London, Shaftoe (pp 339–349)

In the poverty-stricken East End of London in 1665, the young Shaftoe brothers are cast out by their mother to scavenge the banks of the Thames.

“The way of the mudlarks (as the men who trafficked through Mother Shaftoe’s bed styled themselves)” — Historically, mudlarks were scavengers who searched the muddy shores of the River Thames at low tide for anything of value, a desperate occupation associated with the extreme poverty of London’s docklands.

“Nearing the stern of a tubby Dutch galjoot” — A galjoot (or galliot) was a type of shallow-draft Dutch merchant ship with a rounded hull and leeboards, commonly used in the 17th century for coastal trading and navigating shallow waters.

“The mudlarks were packed off to Newgate.” — Newgate Prison was London’s primary and most notorious gaol for centuries, famed for its overcrowding, rampant disease, and its proximity to the site of public executions.

“the purpose of which was to get the mudlarks to memorize the 51st Psalm” — This refers to the Benefit of Clergy, a legal loophole that allowed defendants to escape the death penalty by proving they could read; because the same text was used so often, even illiterate criminals would memorize it to save their lives.

“memorize the 51st Psalm… Have mercie upon me, o God” — Known as the Miserere, this specific psalm was used for the reading test because its opening plea for mercy was deemed appropriate for a sinner; it became known as the “neck verse” because it saved one’s neck from the noose.

“straight and narrow passage to the Old Bailey” — The Old Bailey is the Central Criminal Court of London, which has stood on the same site near Newgate Prison since the 16th century to try the city’s most serious crimes.

“a red-hot iron in the shape of a T had been plunged into the brawn of his thumb” — Judicial branding was used on those who successfully claimed benefit of clergy; a “T” for thief or “M” for murderer ensured the offender could not use the legal loophole a second time for a future crime.

“sentenced, of course, to hang by the neck until dead at Tyburn.” — Tyburn was the primary site for public executions in London for over 600 years, located at a major road junction that is now near Marble Arch.

“Jack Ketch was now the man to watch.” — Jack Ketch is the default nickname for all English executioners. The original namesake isn’t recorded in the position until 1678, making the name here a slight anachronism. Stephenson’s annotation: “He remains renowned in the annals of capital punishment for being profoundly bad at his profession.” From the original wiki: “Sir Charles Lyttelton reports that in the attempt to behead Lord William Russell, Ketch ‘gave him 3 blows, besides sawing wth ye ax, before he cut his head of.’”

“meet him at the Triple Tree on the morning of his execution.” — The Triple Tree was a unique, three-sided permanent gallows erected at Tyburn in 1571, designed to hang up to 24 prisoners simultaneously to accommodate the massive scale of public executions.

“A preacher—the Ordinary of Newgate—was there” — The Ordinary of Newgate was the prison’s chaplain; he was often a controversial figure who published “Accounts” of the prisoners’ last dying speeches and confessions, which were sold as popular street literature.

“The coins were clipped, worn, and blackened, but they were coins.” — Coin clipping involved shaving the edges off precious metal currency to melt down for bullion; the practice was so widespread in the 17th century that it eventually forced the Great Recoinage of 1696.

“large fabricks called Gates, viz. Ludgate, Moorgate, and Bishopsgate. They had even passed through Aldgate” — These were the historic London City Gates built into the Roman-era London Wall; by the 1660s, they functioned as landmarks, toll points, and occasionally as smaller prisons.

“the Press-Yard, where the richest prisoners sat drinking port and claret” — The Press-Yard was a premium section of Newgate where wealthy inmates paid for “easement of irons” and better food; it was also the site of peine forte et dure, where prisoners who refused to plead were crushed under heavy weights.

“the King had come back to England” — This marks The Restoration of 1660, when Charles II returned from exile to reclaim the throne after eleven years of republican rule following the English Civil War.

“theatres, which had been closed by Cromwell, to open again” — Restoration Theater flourished after 1660; the Puritans had banned all public stage plays in 1642 as sinful and disorderly, leading to an eighteen-year drought in English drama.

“from a side-table in a brothel near the Temple” — The Temple was the heart of the English legal world, housing the Inns of Court; during the Restoration, the area was famous for the “libertine” lifestyle where high-ranking lawyers and students frequented nearby taverns and brothels.

“For, like the Necklace of Harmonia” — In Greek mythology, the Necklace of Harmonia was a cursed piece of jewelry that brought disaster to anyone who possessed it, symbolizing a beautiful object that carries a fatal price.

“But, with so many lordly regicides / Who’ve lately come to Tyburn” — The Regicides were the men who signed the death warrant of Charles I; after the Restoration, they were hunted down and executed with extreme brutality as a warning against future rebellion.

“And damn Jack Ketch; the late John Turner” — Colonel James Turner was a prominent cavalier and thief whose execution in 1664 was a massive public event; Samuel Pepys famously paid a shilling to stand on a wheel and watch Turner hang.

“To dangle from my legs, which lacking ballast” — This refers to short-drop hanging, where the prisoner died of slow strangulation rather than a broken neck; family members would often pull on the condemned person’s legs (acting as “ballast”) to hasten their death and end their suffering.

“And make a sort of entertainment for / The / mobile.” — The term mobile is a 17th-century contraction of the Latin mobile vulgus (the fickle crowd); it is the linguistic ancestor of the modern English word “mob.”

Original annotations by: sheik