On Hanging
Hanging was popular as an execution method simply because it was a terrifying and degrading method of death. A victim could retain some human dignity with an axe or firing squad, but not with a noose. A typical hanging sequence would be:
Preparation:
The victim is tied and noosed, then is carried on a cart to the gallows. Symbolism begins here. The victim is not a person delivered by coach or horse. They are to*wed to their death in a cart, like a side of beef or a load of mature. They are already tied up and noosed, both to prevent escape and also to begin the public degredation. The British tied the hands in front (perhaps to prevent grabbing the ladder?), most other countries tied them in the rear (to make a stuggle impossible).
Final steps:
The hangman takes the rope and climbs the ladder. The victim, panicking at the thought of leaving the ground for the last time, resists. The hangman hauls the victim up by the noose. Yank and it tightens, and the victim climbs one step in order to breath. The hangman climbs another step, pulls again, and the victim climbs one more. All the way to the top. The hangman climbs onto the beam as the victim reaches the top. The hangman ties the rope to the beam and pulls the hood over the victim's face.
The hangman grabs the beam and uses it to swing to the ground. All is ready. The victim is likely shivering in terror, perhaps trying to stutter out a last prayer.
Sometimes the hangman will let this scene play out, and take his time before beginning, particularly if the victim is an unpopular type, and hasn't tipped him enough beforehand. This time the victim is a young man, convicted of theft, and the hangman is inclined to be as merciful as he can be. He does not wait.
The agony begins:
The hangman gives the side of the ladder a practiced kick. It is already unstable, with the victim high on it. It slides sideways and the victim falls toward him. The victim has barely enough time to start a last cry of fright before his weight falls onto the noose.... and the hanging begins.
Toppling as he did, the victim's body flips, his feet flying upward initially, then his body begins to swing back and forth like a bell. All his weight is now carried by his stretching neck. The victim's body stiffens in pain and terror, toes trying desperately to find a purchase on something, anything, out there. He cannot think; the world is terror and pain. The noose is pressing deep into their throat. Cut off in the midst of his last cry, he cannot get air past the painful bite of the noose. His body swings back and forth and spins first one way, then the other, as this continues.
After half a minute or so, the swaying is mostly ended, and the spinning has slowed. The victim's chest begins to heave. Slowly at first, then more rapidly. Consciousness is fading, and the need for air becoming more terrible. His mind seems to become black. The victim's last agonized memory is of urine spashing down their legs. At last it seems as if all the pain is in her his and it bursts out, leaving nothing.
His chest is still heaving, but the body now begins violent shivering; the rope itself is humming with the energy of it as the body slowly spins around. The body begins to swing slowly around with the force of it.
Another minute of this and the victim's legs begin jerking. . With this new force, he swings like a pendulum in random directions. Sometimes his knees jerk up to his chin and clamp in place there, and the crowd gasps at what it sees revealed.
It continues:
Five more minutes pass, but it seems forever. Legs jerking in every direction, chest heaving helplessly, the body flipping around and around on the rope. The crowd is stone silent. The only noise is the creaking of the rope against the beam, and the rustles of fabric as his body battles the noose. Then comes the sound of gas escaping as his bowels release. Feces drop to the ground and leave marks on his jerking legs.
More minutes pass, and his body's frantic struggle for life continues. The legs kick forward, and the body sways back; they kick back, and the body swings forward. Sometimes they work out of unison, and he seems to be pedalling an invisible apparatus. Finally, the brain is overwhelmed by the forces tearing life from it. His body snaps into a backward arch. His heels come back to shoulder level and he hangs in an unbelievable posture, belly thrust forward of the rope, and heels behind. He remains there, this time not kicking, as all the muscles lock up and seize. The only motion is the still-heaving chest.
Finally:
His body relaxes. The legs descend a bit, then a bit more. At last the muscles give way and the victim droops on the rope. His toes again extend toward the ground, in the same posture that began the process. The hands drop down, limp. The scene is silent; the rope does not even creak.
Half a minute later his chest makes a faint heave, followed by another. One leg jerks up, and then drops. A few seconds pass, and then another heave. Another half minute, one last heave, and he is still. The struggle is done, and he hangs, his body barely swaying back and forth.
The crowd waits for a time, to see if there is any further show. Then it begins to break up. The hangman checks the tower clock. Forty-five minutes to go, and then cut him down.
