“More weight.”

Giles Corey
Salem Witch Trials Memorial
Salem, Massachusetts

(Giles Corey's actual gravesite is unmarked and unknown, though it is thought he is probably buried somewhere in or near the Howard Street Cemetery, very close to the present-day site of the Salem Witch Trials Memorial.)

Giles Corey, by all accounts, was not a very nice man, and not very popular with his neighbors. During the mass hysteria that swept New England in the late 1600s, he was accused of witchcraft during the period of the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Other than pleading “Not Guilty,” he refused to cooperate with the authorities at his trial, and would not speak or participate in the proceedings. As unbelievable as it seems today, English law at that time allowed for the torture of any prisoner who refused to speak, as a means of forcing them to talk. In an attempt to force him to speak at his trial, Corey was “pressed”—that is, stripped naked, having a wooden board placed on top of him, and very large, very heavy rocks placed on top of the board. More and more stones were added until the prisoner died or gave up and agreed to speak. Corey lasted several days but finally died on September 19, 1692. Though possibly apocryphal, the commonly accepted narrative is that Corey remained defiant to the very end, and his last words were “More weight.”

Were it not for the fact that Douglas Corrigan has already been officially adopted as The Patron Saint of 101Bananas.com, Giles Corey would surely be honored with that designation.

This web site has an excellent very interesting article about Giles Corey’s life and his trial for witchcraft:
The Witchcraft Trial of Giles Corey