Gallows letter

In postal history, a gallows letter was a letter with a "gallows" mark meaning "very quickly".

Gallows letters were official letters or dispatches used by the Privy Council of Elizabeth I of England.

To express an extreme degree of urgency of delivery, the letter had on the address panel a rough drawing of a gallows.

Sometimes the picture included a hanging body.

This is when counterfeit gallows marks have been applied onto original letters.