Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1908-10-23
A WALKING GALLONS
The Horrible Deeds of Lieutenant
HepenstaIl.
HANGED MEN FROM HIS NECK
This Handsome but Brutal Giant Of
the Wicklow Militia Was the Most
Cold BIooded and Eccentric Exeeu-
tioner That Has Ever Existed.

Cold Biooded ana eccentric Execu
TONER That Has Ever Existed.
Among the examples and records oil
British tyranny during the terrible
year 1893 there Is none more extraor
binary, according tosa writer in. al
English magazine, than that Of Lieu
tenant Edward Hepenstall. known by
the nickname Of 'the walking gal
lows" for such he certainly was, Lit.
orally and practically.
This notorious individual, who had
been brought up as an apothecary In
Dublin, obtained commission I'm the
Wicklow militia, In which he attained
to the rank of lieutenant In 1705. He
was man Of splendid physique, about
six feet two inches In height and
strong and broad in proportion. Refer
ring to this handsome but brutal giant.
Sir Jonah Darlington In his memoirs
states.
IT knew him well and from his coun-
tenance should never have suspected
him of cruelty, but so cold blooded and
eccentric an executioner Of the human
race never yet existed"
At the outbreak of the sanguinary re-
bellion, when the common law was
suspended and the stern martial va
riety flourished In its stead, Lieutenant
Hepenstall hit upon the expedient Of
hanging on his own back persons
whose physiognomies he considered
characteristic Of sediti0us tenets. At
the present day the story seems almost
Incredible, but 1t is notorious fact,
revealed by the journalism of the pc
Rod, that when rebels, either suspected
or caught red handed, were brought be-
fore him Hepenstall would order the
cord Of drum to be taken off and
then, rigging up a running moose,
would proceed to hang each In turn
across his athletic shoulders until the
victims had been slowly strangled to
death, after which he would throw
down his load and take up another.
The "walling gallows' was clearly
both new and simple plan and
mode Of execution not nearly SO
tedious or painful as Tyburn or Old
Bailey hanging. 1t answered his
service as well as two posts
and q crowbar. When rope was not
at hand Hepenstall's own silk cravat,
being softer than an ordinary halter,
became q merciful substitute.
In pursuance of these benevolent In
tentions the lieutenant would frequent
ly administer an anaesthetic to his
victim-in other words, he
would first knock him silly with q |
blow. His garters then did the duty |
Us handouts, and the cravat would be !
slipped over the condemned mans
neck.
Whenever he had an unusually. pow
erful victim to do with, Hepehstall
took a pride In showing his own
strength. With dexterous lunge Of |
his body the lieutenant used to draw
up the poor devils head as high as his
own and then, when both were cheek
by jowl, begin to trot about with his
burden like jolting cart horse unit!
The rebel had no further solicitude
about sublunary affairs. 1t was after
,ne of these trotting executions, which
lad taken place In the barrack yard
Stephens green, that Hep
)enstall acquired the surname OF "the
Walking gallows." He was Invested
With 1t by the gallery Of Crow Street
heater, Dublin.
At the trial of rebel In that city
he lieutenant, undergoing cross exam-
nation, admitted the aforementioned
ietails of his method Of hanging, and
Lord Norbury, the presiding Judge,
warmly complimented him on his 10y
lily and assured him that he had been
,uilty of no act which was not natural
0 Jealous, loyal and efficient officer.
Lieutenant Hepenstall, however, di
lot long survive his hideous practice.
lie died In 1904. Owing to the odium
Il which he was universally held, the
authorities arranged that his funeral
hould take place secretly, while q
Dublin wit suggested that his tomb
tone would be suitably inscribed by
he following epitaph:
Here lie the bones of HepenStall.
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