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Hanging

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Jack Sparrow's hanging at Fort Charles.

Jack Sparrow's hanging at Fort Charles.

"And for these crimes, you have been sentenced to be, on this day, hung by the neck until dead. May God have mercy to your soul."
―Port Royal clerk[src]

A hanging was the lethal suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck. In this sense, a hanging was specifically put to death by suspension by the neck, though it also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain "hanging". Hanging has been a common method of capital punishment since medieval times, and was the official execution method in some areas of the world. The convict stood with a rope around his neck on a trapdoor which was suddenly opened or on a chair or barrel which was kicked away, so that he fell down and the rope broke his neck and/or strangulated him. The corpses of the executed were often hanged on a gibbet at the coast as a warning for other criminals. The term "dancing the Hangman's Jig" was a euphemism for being hanged, notably used during the war between Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company and the Fourth Brethren Court.

History[]

"Hurry, Papa! Or we'll miss the hanging!"
"It's not a hanging, dear, it's a trial. The hanging comes this afternoon."
―A girl and her father[src]

This form of punishment of death was widely used for punishing pirates in the Age of Piracy. At some point before young Jack Sparrow's quest for the Sword of Cortés, a pirate known as Sven the Vicious, an acquaintance of Captain Teague, was captured by the British Royal Navy and hanged in Port Royal. Two more of Teague's friends, Black-Eyed Susan and Captain Lawrence Schaefer, suffered the same fate.[1]

After the sinking of his ship in a storm, the artist Josiah Smith and his dog Flash were picked up at sea by the crew of the infamous pirate Smilin' Jack. As Smith stood on deck of the pirate ship, Jack told him he could choose his own fate: walk the plank, be hanged, or have his throat slit by Jack himself. Smith managed to convince the pirate to let him live by proposing to paint him a portrait.[2] A few days later, following the failed raid on Zaragona, Smith was locked in the same prison cell as Jack. The guard who brought the prisoner in said he should enjoy his company while he could, because he would be hanged at dawn.[3]

In 1718, after the battle of Ocracoke Inlet, the surviving members of Blackbeard's crew were hanged in Williamsburg, Virginia.[citation needed] In 1720, when the infamous pirate Calico Jack Rackham was captured by the British privateers on a pirate hunting mission, his entire crew was tried for piracy. The two female crewmembers, Mary Read and Anne Bonny, were both sentenced to death by hanging. But Mary died in prison, and Anne, who was in a delicate condition, was released and disappeared from the pages of pirate lore and history.[4]

Admiral Lawson of the British Royal Navy was hanged for allowing the pirates to use the port of Bermuda in exchange for compensation.[5] The First Mate of the Fleur de la Mort, Mr. Reece was captured by the British authorities and taken to Port Royal to be hanged, but his shipmates managed to save him at the last moment.[6] During the quest for the Shadow Gold, Lord Benedict Huntington of the East India Trading Company captured one of the junks belonging to Mistress Ching's fleet and had the whole crew hanged without even waiting for a ransom to be offered.[7]

The infamous pirate Captain Jack Sparrow was sentenced to hang although he had committed some good deed, such as saving Governor Weatherby Swann's daughter Elizabeth as well as taking part in the mission to save Will Turner and capture the cursed crew. Though Jack was close to his death sentence at Fort Charles, Will Turner helped Jack escape his fate.[8][9] This act would backfire when Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company arrested Will and Elizabeth about a year later, condemning them to death by a hanging.[10]

The mass execution of those associated with piracy.

The mass execution of those associated with piracy.

After gaining possession of the heart of Davy Jones, Lord Beckett would lead a mass execution of numerous pirates and pirate associates, in which they would hang before singing Hoist the Colours.[11] Several years later, an English girl would mistook a pirate's trial at the Old Bailey courthouse for a hanging as she walked with her father.[12] On the very same day, former pirate and privateer Hector Barbossa would threaten to hang Joshamee Gibbs unless if he would offer anything to them for their search for the Fountain of Youth.[12][13] In 1751, during her search for the legendary Trident of Poseidon, the astronomer Carina Smyth was mistaken for a witch by the inhabitants of Saint Martin, which led to her being arrested by the British authorities and sentenced to death by hanging. However, she and another convicted prisoner, the infamous pirate Jack Sparrow, managed to escape that fate with the help of the Sparrow's former crew.[14]

Behind the scenes[]

"...and though I do say so with regret, the law is clear. The penalty for piracy is death by hanging."
―James Norrington[src] (early screenplay draft)

Hanging was first mentioned in the Disney book Climb Aboard If You Dare!: Stories From The Pirates of the Caribbean, published in 1996.[2] The first appearance of a hanging would occur in Irene Trimble's junior novelization for the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.[8][9] The term "danging the Hangman's Jig" first appears in the 2007 reference book Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide.[15]

In The Curse of the Black Pearl, right before Captain Jack Sparrow falls from Fort Charles into the sea below, he says, "Friends, this is the day you will always remember as the day you almost hung..." in the 2003 junior novelization.[8] This variation of the line was taken from the full line featured in a production draft, "Friends! This is the day you will always remember as the day you almost hung Captain Jack Sparrow!"[16] In the final cut of The Curse of the Black Pearl, Jack says, "Friends. This is the day that you will always remember as the day that..." as performed by Johnny Depp in the film.[9]

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's first screenplay draft for the 2007 film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, after the capture of the Empress, James Norrington decided to show no mercy to the Chinese crew, ordering Davy Jones to hang them all, but changed his mind when he discovered Elizabeth Swann among the survivors.[17]

One of Wil Madoc Rees' conceptual artworks of the Queen Anne's Revenge for the 2011 film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides shows several corpses hanging from the yardarms of the ship's top sails.[18] However, that detail was not included in the film.[12]

In Jeff Nathanson's early 2013 screenplay draft for the 2017 film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, the execution of Jack Sparrow and Carina Smyth was set in Port Royal. During the attempted escape, Carina fell through the gallows trapdoor, hanging for a few moments and nearly choking to death, until Jack fired a severed human head from a cannon, destroying the gallows and saving Carina.[19]

In the non-canon video game LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game, instead of being hanged like in The Curse of the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow is locked in a stockade and several inhabitants of Port Royal prepare to throw fruits and vegetables at him for kid-friendly reasons. The same applies to the pirates executed at the gallows of At World's End.[20]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

External links[]

Notes and references[]

  1. ↑ Jack Sparrow: Sins of the Father, p. 43
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Climb Aboard If You Dare!: Stories From The Pirates of the Caribbean, pp. 47-48
  3. ↑ Climb Aboard If You Dare!: Stories From The Pirates of the Caribbean, p. 59
  4. ↑ Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Story of the Robust Adventure in Disneyland and Walt Disney World, p. 18
  5. ↑ Jack Sparrow: The Tale of Billy Turner and Other Stories, p. 52
  6. ↑ Jack Sparrow: The Tale of Billy Turner and Other Stories, pp. 111-112
  7. ↑ Legends of the Brethren Court: Rising in the East, p. 166
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003 junior novelization), pp. 116-119
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  10. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  11. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
  13. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: The Visual Guide
  14. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
  15. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide
  16. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean, production draft, 09/01/02
  17. ↑ PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
  18. ↑ The Queen Anne's Revenge by Wil Madoc Rees
  19. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales by Jeff Nathanson, second draft, 5/6/2013
  20. ↑ LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game
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