'G' is for 'Gibbet'

  

According to a dictionary I found on the internet (hey, it’s probably as reliable as Wikipedia), a “gibbet” is:

    (jib it)

1.  A device used for hanging a person until dead; a gallows
2. An upright post with a crosspiece forming to make a T-shaped structure from which criminals were hung for public viewing.
3.  A kind of gallow.  This, to me, sounds repetitive.  Because, after all, doesn’t it say the same thing as #1?

 

"Hey, you suck."

"Okay, I take it back."

    

"Well, that's me dead."

    I know it says it's a "T-shaped" structure.  None of the above is T-shaped, although I have found a picture that does show a gibbet like that, which can accommodate two people.  But, I didn't post it because I figure you get the point. 

    A “giblet,” on the other hand refers to the “edible viscera of a bird.”

"Mmmmm......bird viscera giblet with gravy........."

      Both seem kinda gross. if you ask me.

    Anyway, a gibbet is a medieval form of punishment (which went along with “gibbeting,” meaning “hanging from chains") whereby a criminal, charged with treason, murder, buggery, or spitting on the street, was placed inside a cage and hung for passersby to look and gawk at.

 

"Whoaaaaaa, that can't be good.  I'd better watch where I spit."
Hey, this looks like one of those "T-shaped" gibbets.  Well, whaddya know?

    Most of the time, offenders were dead when put inside but, almost just as often, they were placed in them alive.  Where they would stay until they died of exposure, starvation, or heartbreak of psoriasis.

    Along the way, their bodies would be pecked away at by birds and their giblets, worn away by the elements, and eaten by bugs.

    Yeah, imagine that smell.

 

"And here is your spacious back yard with a breathtaking river view and a gibbet. 
Which isn't too, too bad.  Until the wind shifts. 
Then, you might want to stay inside."

     Even though the practice started as early as the 16^th century, it wasn’t officially codified in England until the “Murder Act of 1752.”  There it remained in effect until it was banned in 1834 and replaced by the Royal Family Halitosis Act.

     One of the most notable criminals to suffer this fate was the notorious Captain Kidd, gibbeted in London in 1701.

 

"Yar."

Who, frankly, would probably have preferred going that way than breathing the King’s bad breath.

"Ay, tis be true."