Throughout the generations and well into the time of Charles Dick-
ens, capital punishment was not only frequently used, and for a
great many offenses, but was often, if not always, barbaric and
inhumane in the way it was imposed and accomplished. This was
in part a consequence of the limitations of technology. We do not
often stop to think of it today, but hanging a man (or woman) in
a relatively quick, surefire way is not an easy business. It requires
experience, skill, and close attention. In its glory days, great pride
was taken by efficient executioners, who knew exactly where to
place the noose's knot on the neck, how to locate and adjust the
door of the "drop," and other secrets of the trade.

The breaking of the neck, not strangulation, was the goal: The
former was quick and sure, the latter slow and sometimes a failure
(and the victim's discomfort in the meanwhile was distressing to
the tender-hearted). "Stringing up" a subject was far less likely to
produce the wished-for result than "dropping" him through a
trapdoor to a sudden, sharp jerking halt. The crowd's difficulty
with Foulon ( TTC ii22) is a good example of the pitfalls inexperi-
enced executioners could encounter. In Scotland in 1724, a mur-
deress was hanged. In a fierce clash recounted by Hubert Cole,

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