A hand of glory was made by cutting a human hand from a body hanging from a gibbet, it was then treated to preserve it. Legend has it that if a candle were lit and placed in the hand it enabled burglars who carried it to go about their business without being discovered.
This example is in Whitby Museum and was found in a building on the moors.
In 'The Antiquary' Sir Walter Scott describes the creation of the hand as such:
"The hand has to be wrapped in a cloth - part of a winding sheet - and squeezed of any blood in the veins, then put into an earthen pot with
pickling spices and saltpetre, until the hand is mummified. A candle has next to be made with a pitch wax, the fat of a hanged man, 'virgin
wax' and mustard oil. The dried, shrivelled hand has to have this candle fixed in its fingers, and lighted; now the charm will work."
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