The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1908-10-28
/ WALKING GALI.L0NS
The Horrible Deeds of Lieutenant
Hepensiall.
HANGED MEN FROM HIS NECK
This Handsome but Brutal Giant OF
the Wicklow Militia Was the Most
Cold Blooded and Eccentric Exeeu-
toner That Has Ever Existed.

Cold BIoo5ed and Eccentric Exeeu-
toner That Has Ever Existed.
Among The examples and records OF
British tyranny during the terrible
vear 11oS there is none more exraor-
dinary, according to q writer IN an
English magazine, than that Of Lieu
tenant Edward Eepenstall, known by
the nickname Of ':the walking gal
lows for such be certainly was, 1T
orally and practically.
This notorious individual, who had
been brought up as an apothecacy n
Dublin, obtained a commission IN the
Wicklow militia, in which he attained
10 the rank of lieutenant in 1885. 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:
81 knew him we'll and from his coun-
tenance should never have suspected
him CT cruelty, but so cold blooded and
eccentric an e1ecutioner Of the human
race never yet existed"
At the outbreak Of the sanguinary ie-
bellion, when the common Law was
suspended and the stern martial va
riety fourished in its stead, Lieutenant
Eepenstall hit upon the expedient OF
hanging on his own back persons
whose physiognomies he considered
characteristic OF seditious tenets. At
the present day the story seems almost
Incredible, but it is notorious TACT,
revealed by the Journalism Of the pc
riod, that when rebels, either suspected
or caught red handed, were brought be-
fore him Hepenstal would order the
cord Of a drum to be taken of and
then, rigging up 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 walking galbws" was clearly
both new and simple plan and
mode Of execution not nearly so
tedious or painful as a Tyburn or Old
Bailey hanging. It answered bis
majesty's service as well as two posts
and q crowbar. When rope was not
at hand Eepenstalps own silk cra7at,
being softer than an ordinary halter,
became q merciful substitute.
In pursuance Of these benevolent in
tentions the lieutenant would frequent
y administer an @aesthetic to his
trembling victm-tn other words, be
would first knock him silly with a
blow. His garters then did the duty
as handouts, and the cravat would be
slipped over the condemned mans
neck.
Whenever he hadsan unusually pow
erful victim to do with, Hepenstali
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 tot about with his
burden like joltng cart horse until
the rebel had no further sohcitude
about sublunary affairs. It was after
one Of these rottng executions, which
had taken place in the barEack yard
adjoining Stephens green, that Hep
penstaL ACQUIRED the surname Of "the
walking gallows." he was invested
with it by the gallery Of Crow Street
theater, Dublin
At the trial Of rebel IN that city
the lieutenant, undergoing cross exam
ination, admitted the aforementioned
details Of bis method Of hanging, and
Lord Norbury, the presiding judge,
warmly complimented him OF his 10y
atty and assured him that he had been
guilty Of no act which was not natural
to a jealous, loyal and Efficient officer.
Lieutenant Hepenstall, however, did
not long survive his mdeous practice.
He died in 1904. Owing to the odium
in which he was universally held, the
authorities arranged that his funeTa!
should take place secretly, while a
Dublin wit suggested that his tomb
stone would be suitably inscribed BY
the following epitaph:
Here lie the bones Of Eepeastau,
Judge, jury, gallows, rope and all.