Getting it in the neck

This afternoon I missed execution at the surgery. My mind called up visions of Sir Thomas More, Ann Boleyn, Catherine Howard, May Queen of Scots, K Charles I and K Louis XVI each of whom was unduly shortened in length making their further breathing more than difficult. Fortunately, my doctor had a scalpel rather than a guillotine in removing a skin cancer on the back of my neck otherwise it would have required more than the five stitches now residing there like a pet centipede.