Lamentation of J. MAPP, Who Now Lies Under Sentence of Death in Shrewsbury Gaol, for the Murder of Catherine Lewis
On Monday, March 23, at the Shrewsbury Assizes, John Mapp, a labourer, was placed at the bar, charged with the wilful murder of Catherine Lewis, on the 22nd of December, 1867, at the parish of Longden.
Jane Richards deposed that after leaving chapel she accompanied deceased and John Mapp as far as Wood Farm, where she left them together going down Long lane.
Edward Lewis, the father of the deceased, deposed to Mrs. Hutchins bringing him his daughter’s hat covered with blood. I at once started in search through several fields till I saw a hovel. There were marks at the door as if something had been dragged along, and on entering saw the body of my child in a little bin, covered with straw and loose litter.
Mr. Harris, surgeon: I made a post mortem examination of deceased. I found a shawl tied round her neck, and about eight inches shoved tightly into her mouth. There were five incisions on the right side of the throat, finishing in one deep wound on the left. The windpipe was cut through. I attribute her death to loss of blood and suffocation.
Edward Jones, police-constable, produced a brooch belonging to deceased, which was found on the prisoner when he took him into custody.
John Aston, a waggoner, deposed to finding the hat of the deceased in a holly bush.
Mrs. Davies: I reside at Longden. I knew the deceased. The brooch produced is the one she wore.
The counsel for the prisoner then proceeded to address the Jury for the defence, and the counsel for the prosecution having replied,
The Judge then summed up, and the Jury without retiring from the box returned a verdict of Guilty. The usual Sentence of Death was then pronounced upon the prisoner.
John Mapp, in Shrewsbury, does now bewail,
Doomed to die for murder in a dreary gaol;
Such a dreadful murder, as you may see,
Which we may compare to the Alton tragedy.
In Shrewsbury Gaol, now in grief do lie,
John Mapp, the murderer, condemned to die.
The cruel monster was not afraid,
To kill a youthful and innocent maid.
Little Catherine Lewis on a Sunday night,
Mapp, without a reason, deprived of life.
Returning home from chapel, he embraced her fast,
’Twas the twenty-second of December last;
He cut and mangled her, took her from the road,
And her murdered body in the hovel throwed.
Oh! how could any one so vile engage,
To kill a child but nine years of age;
Her clothes he scattered over ditch and field,
For which he finds now his fate is sealed.
The child was missed—news spread far and wide,
John Mapp was questioned, he the deed denied,
He prevaricated—untruths did state,
And he must meet his untimely fate.
Little Kitty’s brooch that was found on Mapp,
And he took her ribbon from her Sunday hat;
He had a heart harder far than steel,
He was quite composed, working in the field.
Mapp was apprehended and sent to gaol,
And in a dungeon does now bewail;
On the tree a forfeit he must pay, his life,
His murdered victim haunts him day and night.
Now Mapp is cast and condemned to die,
Although the murder he does now deny;
The jury found him guilty, the case was clear,
And his last moments are drawing near.
How sad and dreadful it is to state,
The horrid murders that have been of late;
In every quarter both far and near,
Such atrocious deeds before this no one did hear.
Little Catherine Lewis, as I unfold,
Was but a little more than nine years old,
Innocent and charming, pious and kind,
Sweet disposition, and amiable mind.
What motive could the horrid murderer have,
To send the child to an early grave?
It was not for lucre, he could nothing gain,
To cause such horror, such grief and pain.
When he appears on the fatal tree,
Not a a spark of pity will there be for he;
He must die a murderer, nothing can him save,
Aged thirty-five, lie in a murderer’s grave.
H. Disley, Printer, 57, High Street, St. Giles, London.