Just walked down to the Gallows Tree where in days gone by the criminals of this small town were hanged. There is a dungeon pit at the back of the graveyard, a narrow path drops down to a dungeon door. The stone construction is capped with stone slabs and a small 1 foot square grill where food or alcohol could be passed to the condemned man. Many a mother or wife must have sat up there through the night, comforting thier loved one below in the pit.
At dawn it was a short walk to the Gallows tree where the 'righteous' hung the lynching rope. When criminals were popular thier friends, relatives and loved ones were allowed to grab and pull on the hanging mans feet to bring on a mercifully quicker death.
I painted with diluted PVA a circle around the bough from where the rope was hung and sprinkled glitter to form a glitter ring of rememberance. Gadds crimes are beyond reproach yet Glitter lit up my childhood. He let me down but this is no reason for me to let him down. I am against the death penalty, how can a society expect its citizens to act any differently than how the state acts. I am no Glitter denialist, I just feel robbed of my youth. Not as much as he robbed others of thier childhood but many of my generation must feel equally let down by Gadd.
As I sprinkled the last file of glitter to complete the ring a raven flew by, giving a deep note of recognition. Paul Raven was another stage persona of Gadd.
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