Hanged for a Sheep

This book surveys crime and the treatment of criminals in bygone Sussex, illustrated with extracts from late 18th century copies of the Sussex Weekly Advertiser, the county's first weekly news-paper. “You may as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb.”The saying dates back to the days when sheep-stealing was punishable by death. For stealing a lamb you would be “hanged by the neck until you were dead.” The same punishment was meted out for stealing a sheep, so you ran no greater risk for stealing the more valuable article. (This law was repealed in 1828.)

CONTENTS: CONFIDENCE TRICKSTERS • DUELS • FOOTPADS AND HIGHWAYMAN • KEEPING LAW AND ORDER PRISONS • PUNISHMENTS SERIOUS CRIME • SMUGGLERS • THEFT • INDEX OF SURNAMES • INDEX OF PLACE-NAMES