Spectacle
London is truly the home of the spectacle and was even more so during the eighteenth century. Show, show, show was the cry of London crowds. There were many shows to be seen in the London Streets but the greatest fair of all was held at Smithfield. It was known as Bartholomew’s Fair
The Old Bailey itself was designed as a dramatic
spectacle, and was even compared with a giant Punch
and Judy show where the judges sat within the open
portico of a Session House which resembled a
theatrical backdrop. Within the chapel of Newgate
there were galleries where spectators were invited to
watch the antics of those condemned to die. Some of
those brave souls would deliberately entertain their
audience with acts of defiance or outrageousness. The
theatre did not end in the prison chapel, but continued
upon the little stage where the execution took place.
There was one particularly theatrical episode at and
execution for treason. According to traditional sentence,
those found guilty were to be hanged and then beheaded.
When the executioner had come to the last of the heads
he lifted it up, but, by some clumsiness, allowed it to
drop. At this the crowd yelled out “Ah, Butter fingers!”
This manifests the peculiar temperament of the London
crowd of that time, combining humour and savagery in
equal measure. The scene for Gow at Wapping in June
1725 would have been dreadfully similar.
