Page "Jack Sheppard" Paragraph 18

By this point, Sheppard was a working class hero ( being a cockney, non-violent, and handsome, and seemingly able to escape punishment for his crimes at will ).

He spent a few days out of London, visiting a friend's family in Chipping Warden in Northamptonshire, but was soon back in town.

He evaded capture by Wild and his men but was arrested again on 9 September by a posse from Newgate as he hid out on Finchley Common, and returned to the condemned cell at Newgate.

His fame had increased with each escape, and he was visited in prison by the great, the good and the curious.

His plans to escape in September were thwarted twice when the guards found files and other tools in his cell, and he was transferred to a strong-room in Newgate known as the " Castle ", clapped in leg irons, and chained to two metal staples in the floor to prevent further escape attempts.

After demonstrating to his gaolers that these measures were insufficient, by showing them how he could use a small nail to unlock the horse padlock at will, he was bound more tightly and handcuffed.

In his History, Defoe reports that Sheppard made light of his predicament, joking that " I am the Sheppard, and all the Gaolers in the Town are my Flock, and I cannot stir into the Country, but they are all at my Heels Baughing after me ".