Hanging was popular as an execution method simply because it was a terrifying and degrading method of death. A victim could retain some human dignity with an axe or firing squad, but not with a noose. A typical hanging sequence would be:
Preparation:
The victim is tied and noosed, then is carried on a cart to the gallows. Symbolism begins here. The victim is not a person delivered by coach or horse. They are to*wed to their death in a cart, like a side of beef or a load of mature. They are already tied up and noosed, both to prevent escape and also to begin the public degredation. The British tied the hands in front (perhaps to prevent grabbing the ladder?), most other countries tied them in the rear (to make a stuggle impossible).
Final steps:
The hangman takes the rope and climbs the ladder. The victim, panicking at the thought of leaving the ground for the last time, resists. The hangman hauls the victim up by the noose. Yank and it tightens, and the victim climbs one step in order to breath. The hangman climbs another step, pulls again, and the victim climbs one more. All the way to the top. The hangman climbs onto the beam as the victim reaches the top. The hangman ties the rope to the beam and pulls the hood over the victim's face.
The hangman grabs the beam and uses it to swing to the ground. All is ready. The victim is likely shivering in terror, perhaps trying to stutter out a last prayer.
Sometimes the hangman will let this scene play out, and take his time before beginning, particularly if the victim is an unpopular type, and hasn't tipped him enough beforehand. This time the victim is a young man, convicted of theft, and the hangman is inclined to be as merciful as he can be. He does not wait.
The agony begins:
The hangman gives the side of the ladder a practiced kick. It is already unstable, with the victim high on it. It slides sideways and the victim falls toward him. The victim has barely enough time to start a last cry of fright before his weight falls onto the noose.... and the hanging begins.
Toppling as he did, the victim's body flips, his feet flying upward initially, then his body begins to swing back and forth like a bell. All his weight is now carried by his stretching neck. The victim's body stiffens in pain and terror, toes trying desperately to find a purchase on something, anything, out there. He cannot think; the world is terror and pain. The noose is pressing deep into their throat. Cut off in the midst of his last cry, he cannot get air past the painful bite of the noose. His body swings back and forth and spins first one way, then the other, as this continues.
After half a minute or so, the swaying is mostly ended, and the spinning has slowed. The victim's chest begins to heave. Slowly at first, then more rapidly. Consciousness is fading, and the need for air becoming more terrible. His mind seems to become black. The victim's last agonized memory is of urine spashing down their legs. At last it seems as if all the pain is in her his and it bursts out, leaving nothing.
His chest is still heaving, but the body now begins violent shivering; the rope itself is humming with the energy of it as the body slowly spins around. The body begins to swing slowly around with the force of it.
Another minute of this and the victim's legs begin jerking. . With this new force, he swings like a pendulum in random directions. Sometimes his knees jerk up to his chin and clamp in place there, and the crowd gasps at what it sees revealed.
It continues:
Five more minutes pass, but it seems forever. Legs jerking in every direction, chest heaving helplessly, the body flipping around and around on the rope. The crowd is stone silent. The only noise is the creaking of the rope against the beam, and the rustles of fabric as his body battles the noose. Then comes the sound of gas escaping as his bowels release. Feces drop to the ground and leave marks on his jerking legs.
More minutes pass, and his body's frantic struggle for life continues. The legs kick forward, and the body sways back; they kick back, and the body swings forward. Sometimes they work out of unison, and he seems to be pedalling an invisible apparatus. Finally, the brain is overwhelmed by the forces tearing life from it. His body snaps into a backward arch. His heels come back to shoulder level and he hangs in an unbelievable posture, belly thrust forward of the rope, and heels behind. He remains there, this time not kicking, as all the muscles lock up and seize. The only motion is the still-heaving chest.
Finally:
His body relaxes. The legs descend a bit, then a bit more. At last the muscles give way and the victim droops on the rope. His toes again extend toward the ground, in the same posture that began the process. The hands drop down, limp. The scene is silent; the rope does not even creak.
Half a minute later his chest makes a faint heave, followed by another. One leg jerks up, and then drops. A few seconds pass, and then another heave. Another half minute, one last heave, and he is still. The struggle is done, and he hangs, his body barely swaying back and forth.
The crowd waits for a time, to see if there is any further show. Then it begins to break up. The hangman checks the tower clock. Forty-five minutes to go, and then cut him down.
