Halifax was notorious for its gibbet, an early form of guillotine used to execute criminals by decapitation, that was last used in 1650. A replica has been erected on the original site in Gibbet Street. Its original blade is on display at Bankfield Museum. Punishment in Halifax was notoriously harsh, as remembered in the Beggar's Litany by poet John Taylor (1580–1654), a prayer whose text included "From Hull, from Halifax, from Hell, 'tis thus, From all these three, Good Lord deliver us.".The association of the three names pre-dates Taylor as the poet Thomas Nashe refers to them: "...neither in Hull, Hell, nor Halifax." – Nashes Lenten Stuffe, London, 1599.
