Most people in Scotland have heard the murderous tale of Burke and Hare: the two Irishmen who murdered 16 innocent people for profit, selling the bodies for medical research. It’s a story that shocked the residents of Edinburgh and the nation- and is one of the most popular spooky tales retold on the streets of the Old Town every Halloween. If you haven’t heard this troublesome tale, go forth gentle reader, and let me reveal the story of these two prolific murderers…
This grisly tale takes place in the 1820s in Edinburgh. But before we begin, who were William Burke and William Hare, and how did they meet?
The Burke and Hare Murders
William Hare and William Burke
William Burke
William Burke lived in Ireland with his wife and children, but after a dispute with his father-in-law about land ownership, Burke left the country and moved to Edinburgh. Alone. Yes, that’s right- he deserted his wife and children!
Something that surprised me, was that despite abandoning his family, he was well-liked in Edinburgh. He was considered charming, friendly, and funny, and got on well with those around him. He eventually ‘’remarried’’ a woman called Helen McDougal and they lived together in Edinburgh.
William Hare
Hare tried out several professions before becoming the keeper of a lodging house on West Port Street with his wife, Margaret.
Two beasts meet
William Burke and William Hare met in Penicuik just outside Edinburgh when they were both working on the seasons’ harvest. Both being Irishmen of a similar age, they became fast friends.
Burke and his wife Helen eventually moved into the lodging house that Hare and his wife kept.
Body snatching in the early 1800s
Before we delve into the grisly details of what these two men got up to, it’s important to understand the world at this point in time. While science was progressing, modern inventions such as antibiotics and anaesthesia did not yet exist.
NOT SO FUN FACT
People were either given alcohol, opioids, or leather to bite down on while undergoing surgery before anaesthesia was invented in 1846! Sir James Young Simpson was a Scot who pioneered the use of chloroform for its anaesthetic properties in surgery and midwifery.
Doctors needed to study the human body and train medical students, and for that, they needed human bodies to practice on. Laws were passed that meant dead bodies of orphans and the destitute, could be used by doctors for training.
These doctors also paid a pretty penny for any bodies they could obtain. Dead bodies were hard to come by, and so body snatching became common. Body snatchers would creep into graveyards at night and dig up freshly buried bodies.
Mortsafes, a jail cell-like contraption that enclosed the grave, were used to stop people from stealing bodies.
Now, it’s important to note that Burke and Hare technically weren’t bodysnatchers. What they did was far, far worse.
Hatching the plan
When one of his tenants died before paying his rent, Hare was enraged. He enlisted the help of his friend Burke to steal the man’s body from his coffin, filling the coffin with bark to disguise its absence!
They sold the body to Dr Robert Knox’s Anatomy School.
Robert Knox gave the men 8 shillings (around £600 in today’s money) for the body.
Realising the sale of bodies was a lucrative business, Burke and Hare stepped up their game. Bodies weren’t something you came by easily, and so they turned to murder.
They would lure innocent victims into the lodging house, plied them with drink, and smother them.
Smothering their victims disguised the cause of death- one of the men would lay across the body, holding them down, while the other would smother them with a pillow.
Robert Knox apparently remarked on the excellent condition of the bodies- and was very happy with their business transactions. If you’re wondering if he suspected what the men were up to, if he did, he certainly turned a blind eye to it.
Burke and Hare were responsible for at least 16 murders. They became more careless as they continued- at one point openly carrying a body through the streets to collect payment from Knox.
The end of Burke and Hare
They were eventually caught when tenants discovered the body of one of their victims.
Burke was out in the city one day when he met an old woman from Ireland, Margaret Docherty. He convinced her that they were related, and invited her back to the lodging for a drink that evening.
Unfortunately, there was already another family staying at the lodging that night, and so the men offered to pay them to stay elsewhere as they wanted the house to themselves to ”catch up with family.”
When the family returned the next day, they were turned away by one of the men’s wives. Finding this strange, they returned a short time later to collect something from their room. This is when they discovered the body of Margaret hidden under the bed.
They informed the authorities, and the men were arrested.
Hare escaped prison by turning King’s Evidence against Burke- confessing to details of the murders in exchange for immunity.
Burke was sentenced to death and hanged on 28 January 1829 in the Lawnmarket (the location of the execution was at the intersection next to Deacon Brodies Tavern). The most ironic thing of all was that Burke’s body was given to the medical school for dissection!
Today, you can see his skeleton at the Surgeons Museum in Edinburgh.
Something I found interesting is that the men didn’t appear to murder innocents for the thrill of it- it was purely a business. While it has been said Hare had no trouble ‘’sleeping at night’’, Burke slept with a bottle of whisky next to his bed, and always had a candle burning throughout the night. He would sometimes down half the bottle after waking in fright to help him back to sleep!
Robert Knox escaped prosecution, most likely due to his social status. His reputation was ruined, however, and he was eventually forced to resign as the Curator of the anatomy museum he had founded in Edinburgh.
Robert Knox
Places you can visit associated with Burke and Hare
💀 West Bow Street where Burke and Hare lived
💀 The Lawnmarket where Burke was executed (the gallows were constructed at the intersection where George IV meets the Royal Mile).
💀 The Surgeons’ Hall Museums to see Burke’s death mask and a pocketbook made using his skin (yup, seriously!)
💀 The smallest William Burke Museum in the world at The Cadies and Witchery Tours shop on Bow Street
💀 The Anatomical Museum at the University of Edinburgh to see Burke’s skeleton – information on visiting can be found here
What are your thoughts on the Burke and Hare murders?
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