History Main / BlackCapOfDeath

In UsefulNotes/BritishCourts, a black cap[[note]]A simple square of black silk placed over the top of the judge's wig, with the sides at an angle relative to the side of his or her head.[[/note]] is the ultimate symbol of doom for a condemned man. Seeing a judge put it on lets all present in the courtroom know that, barring some miraculous appeal or other happenstance, the fate of the prisoner at the dock has been sealed. The sentence of death shall soon be passed. While British Judges are still issued the caps, the death penalty has been abolished[[note]]Although the unlikely-to-be-enforced offences of [[LittleKnownFacts violent piracy and high treason were both technically capital crimes until 1998]].[[/note]] (and now banned Europe-wide by the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_Kingdom European Convention on Human Rights]]), so they're unlikely to ever see use (with the possible exception of cases where the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council[[note]]Whose members consist primarily of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, though it has other members[[/note]] still acts as court of final appeal for residual colonies or for former colonies which apply British law and still have the death penalty).

* There are only two known photographs of the Black Cap being actually worn while a death sentence is being pronounced. [[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seddon_being_sentenced_to_death.jpg This photo from 1912]] shows Mr Justice Bucknill passing sentence on the convicted murderer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Seddon Frederick Seddon]], who poisoned his tenant Eliza Mary Barrow. Seddon was hanged a month later. [[https://www.maryevans.com/search.php?prv=preview&job=5136250&itm=2&pic=12020989&row=1 This 1922 photo]] shows Mr Justice Avory passing sentence on Thomas Allaway, convicted of murdering a little girl.

* In the Series/RumpoleOfTheBailey short story, "Rumpole and the Vanishing Juror", Rumpole muses that there is always one jury member that is too eager to see the black cap brought out.

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[[folder: Live-Action TV ]]

[[folder: Web Animation]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

->''"You are sentenced to be taken hence to the prison in which you were last confined and from there to a place of execution where you will be hanged by the neck until dead and thereafter your body buried within the precincts of the prison and may the Lord have mercy upon your soul."''

Useless trivia: when the British ruled over Ireland, the judicial black cap was known in Gaelic as the ''caip bais'', pronounced "kybosh". Thus a new word entered English. Of course, the judge wasn't so much putting the kybosh on his own head as, symbolically, on the condemned man's...

->''"JustForFun/DescribeTopicHere, you are sentenced to be taken hence to the prison in which you were last confined and from there to a place of execution where you will be hanged by the neck until dead and thereafter your body buried within the precincts of the prison and may the Lord have mercy upon your soul."''

* There are only two known images of the Black Cap being actually worn while a death sentence is being pronounced. [[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seddon_being_sentenced_to_death.jpg This photo from 1912]] shows Mr Justice Bucknill passing sentence on the convicted murderer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Seddon Frederick Seddon]], who poisoned his tenant Eliza Mary Barrow. Seddon was hanged a month later. [[https://www.maryevans.com/search.php?prv=preview&job=5136250&itm=2&pic=12020989&row=1 This 1922 photo]] shows Mr Justice Avory passing sentence on Thomas Alloway, convicted of murdering a little girl.

* The 1962 CourtroomDrama film ''Film/TheBoys'' [[note]]no relation to ''ComicBook/TheBoys'' comicbook[[/note]] ends with the one remaining defendant breaking down in tears as the black cap is solemnly brought out and placed above the judge's head as sentence is read out.

[[folder:Web Animation]]

* There are only two known images of the Black Cap being actually worn while a death sentence is being pronounced.[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_cap#/media/File:Seddon_being_sentenced_to_death.jpg This photo from 1912]] shows Mr Justice Bucknill passing sentence on the convicted murderer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Seddon Frederick Seddon]], who poisoned his tenant Eliza Mary Barrow. Seddon was hanged a month later. [[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mr_Justice_Avory_passing_sentence_in_1922_on_Thomas_Alloway.jpg This 1922 photo]] shows Mr Justice Avory passing sentence on Thomas Alloway, convicted of murdering a little girl.

