M'Naughton desired the executioner to be speedy and when the fellow pointed to the ladder he mounted with great spirit. The moment he was tied up he jumped from it with such vehemence that the rope snapped and he fell to the ground without dislocating his neck or doing himself much injury. When they had raised M'Naughton on his legs again he soon recovered his senses. The executioner then borrowed the rope from M'Naughton's accomplice Dunlap and fixed it round M'Naughton's neck. M'Naughton went up the ladder a second time and tying the rope himself to the gallows, jumped from it again with the same force and appeared dead in a minute.