iff of
the town received an intimation that should another case occur, he would
be called to public account. The number of beheadals in each of the
reigns comprised in the above dates are: five in the last six years of
the reign of Henry VIII.; twenty-five in the reign of Elizabeth; seven
in the reign of James I.; ten in the reign of Charles I.; two during
the Commonwealth.

[Illustration: HALIFAX GIBBET, BY HOYLE.]

In the year 1650, John Hoyle made a drawing of the Halifax gibbet, which
is regarded as a faithful representation of it. On the crown of the hill
will be noticed a sketch of the ancient beacon.

An account of the last occasion upon which the services of the Halifax
gibbet were called into requisition is interesting; it is contained in a
rare book: "Halifax and its Gibbet Law placed in a True Light." It was
written by Dr. Samuel Midgley, during an imprisonment for debt, and was
published in 1708. "About the latter end of April, A.D. 1650, Abraham
Wilkinson, John Wilkinson, and Anthony Mitchel were apprehended within
the Manor of Wakefield and the liberties of Halifax, for divers
felonious practices, and brought or caused to be brought into the
custody of the chief bailiff of Halifax, in order to have their trials
for acquittal or condemnation, according to the custom of the Forest of
Hardwick, at the complaint and prosecution of Samuel Colbeck of Wardley,
within the liberty of Halifax; John Fielden of Stansfield, within the
said liberty; and John Cusforth of Durker, in the parish of Sandall,
within the Manor of Wakefield." The Bailiff, according to the ancient
custom, issued a summons to the "several constables of Halifax, Sowerby,
Warley, and Skircoat," charging them to appear at his house on the 27th
day of April, 1650, each accompanied by four men, "the most ancient,
intelligent, and of the best ability" within his constabulary, to
determine the cases. The constables were merely the law officers, the
jurors being the sixteen "most ancient men," and whose names are given
at length. They were empanelled in a convenient room at the Bailiff's
house, where the accused and their prosecutors were brought "face to
face" before them, as also the stolen goods, to be by them viewed,
examined, and appraised. The court was opened by the following address
from the Bailiff: "Neighbours and friends,--You are summoned hither and
empanelled according to the ancient custom of the Forest of Hardwick,
and by virtue you are