The block is said to be of less ancient date, but is known to have been used at the execution of three Scotch lords—the unfortunate adherents of the Pretender—a little more than a century ago. On the top part of the block, there are three distinct cuts, two of them very deep and parallel, and the other at an angle and less effective.
The horrible instrument of torture called the "Scavenger's Daughter," was, in the "good old days," used as a means of extorting confession. The head of the culprit was passed through the circular hole at the top, and the arms through those below. The whole of this part of the machine opens in somewhat the same manner as a pair of tongs, the upper part being fixed round the neck and arms, and the semicircular irons placed on the legs. The body was then bent, and a strong iron bar was passed through the irons connected with the head and arms, and those in which the legs were placed. "The culprit would then," as one of the "Beefeaters" who attends on visitors makes a point of observing, "be doubled up into very small compass, and made exceedingly uncomfortable."
The Bilboes need little explanation, being only a strong rod of iron, with a nob at one end, on which are two moveable hoops, for the purpose of holding the legs; these being fixed, and a heavy iron padlock put on the proper part—the wearer was said to be in a Bilboe. Instruments of this description were much used on board of ship for the purpose of securing prisoners of war.
The Iron Collar is a persuader of a formidable description, for it weighs upwards of 14 lbs., and is so made that it can be fixed on the neck and then locked. Such a necklace would, we think, be sufficiently inconvenient; but it is rendered still more uncomfortable by sundry prickles of iron knowingly placed.
The Thumb-screw, also preserved in the Tower, is a characteristic example of a species of torture at one time much resorted to. The engraved example has been constructed so as to press both thumbs; nevertheless, it is a convenient little instrument, which might be easily carried about in the pocket. We have met with varieties of the thumb-screw in several collections—some for the accommodation of one thumb only. In the Museum of the Royal Antiquarian Society of Scotland there are some thumb-screws which are said to have been used upon the Covenanters.
1. The Executioner's Axe. 2. The Block on which Lords Balmerino, Lovat, &c., were beheaded. 3. The Scavenger's Daughter. 4. Spanish Bilboes. 5. Massive Iron Collar for the Neck. 6. Thumb-Screw.
Times have changed for the better since the "Scavenger's Daughter," and the other matters represented, were amongst the mildest of the methods used for the purposes of punishment and intimidation. The stocks, the public whipping-posts, boilings, and burnings in Smithfield and elsewhere, the exhibition of dead men's heads over gateways, the boot, the rack, the pillory, the practice of making men eat their own books in Cheapside, drawing on hurdles to the place of execution, and then hanging, drawing, and quartering, chopping off hands and ears, and other revolting punishments, have gone out of use, and it is gratifying to know that we are all the better for it.