Albert Pierrepoint's Rope Poem by Sheena Blackhall

My dad met Albert in his pub in Lancashire
(Dropped in, en route, for food, down South on business)
Called Mr Pierrepoint jovial, for a hangman

Made from hemp, it's braided, twisted
Break neck fast at speedy ending
Rope, rope,it snaps the cord
That splits the living from the dying

Albert, at school, asked which career he'd choose
Replied he'd like to be an executioner
In 1931 his work began,
With four days training up at Pentonville
Next year, with uncle Tom, he hanged a farmer,
At Mountjoy Prison, Dublin
Took one minute

Made from hemp, it's braided, twisted
Break neck fast at speedy ending
Rope, rope,it snaps the cord
That splits the living from the dying

Pierrepoint's first lead hanging, was a gangster
Antonio "Babe" Mancini, contract killer
Worked out the prisoner's height, the prisoner's weight
Watched the condemned man through the "Judas hole"
Tojudge his build. Tested the gear with a sack
Decided the length of the drop he'd need to use

Made from hemp, it's braided, twisted
Break neck fast at speedy ending
Rope, rope,it snaps the cord
That splits the living from the dying

Next day, at 8am exactly
Mancini's arms were tied behind his back
Punctually walking into the hanging chamber
Over a spot that marked the trap door hatch
A white hood over his head, noose round his neck
Pierrepoint pushed a lever, through the trapdoor.
The gangster fell, neck snapped, the Hangman's fracture.

Made from hemp, it's braided, twisted
Break neck fast at speedy ending
Rope, rope,it snaps the cord
That splits the living from the dying

In wartime, Albert's skills were in demand
German spies, court martials, murderers
Hung Irma Grese and Josef Kramer,
Two beasts from Bergen-Belsen's horror camp,
And travelled several times to Hamelin town,
Pied Piper of punishment, hanging hundreds there
At home he executed British traitors
Lord Haw-Haw, Amery and Schurch,

Made from hemp, it's braided, twisted
Break neck fast at speedy ending
Rope, rope,it snaps the cord
That splits the living from the dying

Post war, he ran the Help the Poor Struggler pub
Later, the larger Rose and Crown near Preston, .
Meanwhilehe hanged the wickedest of the age
John Haigh, the Acid Bath Murderer
John Christie, serial killer and abortionist
Ruth Ellis who shot her man, crime passionnel
The innocent, Timothy Evans, of Rillington Place

Albert stood in the liminal space of decision
To kill or not to kill, the outlook changing

Made from hemp, it's braided, twisted
Break neck fast at speedy ending
Rope, rope,it snaps the cord
That splits the living from the dying

Albert had dropped above 600 people
Into the Unknown by his deadly rope
He said his job was always sacred to him
He gave the condemned dignity in dying

Some men are joiners, bakers, doctors, engineers
Albert was a public executioner
Who took a pride in his work
And like Mancini, was a contract killer

Made from hemp, it's braided, twisted
Break neck fast at speedy ending
Rope, rope,it snaps the cord
That splits the living from the dying