The Historical Spectator.

A Loathly and Abominable Sight

In a curious (and very rare) book of ghost stories called Beware the Cat, William Baldwin, a printer’s assistant, describes the gruesome sight of the remains of drawn and quartered men displayed at Aldgate in London. He does not approve of the practice. The story, written in 1553, was not published until eight years later, perhaps because Bloody Mary did not like the implication that drawing and quartering was a practice of butcherly heathen tyrants.

At the other end of the Printing house as you en­ter in, is a side doore and iij. or iiij. steps which go up to the Leads of the Gate, wheras somtime quarters of men (which is a lothely & abhominable sight) doo stand up upon Poles. I call it abhomi­nable because it is not only against na­ture: but against Scripture. For God commanded by Moyses, that after the Sun went down: all such as were han­ged or otherwise put to death should be buried, lest if the Sun saw them the next day: his wrath should come upon them and plague them, as he hath doon this and many other Realmes for the like transgression. And I mervel where men have learned it, or for what cause they doo it, except it be to feed & please the Devils. For sure I beleeve that some spirits Misanthropi or Molochitus, who lived by the savour of mans blood did after their sacrifices failed, in whiche men were slaine and offered unto them put into butcherly heathen tirants heds to mangle and boile christen transgre­ssors, & to set up their quarters for them to feed upon. And therfore I would coun­sail all men to bury or burn all exe­cuted bodies and refrain from making such ab­hominable sacrifice, as I have often seen with Ravens or rather devils feeding upon them in this forsaid Leads.

—William Baldwin, Beware the Cat, “The First Part of Maister Streamers Oracion.”