straying somewhat into the catalogue of what Blackstone calls “the shocking apparatus of death and punishment” to be met with in the criminal codes of other European nations. And while this course has been pursued,—certainly rather by way of comment and illustration, than with any desire to “accumulate horrors on horror’s head,”—an endeavour has also been made, in carrying down the pitiful story, to dissipate some of the clouds of mystery and fable that have clustered round the Gibbet. Removed, as we happily are by time, from a period when it was lawful, and even accepted as fitting, that men who bore the brand of Cain should be made the subject of a revolting and disgraceful spectacle, we can approach the matter without prejudice, and with proper calmness; but it is, perhaps, not so easy at once to realize how great is the change that has taken place in national feeling and sympathy since George the Third was king. And if humanity would recoil to-day with abhorrence from the actual gibbet, sensation itself would be stunned at the punishment for High Treason,—at the drawing and quartering of patriots, whose names may shine in history “through their tears like wrinkled pebbles in a glassy stream.” It will be borne in mind that the gallows and the gibbet are the most ancient instruments of capital punishment in the world; as such they have a distinct archæological as well as a legal interest; and, inasmuch as it appears that the custom of exposing human bodies in irons and chains is almost peculiar to this country, doubtless no further motive need be adduced for now bringing together these scattered English notices. And it is thought that what may be lacking in other respects may be somewhat compensated for by the historical and antiquarian features, so that, in spite of its rather ominous title, the book may be found not entirely repellent.
Bradbourne Hall, Ashbourne.
April, 1891.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
| [CHAPTER I,] | PAGE |
| Gibbeting and exposure with the ancient Jews; their strong desire for burial, and abhorrence at being cast out,—exemplified from the Scriptures,—David, Jotham, Azariah; Jehoiakim. Gibbeting with the Egyptians; the Chief Baker. The watches of Rizpah; the seven crosses. Desire of the Greeks for interment; examples from the Iliad; the Æneid. Gibbeting with the Etruscans, Pliny; the Cross. Gibbeting with the Romans; their dread of exposure, Ovid; the Cross, the Gibbet. The Great Sacrifice. Gibbeting of Saints | 1-12 |
| [CHAPTER II.] | |
| Gibbeting with the Anglo-Saxons; Hanging in Chains. High Treason,—punishment for,—examples in fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries. Drawing and Quartering. Wallace; the Despencers; Hotspur. Executions for “the —45.” Gibbeting in Jersey. Gallows and Gibbet,—difference between, in England; in France | 13-25 |
| [CHAPTER III.] | |
| Punishments and gibbeting in Germany; in England, in seventeenth century; in Scotland,—Treason and Chains. The Gibbet in France; Fourches Patibulaires of Montfaucon,—La Grande Justice,—description of; mode of operation; allusions to in early poetry; Gibbet of Montigny; Gibbeting of animals | 26-41 |
| [CHAPTER IV.] | |
| The Gallows and Gibbet in Spain. Gibbeting of animals in Holland | 42-48 |
| [CHAPTER V.] | |
| The “Pilgrim’s Progress.” Entry of Charles V. into Douai. Punishment of women in England; in France. Examples of Hangings in Chains, 1671-1717 | 49-59 |
| [CHAPTER VI.] | |
| Piracy, 1725. Sir Walter Scott. “Standing Mute.” Squeezing the Thumbs. Peine forte et dure, example of, 1674. The Rack. Burning alive. High Treason,—defined. Petition for Hanging in Chains. Examples of Gibbeting, 1742, 1751. The Smugglers; death from horror of irons. Witchcraft | 60-69 |
| [CHAPTER VII.] | |
| Gibbeting in Chains first legally recognized, 1752; but not part of the sentence. Roman law concerning Gibbeting. Its rapid increase in England. Terror at prospect of Gibbet and Chains. Preparation and treatment of the body. Effect of Gibbeting on spectators and traffic. Hogarth. Thames Pirates gibbeted,—attraction for holiday-makers. Behaviour at Northampton | 70-77 |
| [CHAPTER VIII.] | |
| Examples of Hangings in Chains, 1752-1777. Jemmy Dawson. Double Gibbet,—Mr. Kerrich’s sketches. Robbing the mail,—triple gibbet. Robbing the mail and gibbeting, 1788; Robbing the mail and murdering the post-boy, and gibbeting. Double Gibbet, 1796. Robbing the mail and hanging in irons, 1799 | 78-86 |
| [CHAPTER IX.] | |
| Bewick’s illustrations of the Gibbet | 87-92 |
| [CHAPTER X.] | |
| Example of Hanging in Chains, 1800. Tradition of Hanging alive in Chains,—Hollingshed, Chettle,—considered, and set aside. Ambrose Gwinnett, 1709. Hanging, Boiling, and Quartering | 93-101 |
| [CHAPTER XI.] | |
| Example of Hanging in Chains, 1808. Gibbet riddle. Spence Broughton. Hanging in Chains at Malta. A Hand gibbeted. Supposed Gibbeting alive in Bengal, and in Jamaica. The Chapter House at Lincoln a criminal court, 1827; the gibbeting remitted. Example in 1832; severance of last personal link with the Gibbet (April 14, 1891). Last example of Hanging in Chains, 1834. Its abolition by Statute. Gibbet with Wooden Head, in memoriam. Conclusion.—The Halifax Gibbet | 102-114 |
[LIST OF GIBBETING IRONS AND CHAINS.]
Ashmolean Museum.—Eight separate portions of Irons found in various parts of Oxford. Some have cylindrical padlocks attached to them.
Chester Museum.—A leg-piece.
Doddington Hall, Lincoln.—Parts of Tommy Otter’s Irons. See [p. 104].
Leicester Gaol.—Cook’s Irons. See [p. 111].
Norwich Gaol.—Watson’s Irons. See [p. 94].
Norwich Museum.—A Head-piece.
Preston.—Irons.
Rye, Court Hall.—Breeds’s Irons. See [p. 66]. [Illustrated].
Skegness Museum.—Irons.
Warrington Museum.—Miles’s Irons. See [p. 85]. [Illustrated].
Winchester.—Irons.
In the possession of Lady Dorothy Nevill.—A leg-piece of Carter’s Irons. See [p. 68].
In the possession of the Rev. J. W. Tottenham.—Two sets of Pirate’s Chains from the Thames. See [p. 75]. [Illustrated].
