Throughout History there have been many executions that have been botched, or have gone wrong.
But there was one executioner in London who was known for making a mess of the bloody
job of taking a condemned criminals life.
Jack Ketch’s name carried the reputation of a brutal axeman who was known for performing
executions poorly.
It was one of his most profile killings that went horrifically wrong, and on Tower Hill
his actions were so bad that he almost incited a riot, with the crowd watching the Duke of
Monmouth’s execution so angry that they wanted to put Jack Ketch on the block next.
Join us today as we look at the most botched execution in English History, and remember
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James Scott was the son of Charles II and Lucy Walter, and was born on the 9th April
1649.
Charles the Prince of Wales was just 18 at the time, and Lucy was his first mistress.
James was born in the Netherlands, and as he was deemed illegitimate, he was unable
to succeed to the English and Scottish throne, unless he could prove that his parents had
married and he did later claim that this was the case, but the King later claimed that
he had only ever married to his Queen Catherine.
But the young James was kidnapped by the King’s men and was then sent to Paris, but on the
14th February 1663 he was taken to England and was named the Duke of Monmouth, along
with the Earl of Doncaster and Baron Scott of Tynedale.
He then in the months after became a Knight of the Garter, and shortly after he turned
14 he married Anne Scott.
James took his wife’s surname, and he was considered a popular young Protestant Man.
But he then became locked in a fierce and bloody rivalry with his uncle The Duke of
York James.
mThey both wanted to become the heir to Charles II, The Duke of York was a strong and open
catholic, and this was seen as a slight problem.
But aged 16, James Scott was part of the English fleet with his uncle during the Second Anglo
Dutch War, and then he came back and returned to become a captain of a cavalry unit.
The Duke of Monmouth continued to rise throughout army ranks, and he commanded 6000 soldiers
during the Third Anglo Dutch War, and he was named the Lord Leftenant of the East Riding
of Yorkshire, and also the Governor of Kingston upon Hull.
He was seen as a fantastic commander and soldier, and he had more prestigious roles placed on
him such as the Master of the Horse and also the Chancellor of Cambridge University.
King Charles II said that all military orders should be directed towards his illegitimate
son first, and that the Duke of Monmouth should check these.
James Scott with this order became the most important man in the armed forces, and he
continued to act as a commander fighting in the Anglo-Dutch wars, against the French.
He was a very skilled and feared soldier, and when he came home he was placed in charge
of stamping out the Scottish Covenanter Rebellion which he did.
For all of his work in the army, James Scott the Duke of Monmouth was well liked and well
respected and he was a popular figure in England.
After the Rye House Plot of 1683 which then attempted to kill Charles and James, he went
to go into exile in the Netherlands, and gathered supporters in the Netherlands for a rebellion.A
rebellion was planned to work alongside others in Scotland and England, and this was aimed
at inspiring anger towards the monarchy.
It was given the title Monmouth’s rebellion, as James Scott led the rebellion against the
target the new King, his uncle James II.
After Charles II died, his brother was coronated on the 23rd April 1685, and he was openly
Catholic.
Many across the country were worried for their protestant beliefs, and as Monmouth was protestant
they believed he would be the better King.
Some saw him as the rightful heir to Charles II’s throne, and Monmouth wanted to become
King and believed that he would be able to do it.
A rebellion rose up, and Monmouth funded it by selling much of his possessions to create
weapons and ships.
He set sail for England on the 30th May 1685, and was backed up by 3 small shifts, field
guns, 1500 muskets and he landed on the shores of Dorset, and gathered 300 men at Lyme Regis
who backed Monmouth.
James II then received news of the plot and invasion, and volunteers arrived to support
Monmouth and his army grew and grew.
They did meet royalist soldiers at Bridport, and decided then to go north to Somerset rather
than to London.
More people joined his forces, and numbered around 6000.
He declared himself the rightful King, and the result was the Battle of Sedgemoor.
Monmouth and the King’s armies met, but Monmouth ultimately lost as his poorly organised
soldiers were no match for the royalist army.
Monmouth fled, and was eventually captured in a ditch hiding.
But then quickly Parliament passed an act of attainder sentencing the Duke of Monmouth
to death as a traitor with no trial.
It was said that, ‘‘James the Duke of Monmouth has in a hostile manner invaded the
Kingdom, and the said Duke of Monmouth be convicted and attained of High Treason, and
that he suffer pained of death.’
He then was held at the Tower of London before his execution, and he claimed he was ready
for his execution.
On the morning of his execution, he dressed in clean stockings, a fresh skirt and lace
scarf as well as a grew suit and a long periwig.
His wife visited him along with their children and they bid their father farewell.
James Scott was taken on the short walk out of the Tower’s walls, towards Tower Hill
and the scaffold that would take his life was where Thomas Cromwell and many other high
ranking members of governments had met their ends.
The Scaffold had been prepared and was draped in mourning cloth, surrounded also by members
of the King’s guard.
Monmouth was led up to the scaffold where the crowd was huge, and he was then confronted
by his executioner, Jack Ketch.
Ketch is considered History’s worst executioner.
Whilst on the scaffold, Monmouth told ketch to ‘do your work well,’ and Ketch took
offence from this it’s believed.
He then also said, ‘Here are 6 guineas for you, pray you do your business well.
Do not serve me as you did my Lord Russel.
I have heard you struck him three or four times.
If you give me two strokes, I promise I will not stir.’
By referencing Ketch’s former botches, it’s believed Monmouth angered Ketch or affected
his concentration.
But Monmouth then took off his periwig and coat, and he refused to wear a blindfold whilst
he was knelt at the block.
Following this, he asked to touch Ketch’s axe and when he did this, he believed it was
not sharp enough to take his head from his body in one swift blow.
Following this, Ketch then was reassured by Ketch, and he made his final preparations.
He put his head on the block, and then Ketch first swung the axe down onto Monmouth’s
neck, but he missed and caught the side of his neck, and Scott turned to look in shock.
The Second Swing Ketch made, took a bigger chunk out of Monmouth’s neck, but then the
third swing missed completely.
Ketch then allegedly screamed, ‘God damn me, I can do no more.
My heart failed me I cannot do it.’
Following this the crowd turned against the executioner, and screamed at him, and they
threatened to kill Ketch if he could not do better.
He then picked the axe up, after he allegedly gave him and it took around 3 more blows from
the axe to kill Monmouth, but after 6 brutal and bloody swings his head was still attached
to his body.
Following this, Ketch pulled out a butchers knife and cut through the final sinews, before
Monmouth’s head fell onto the floor, and as he held it up to the crowd, boos were echoing
around Tower Hill.
The crowd rushed forward and then tried to seize Ketch, before he was escorted away by
guards who wanted his death.
James Scott’s body was taken back into the Tower of London to be buried inside the Chapel
of St Peter ad Vincula.
It was claimed that as his portrait had never been painted, his head was allegedly sewn
back on after his execution, and this was done after his body had been exhumed.
His portrait was then supposedly painted.
But James Scott, the Duke of Monmouth’s execution was brutal and savage and was one
of the most botched executions in History.
Ketch became known for being a tragic and terrible executioner, and it’s for Monmouth’s
death that he is remembered in this way.
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