an instrument used in Scotland for beheading criminals.

This is a broad piece of iron, about a foot square, very sharp on the lower part, and loaded above with a very heavy weight of lead. At the time of execution it is pulled up to the top of a narrow wooden frame, about ten feet high, and as broad as the engine, with mouldings on each side for the maiden to slide in. A convenience is made about four feet from the ground, for the prisoner to lay his neck; and there is a kind of bar so fastened as to keep him from turning. The prisoner being thus secured, and the sign given, the maiden is let loose, which in a moment separates his head from his body.