 Garnet highlighted the date of his execution , 3 May , the Feast of the Cross , and reaffirmed his innocence . He defended Anne Vaux against claims that their relationship had been inappropriate . He then prayed at the base of the ladder , disrobed down to his long , sewn @-@ up shirt , " that the wind might not blow it up " , and mounted the ladder . He ignored a Protestant minister who came forward , replying to an objectionable member of the audience that he " ever meant to die a true but perfect Catholic " . Bishop <unk> protested that " we are all Catholics " , although Garnet disagreed with this . He once again said his prayers , and was then thrown off the ladder . Before the executioner could cut him down alive , many in the crowd pulled on his legs , and as a result , Garnet did not suffer the remainder of his grim sentence . There was no applause when the executioner held Garnet 's heart aloft and said the traditional words , " Behold the heart of a traitor " . His head was set on a pole on London Bridge , but crowds of onlookers fascinated by its pallid appearance eventually forced the government to turn the head upwards , so its face was no longer visible . 
