 Chapter 23 of the History of Birkenhair and of the Resurrectionist Times The last stage of the trial, Birk sentenced to death. The scene in the court, MacDougall discharged, duration of the trial. The last stage of a long trial had now been reached. After the verdict against Birk there was only one course open to the judges, but still the attention of the audience was given most earnestly to the proceedings. Birk seemed callous, for he had felt certain of the doom that was about to be pronounced upon him. The Lord Advocate moved for the judgment of the court, and the Lord Justice Clark called upon Lord Meadowbank to propose the sentence. Having briefly reviewed the facts of the case, as brought out in the evidence, Lord Meadowbank proceeded, Your Lordships will, I believe, in vain search through the real and the fabulous histories of crime for anything at all approaching this cold, hypocritical, calculating, and bloody murder. Be assured, however, that I do not state this either for exciting prejudices against the individual at the bar, or for harrowing up the feelings with which I trust he is now impressed. But really when a system of such a nature is thus developed, and when the actors in this system are thus exhibited, it appears to me that Your Lordships are bound, for the sake of public justice, to express the feelings which will entertain of one of the most terrific and one of the most monstrous delineations of human depravity that has ever been brought under Your consideration. Nor can Your Lordships forget the glowing observations which were made from the bar in one of the addresses on behalf of the prisoners. Upon the causes which it is said, have in some measure led to the establishment of this atrocious system. These alone, in my humble opinion, seem to require that Your Lordships should state roundly that with such matters and with matters of science, we sitting in such places and deciding on such questions as that before us have nothing to do. It is our duty to administer the law as handed down to us by our ancestors and enacted by the legislature. But God forbid that it should ever be conceived that the claims of speculation or the claims of science should ever give countenance to such awful atrocities as the present or should lead Your Lordships or the people of this country to contemplate such crimes with apathy or indifference. With respect to the case before us Your Lordships are aware that the only sentence we can pronounce is the sentence of death. The highest law has said, Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt do no murder. And in like manner, the law of Scotland has declared that the man guilty of deliberate and premeditated murder shall suffer death. The conscience of the prisoner must have told him when he perpetrated this foul and deliberate murder and to like violating the law of God and the law of man, he thereby forfeited his life to the laws of his country. Now the detection has followed, therefore the result cannot be by him unexpected, and I have therefore only further to suggest to Your Lordships that the prisoner be detained in the toll booth of Edinburgh till the twenty-eighth day of January next, when he shall suffer death on the gibbet by the hands of the common executioner, and his body thereafter given for dissection. Lord Mackenzie concurred, saying that the punishment proposed by Lord Meadowbank was the only one that could be pronounced. The Lord Justice Clark then assumed the black cap, and a dressing Burke who had risen from his seat to receive sentence said, William Burke, you now stand convicted by the verdict of the most respectable jury of your country, of the atrocious murder charged against you in this indictment, upon evidence which carried conviction to the mind of every man that heard it, in establishing your guilt in that offense. I agree so completely with my brother on my right hand who has so fully and eloquently described the nature of your offense, that I will not occupy the time of the court in commenting any further than by saying that one of a blacker description, more atrocious in point of cold-blooded deliberation and systematic arrangement, and where the motives were so comparatively base, never was exhibited in the annals of this or of any other court of justice. I have no intention of detaining this audience by repeating what has been so well expressed by my brother. My duty is of a different nature. Or if ever it was clear beyond the possibility of a doubt that the sentence of a criminal court will be carried into execution in any case, yours is that one. And you may rest assured that you have now no other duty to perform on earth, but to prepare in the most suitable manner to appear before the throne of Almighty God to answer for this crime, and for every other you have been guilty of during your life. The necessity of repressing offenses of this most extraordinary and alarming description precludes the possibility of your entertaining the slightest hope that there will be any alteration upon your sentence. In regard to your case the only doubt which the court entertains of your offense, and which the violated laws of the country entertain respecting it, is whether your body should not be exhibited in chains in order to deter others from the like crimes in time coming, but taking into consideration that the public eye would be offended by so dismal an exhibition, I am disposed to agree that your sentence shall be put into execution in the usual way, but unaccompanied by the statutory attendant of the punishment of the crime of murder, namely that your body should be publicly dissected and anatomized, and I trust that if it ever is customary to preserve skeletons, yours will be preserved in order that posterity may keep in remembrance your atrocious crimes. I would entreat you to be take yourself immediately to a thorough repentance, and to humble yourself in the sight of Almighty God. Call instantly to your aid the ministers of religion of whatever persuasion you are. Avail yourself from this hour forward of their instructions so that you may be brought in a suitable manner urgently to implore pardon from an offended God. I need not allude to any other case than that which has occupied your attention these many hours. You are conscious in your own mind whether the other charges, which were exhibited against you yesterday, were such as as might be established against you or not. I refer to them merely for the purpose of again recommending you to devote the few days that you are on the earth to imploring forgiveness from Almighty