When researching pirates, I discovered a lot of stories about hangings. One tale included reports of the condemned person being transported through town—and being allowed to stop at a tavern so he could have a last drink before reaching the gallows.
The story of the hangman Mutton Curry also surfaced in my research. Curry was supposedly so inebriated during an execution he had trouble getting the noose around the culprit’s neck. There's also the report of Curry standing to close to the opening and tumbling downward as the condemned man did.
A somber poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, refers to the 1896 hanging of Charles Thomas Wooldrige for the murder of his wife. This stark verse is made all the more intense by the knowledge that the author was also a prisoner during the time of the execution. Although the poem is supposedly quite well-known in some areas, I’d never heard of it until researching. This gave me a different perspective on the writer, Oscar Wilde.
The link to the poem follows:
http://emotionalliteracyeducation.com/classic_books_online/rgaol10.htm
The story of the hangman Mutton Curry also surfaced in my research. Curry was supposedly so inebriated during an execution he had trouble getting the noose around the culprit’s neck. There's also the report of Curry standing to close to the opening and tumbling downward as the condemned man did.
A somber poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, refers to the 1896 hanging of Charles Thomas Wooldrige for the murder of his wife. This stark verse is made all the more intense by the knowledge that the author was also a prisoner during the time of the execution. Although the poem is supposedly quite well-known in some areas, I’d never heard of it until researching. This gave me a different perspective on the writer, Oscar Wilde.
The link to the poem follows:
http://emotionalliteracyeducation.com/classic_books_online/rgaol10.htm
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