Scene from a film about St. Ann Line; Barkworth at right |
He narrowly escaped the Huguenots, but got busted by the Anglicans. He spent six months in Newgate Prison, which is a miracle in itself given the squalor in which prisoners lived. He was transferred to Bridewell for his trial, but returned to Newgate's infamous death row dungeon Limbo following his condemnation.
Apparently he was a congenial and fearless guy. When they marched him up to the gallows, from which the corpse of Ann Line was already dangling, he kissed the hem of her skirt and said, "Ah, sister, thou hast got the start of us, but we will follow thee as quickly as we may."
His knees had been toughened from hours of kneeling in prayer. After Mark had been hanged, drawn, and quartered, someone from the crowd jumped up, held up a leg, and asked "Which of you Gospellers can show such a knee?" Gruesome scene, really, but a point worth making.
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