When the death penalty was to "hang from the neck until dead", were the criminals forced to wear a headcovering, or could they be hung with their face showing?

What’s the purpose of putting the (usually black) headcovering over the doomed person? Was it to avoid grossing out the people who had come to watch the hanging? Was it to make believe that the hanging was in some way sanctioned by the authorities and by god? Was it to let the hangman sleep better at night?

Or was it for some more mundane reason – to catch spit or vomit?

Why cover the head?

What would you prefer? If it were I, my choice would be to be hund without a black covering, so that I could see the people trying to kill me and hopefully give them a little guilt.