h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

For so long it became something of a tradition, the condemned would thank the innkeeper of the Bow Tavern for their final drink and cheerily say, "I'll pay for it on the way back."

Also, on the subject of the common belief that the touch of the recently-dead would cure all ailments, the London Encyclopaedia recorded the case of a young woman "all pale and trembling... [who] submitted to have her bosom uncovered in the presence of thousands of spectators and the dead man's hands placed upon it." Blimey.

Not something that I would like to do!

"For so long it became something of a tradition, the condemned would thank the innkeeper of the Bow Tavern for their final drink ..."

The venue was in fact the BOWL Tavern, which is where now Endell Street now lies.

Amongst those executed were 105 Catholics, including the Archbishop of all Ireland. They died between 1535-1681 for "treason" - refusing to accept the monarch as "only Supreme Head on earth of the Church of England".

Accordingly there is an annual procession of the route on the last Sunday of April (although this year it was first Sunday of May) ending at the fascinating Tyburn Convent - see here

http://www.tyburnconvent.org.uk/

for more details.

Editorial Note: This conversation has been moved from 'The Tyburn Tree, Hyde Park' to 'The Tyburn Tree, Hyde Park, London, UK'.