[[quoteright:243:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/judge_6046.jpg]]

->''"DescribeTropeHere, you are sentenced to be taken hence to the prison in which you were last confined and from there to a place of execution where you will be hanged by the neck until dead and thereafter your body buried within the precincts of the prison and may the Lord have mercy upon your soul."''

In UsefulNotes/BritishCourts, a black cap[[note]]A simple square of black silk placed over the top of the judge's wig, with the sides at an angle relative to the side of his or her head.[[/note]] is the ultimate symbol of doom for a condemned man. Seeing a judge put it on lets all present in the courtroom know that, barring some miraculous appeal or other happenstance, the fate of the prisoner at the dock has been sealed. The sentence of death shall soon be passed. While British Judges are still issued the caps, the death penalty has been abolished[[note]]Although the unlikely-to-be-enforced offences of [[LittleKnownFacts violent piracy and high treason were both technically capital crimes until 1998]].[[/note]] (and now banned Europe-wide by the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_Kingdom European Convention on Human Rights]]), so they're unlikely to ever see use (with the possible exception of cases where British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council[[note]]Whose members consist primarily of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, though it has other members[[/note]] still acts as court of final appeal for residual colonies or for former colonies which apply British law and still have the death penalty).

The cap has a black ColorMotif both because black is the traditional color of death and mourning [[note]]in the Western world, anyway[[/note]], and to signify that the judge is humble before {{God}} who has the only real power over life and death.

->"DescribeTropeHere, you are sentenced to be taken hence to the prison in which you were last confined and from there to a place of execution where you will be hanged by the neck until dead and thereafter your body buried within the precincts of the prison and may the Lord have mercy upon your soul."

In UsefulNotes/BritishCourts, a black cap[[note]]A simple square of black silk placed over the top of the judge's wig, with the sides at an angle relative to the side of his or her head.[[/note]] is the ultimate symbol of doom for a condemned man. Seeing a judge put it on lets all present in the courtroom know that, barring some miraculous appeal or other happenstance, the fate of the prisoner at the dock has been sealed. The sentence of death shall soon be passed. While British Judges are still issued the caps, the death penalty has been abolished[[note]]Although the unlikely-to-be-enforced offences of [[LittleKnownFacts violent piracy and high treason were both technically capital crimes until 1998]].[[/note]] (and now banned Europe-wide by the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_Kingdom European Convention on Human Rights]]), so they're unlikely to ever see use (with the possible exception of cases where British Law Lords still act as court of final appeal for residual colonies or for former colonies which apply British law and still have the death penalty).

Useless trivia: when the British ruled over Ireland, the judicial black cap was known in Gaelic as the cai-bais, pronounced "kybosh". Thus a new word entered English. Of course, the judge wasn't so much putting the kybosh on his own head as, symbolically, on the condemned man's...

Despite this, a judge wearing a black cap still serves as shorthand for "this prisoner's been sentenced to hang" (similarly to an executioner's hood). A particularly crazy HangingJudge might even be already wearing it.

[[folder: Comics]]
* Late in ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'', specifically Volume 14: Witches, King Flycatcher dones a black hood when rendering his judgement about Mr. Brump the goblin devouring of Mr. Seed-create the squirrel, echoing this trope. It ends up subverted as Brump only ends up exiled.
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* The Creator/{{BBC}}'s 2007 mini-series version of Literature/OliverTwist has the Judge (played by Rob Brydon) blithely asking how many people's sent to the gallows that week (22, but it was only Tuesday) before cavalierly slapping on a black cap and giving Oliver the death sentence for pickpocketing. Later in that same adaptation, in sentencing Fagin he simply puts on his black cap and slams his gavel and Fagin is taken away.

* In Blackadder's courtmartial in ''Series/BlackadderGoesForth'' General Melchett assures Blackadder that [[BlatantLies he'll be an impartial judge]] (Blackadder accidentally shot and ate Melchett's pet pigeon), then calls for the black cap because he'll be needing it.

-->"DescribeTropeHere, you are sentenced to be taken hence to the prison in which you were last confined and from there to a place of execution where you will be hanged by the neck until dead and thereafter your body buried within the precincts of the prison and may the Lord have mercy upon your soul."