HIGHWAYMEN 177 



to Tyburn they laughed and joked, bowed to the crowd, 

 and went boldly and unflinchingly to their death. ^ 



When the last grim rites were over, their bodies 

 were cut down, and often hung in chains in conspicuous 

 places on the roads where they had robbed during their 

 lives, so that the dismal spe6lacle might deter others 

 from following in their footsteps, and, incidentally, 

 constitute a terror to belated travellers. ^ 



^ Executions were looked upon as a species of public entertain- 

 ment. In Ingoldsby Legends^ Lord Tomnoddy, inquiring of 

 Tiger Tim, "What may a nobleman find to do?" received reply: 

 "An't please you, my lord, there's man to be hanged." 



2 Mrs. Anne and I rode under a man that hangs upon Shooters 

 Hill, and a filthy sight it was to see how his flesh is shrunk to his 

 bones. Pefys's Diary ^ April 11, 1661. 



12 



