[Joe Henderson]

Dear All,

The most romantic utilisation of a sheepshank that I have heard ( and I am not sure that it is true, It may just have been a wind-up of the impressionable apprentice ) was it's use as a free-fall device during the hanging of condemned men in the days of sail in the Royal Navy.

The procedure, that I was told, was as follows.

Pass a whip through a block on the rail then up and through a block at the port yard arm, then down to the deck.
Make a hangman's noose in the end.
Make a sheepshank close up to the noose, but do not pass the upper hitch, instead substitute a weak seizing.
Pass the noose over the hangee's head and snug up under an ear.
Read the sentence.
Lay on about twelve men to the tail and run away down the deck with it.

This hoists the man smartly to the yard arm- the weak seizing comes up against the top block and breaks and drops the man about six feet, thereby neatly snapping his neck etc.

All this was done at the jump so as to get it all over and done with in a few minutes.

The man was lowered to the deck and I do not know how the body was dealt with.

No mucking about with warnings and leniency in those days!

I suppose it was the only way to control the 600 or so men on board, after all, when a ship had to carry marine soldiers just to protect the officers from the men drastic measures were called for.

Regards,

Joe Henderson.