Gallows letter

Okay kiddo, a gallows letter is a letter that someone writes right before they are about to be hanged, like in olden times. It's called a gallows letter because people used to be hanged from a tall structure called a gallows.

Nowadays, people don't get hanged anymore, so we don't really have gallows letters anymore. But back then, a person who knew they were going to be executed would sometimes write a letter to their family or friends as a way of saying goodbye.

They might write things like how much they loved their family or friends, or they might ask for forgiveness if they did something wrong. It was a way for them to leave a message behind before they died.

It's a sad thing to think about, but people used to do it to try and leave some kind of memory or legacy behind, so that people would remember them even after they were gone.