To gibbet is to dip a corpse in tar and suspend it in a flat iron cage {the gibbet} in plain view of townsfolk while it rots and gets pecked apart by crows. A stroll through the square must have been a whole different plate of tamales back then.
The act of gibbetting involved covering a deceased body in tar and placing it in an iron cage for public display, allowing it to decay while townspeople witnessed its decline. This gruesome practice served as a stark warning and a form of punishment, illustrating the harsh realities of societal justice in the past. The imagery evokes a chilling scene in the town square, where the presence of the gibbet would create an atmosphere of fear and morbid curiosity.
