Oh, I get it. Shrift. To Shrive. To be shriven of sins. After Confession a penance would be given to be performed before one could be forgiven ones' sins.
"In the 17th century, criminals were sent to the scaffold immediately after sentencing and only had time for a 'short shrift' before being hanged."
But it doesn't seem to have been widely used and it's coinage was attributed to the bard himself in Richard 111
RATCLIFF:
'Dispatch, my lord; the duke would be at dinner:
Make a short shrift; he longs to see your head.'
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