Page "Jack Ketch" Paragraph 4

On that occasion, Ketch wielded the instrument of death either with such sadistically nuanced skill or with such lack of simple dexterity — nobody could tell which — that the victim suffered horrifically under blow after blow, each excruciating but not in itself lethal.

Even among the bloodthirsty throngs that habitually attended English beheadings, the gory and agonizing display had created such outrage that Ketch felt moved to write and publish a pamphlet title Apologie, in which he excused his performance with the claim that Lord Russell had failed to " dispose himself as was most suitable " and that he was therefore distracted while taking aim on his neck.