Hi, my name's Kevin Hicks and welcome to my YouTube channel
the History Squad. Now today's film is about the execution on 13th of October 1660 of Major General
Harrison who was hung drawn and quartered.
So Major General Thomas Harrison a hero of the English civil war. Should never been called
an English civil war it was in Wales England Scotland and Ireland. He was a great soldier
and from what I can tell a great Englishman born in Staffordshire, Newcastle under Lyme.
Harrison was one of the signatories on the death warrant of Charles I, that makes him a regicide.
Now this is fine until Charles II comes back to the throne, who was supposed to forgive
all of his father's enemies. But no, he will have revenge. Cromwell's body and
Ireton and Bradshaw’s bodies are all dug up and executed in mock executions but Major General
Thomas Harrison was one of, I think it was nine regicides, who will be hang drawn and quartered.
Now Thomas Harrison was getting on now right, and when they say you know, run, run you know
Charles II government is after you, he didn't. He didn't run. This is an honorable gentleman.
He was arrested, sent to Newgate the prison and then he was put on trial. But the trial
is nothing more than a set up. Every time that Thomas Harrison tried to defend himself he was
shouted down by the judge and then standing next to him they actually had the executioner,
the man who's gonna kill him. He stood there dressed in horrible garb they say,
in black with the hangman's noose already in his hand. He's going to be hung, drawn and quartered.
When they do it, 13th of October 1660 he is dragged through the streets of London from Newgate
to Charring Cross on a hurdle, basically a gate drawn behind a horse. It's uh, it's a disgrace
that's what it is, and people can throw stuff at you and shout at you and all that kind of stuff.
As he tries to walk up the steps to the scaffold, the wooden platform, people laugh at him and they
jeer because he's trembling. But at the top of the steps he turns, he says “no, no good people,
I tremble because of the many wounds I have suffered in those unpleasant wars.” He's cheerful
he even passes the time of day with people he knows. So he was hanged, when they cut him down
he was fully conscious. That's not really how it's supposed to work.
Hanged, drawn and quartered, you're hung till you're insensible, you're,
you're almost semi-conscious you are then lain on the table, there is a brazier nearby burning away.
Your genitalia, your testicles and that are cut off, shown to you, they are then put on the fire.
Then using a bill hook they open up your ad abdomen, cut out your entrails
they then burn them in front of you.
They then reach inside and if they can, cut out your heart and snatch it while it's still beating.
They show it to you. This is split second stuff. Then they burn it and then of course they'll cut
your head off, chop your arms and legs off and you are quartered yeah? But that didn't quite happen
with Thomas Harrison Major General Thomas Harrison. This is actually awful. This gentleman,
cheerful, gone to his death but they've hanged him, cut him down and he is completely
conscious. He lies on the table and uh they cut off his genitalia show it to him burn
it. They then slice open his abdomen, and the legend goes, that he leaned forward
and struck his executioner who then hurriedly cut off his head, the entrails were burned.
But other eyewitness accounts say that he was fully awake
as they cut out his entrails. He would have only died once they cut out his beating heart.
The body though was eventually returned to his family and he's buried in St Giles church in
Newcastle under Lyme in Staffordshire. His headstone is long lost, which I think is sad, it's
a shame because in my book Major General Thomas Harrison was a great Englishman, a brave soldier.
So we have an eyewitness account of uh the execution of our Major General Thomas Harrison
it's Samuel Pepys, he of the famous diary I'll read you what uh he wrote. This is actually on a
plaque outside the pub Hung, Drawn and quartered which is adjacent to where poor Thomas Harrison
was killed. “I went to Charing Cross to see Major General Harrison hanged, drawn and quartered which
was done there. He looked as cheerful as any man could do in that condition. He was presently
cut down and his head and heart shown to the people at which there was great shouts of joy.”
I can't get my head around the fact that people watched these executions and thought it was
wonderful and many of those who would have been in the crowd would have once fought for parliament
but now they have a new king, a treacherous king,
Charles II.
Well, I hope you enjoyed our film. If you did, like, share and subscribe, really appreciate that.
But if you'd like to support the channel even further we now have a Patreon account,
the link of which is in the description, but for now thank you very much. Bye.