An execution. To dance at the sheriff’s ball, and loll out one’s tongue at the company; to be hanged, or go to rest in a horse’s night-cap, i.e. a halter.
Definition taken from The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose.
Sheriff’s Journeyman * Sheriff’s BraceletsNathan Bailey's 1736 Dictionary of canting and thieving slang
John S. Farmer's collection of canting songs and slang rhymes