<P> Holinshed's Chronicles of 1577 included a picture of "The execution of Murcod Ballagh near Merton in Ireland in 1307" showing a similar execution machine, suggesting its early use in Ireland . </P> <P> The Maiden was constructed in 1564 for the Provost and Magistrates of Edinburgh, and it was in use from April 1565 to 1710 . One of those executed was James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, in 1581, and a 1644 publication began circulating the legend that Morton himself had commissioned the Maiden after he had seen the Halifax Gibbet . The Maiden was readily dismantled for storage and transport, and it is now on display in the National Museum of Scotland </P> <P> Antoine Louis, together with German engineer Tobias Schmidt, built a prototype for the guillotine . Schmidt recommended using an angled blade as opposed to a round one . </P> <P> On 10 October 1789, physician Joseph - Ignace Guillotin proposed to the National Assembly that capital punishment should always take the form of decapitation "by means of a simple mechanism ." </P>

Who created the guillotine in the french revolution