The
executioner, a muscular Derbyshire coal miner, selected by the sheriff
for his proficiency in wielding the pick, was masked, and his name kept
a profound secret. Brandreth's neck received only one stroke, but it was
not clean done, and the assistant (also masked) finished it off with a
knife. Then the executioner laid hold of the head by the hair, and
holding it at arm's length, to the left, to the right, and in front of
the scaffold, called out three times--'Behold the head of the traitor,
Jeremiah Brandreth.' The other two were served in like manner. Turner's
neck received one blow and the knife had to be applied, but Ludlam's
head fell at once. The scaffold was surrounded by a great force of
cavalry with drawn swords, and several companies of infantry were also
present. The space in front of the gaol was densely packed with
spectators."[19] "When the first stroke of the axe was heard," says an
eye-witness, "there was a burst of horror from the crowd, and the
instant the head was exhibited, there was a terrifying shriek set up,
and the multitude ran violently in all directions, as if under the
influence of a sudden frenzy."[20]

The poet Shelley is said to have witnessed the painful spectacle. On the
previous day had passed away in childbirth the Princess Charlotte. The
two circumstances formed the subject of an able pamphlet, drawing a
contrast between the deaths, and furnishing a description of the scene
within and without the prison at Derby. "When Edward Turner (one of
those transported)," says Shelley, "saw his brother dragged along upon
the hurdle, he shrieked horribly, and fell in a fit, and was carried
away like a corpse by two men. How fearful must have been their agony
sitting in solitude that day when the tempestuous voice of horror from
the crowd told them that the head so dear to them was severed from the
body! Yes, they listened to the maddening shriek which burst from the
multitude; they heard the rush of ten thousand terror-stricken feet, the
groans and hootings which told them that the mangled and distorted head
was then lifted in the air." The title of Shelley's pamphlet is "We pity
the Plumage, but forget the Dying Bird. An Address to the People on the
Death of the Princess Charlotte. By the Hermit of Marlow."

On the same night the three executed men were buried without any
religious service in one grave in the churchyard of St. Werburgh, Derby.

When Dr. Cox was preparing for the press his