The majority of offenders put to death by Canadian civilian authorities were executed by the "long drop" technique of hanging developed in the United Kingdom by William Marwood.
And the last hanging was in 1962, though capital punishment remained a possibility into the 90s apparently.
I tie your point, Dave, about there never having been that golden age, but the belief in it> Anyway, I guess I just glommed onto the Pound line as I read, a chance a writer takes every time s/he puts something down (& out)…
Doug
On Oct 30, 2014, at 5:52 AM, Bill Wootton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Ah yes, Dave, 'the drop' made it to the Antipodes, often, shamefully, The Aboriginal Antipodes. US lynchers and zappers more. 'Peach' is really opening up now.
>
> Bill
>
>
>> On 30 Oct 2014, at 10:41 pm, David Bircumshaw <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> Bill I suspect it came out by way of 'peach' meaning soft and possibly open
>> to anybody (I'm afraid there's an awful sexual implication as is so often)
>> perhaps 'open lips' is the nugget. I notice I failed to mention the
>> seemingly obvious too - that 'the drop' meant hanging in the UK and
>> presumably other places but I don't know about the US.
>>
>> Best
>>
>>
>> Dave
>>
>>> On 30 October 2014 07:28, Bill Wootton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
>>> Thanks, Dave. The informer connotation new to me.
>>>
>>> Bill
>>>
>>>> On 30/10/2014, at 9:29 AM, David Bircumshaw wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Thanks Bill, I always like your comments, and your approach. In the back
>>> of
>>>> my mind with the (very deliberately) ungrammatical 'drop' were and was
>>> the
>>>> old common use of the word as in 'the drop' while 'peach' is meant to
>>> wake
>>>> the sense of an informer.
>>>>
>>>> Best
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Dave
>>>>
>>>>> On 29 October 2014 04:24, Bill Wootton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Like this bit particularly, David:
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 29/10/2014, at 12:54 PM, David Bircumshaw wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ... his head
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Almost loll-loll lolling
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Drops like a peach, pillowed
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On nothing but memory
>>>>>
>>>>> Nothing like a peach drop - or a peach landing.
>>>>>
>>>>> Re-watched the Kipling tale, The Man who would be King the other night,
>>>>> speaking of heads, some in that fine flick, unpillowed except by calico
>>> as
>>>>> polo pucks.
>>>>>
>>>>> Bill
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> David Joseph Bircumshaw
>>>> Website and A Chide's Alphabet
>>>> http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk
>>>> The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
>>>> Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/david.bircumshaw
>>>> Tumblr: http://zantikus.tumblr.com/
>>>> twitter: http://twitter.com/bucketshave
>>>> blog: http://groggydays.blogspot.com/
>>>> Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.com
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> David Joseph Bircumshaw
>> Website and A Chide's Alphabet
>> http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk
>> The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
>> Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/david.bircumshaw
>> Tumblr: http://zantikus.tumblr.com/
>> twitter: http://twitter.com/bucketshave
>> blog: http://groggydays.blogspot.com/
>> Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.com
>>
>
Douglas Barbour
[log in to unmask]
Recent publications: (With Sheila E Murphy) Continuations & Continuation 2 (UofAPress).
Recording Dates (Rubicon Press).
that we are only
as we find out we are
Charles Olson
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