God. The sentence was formally recorded in the books of the court with the addition that the place of execution was specified as in the lawn market of Edinburgh, and the body of the deceased was ordered to be delivered to Dr. Alexander Monroe, professor of anatomy at the University of Edinburgh, to be by him publicly dissected and anatomized. The Lord Justice Clark then turned to Helen McDougal and said, The jury have found the libel against you not proven. They have not pronounced you not guilty of the crime of murder charged against you in this indictment. You know whether you have been in the commission of this atrocious crime. I leave it to your own conscience to draw the proper conclusion. I hope and trust that you will be take yourself to a new line of life, diametrically opposite from that which you have led for a number of years, an interlocutor of dismissal was pronounced, and McDougal was free from the pains of the law, though she had still to fear the fury of an unappeased public. The Edinburgh evening current of Saturday, 27 December thus described the appearance of the prisoners when the Lord Justice Clark addressed them. The scene was altogether awful and impressive. The prisoner stood up with unshaken firmness. Not a muscle of his features was discomposed during the solemn address of the Lord Justice Clark, consigning him to his doom. The female prisoner was much agitated and was drowned in tears during the whole course of the melancholy procedure. The trial was thus concluded. The court having sat with certain intervals for refreshment from ten o'clock in the four noon of Wednesday the 24th of January until nearly ten o'clock next morning. Burkett has been seen was cool and collected, his mind having been made up before the judicial proceedings began as to how they were likely to end. About four o'clock on Wednesday afternoon he asked one of the jailers near him when dinner would be provided and on being informed that the court would not adjourn for that meal until about six o'clock he begged to be given a biscuit or two as he was afraid he would lose his appetite before the dinner hour. McDougal however was not so calm and during the whole course of the trial manifested an amount of anxiety as to her position not shown by her companion. End of Chapter 23, Recording by John Brandon Chapter 24 of the history of Burke and Hare and of the resurrectionist times. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. The History of Burke and Hare by George McGregor Chapter 24 The Interest in the Trial Public feeling as to the remit. Press opinions. Attack on Dr. Noxus House. The news of the result of the trial spread rapidly. All the Edinburgh newspapers gave lengthened reports of the proceedings putting the affairs of state to aside for once and in those cases where the usual publication day of a journal was on the Thursday, the day on which the trial closed, second editions containing the verdict and sentence were issued. The evening courant was at the pains to obtain statistics of the circulation of the newspapers. Between the Thursday morning and Saturday night it was calculated that no fewer than 8,000 extra copies were sold representing a money value of nearly 240 pounds. This was certainly surprising when the high price charge for the journals is taken into account and is a testimony to the intense interest taken in the trial by the people at large. The result of the trial was received with mingled feelings. The lively satisfaction was felt at the conviction of Burke but the dismissal of McDougal and the probable escape of Hare and his wife through having become informers was a great amount of discontent. The evidence given by the two principal witnesses showed that they were as much guilty of the offense as Burke himself and an impression began to get abroad that Hare was after all the leading spirit in the conspiracy and that he had as the counsel for the defense that suggested made Burke his last victim. This strong dislike or rather detestation to Hare did not however have a compensating effect by producing sympathy for Burke. The popular mind was too deeply convinced of his guilt to think that he other than fully deserved the doom that had been pronounced upon him and the peculiar feature of the matter was this. That while there was no need for the Lord Advocate proceeding further against Burke in respect of the first and second charges on the indictment since he had been condemned on the third the great mass of the people pronounced an unmistakable verdict of guilty against him for the murder of Daft Jamie and decorant shortly after the trial deepened the impression by stating that it was Burke himself who enticed the poor natural into his den though there is every reason to believe that this was a mistake the disappearance and cruel fate of that unfortunate lad at perhaps more to do with the prejudice as it was called at the trial against the two prisoners and their accomplices than any other item in the case. The Caledonian Mercury of Thursday the 25th December the day on which sentence was passed has the following among other comments on the proceedings of the previous 24 hours no trial in the memory of any man now living has excited so deep universal and we may also add appalling an interest is that of William Burke and his female associate by the statements which have from time appeared in the newspapers public feeling has been worked up to its highest pitch of excitement and the case in so far as the miserable panels were concerned prejudiced by the natural abhorrence which the account of a new and unparalleled crime is calculated to excite at the same time it is not so much to the accounts published in the newspapers which merely embodied and gave greater currency to the statements circulating in society as to the extraordinary nay unparalleled circumstances of the case that the strong excitement of the public mind must be ascribed these are without any precedent in the records of our criminal practice and in fact amount to the realization of a nursery tale the recent deplorable increase of crime has made us familiar with several new atrocities poisoning is now it seems rendered subsidiary to the commission of theft stabbing and attempts at assassination are matters of almost every day occurrence and murder has grown so familiar to us that it has almost ceased to be viewed with that instinctive and inexpressible dread which the commission of the greatest crime against the laws of God and society used to excite but the present is the first instance of murder alleged to have been perpetrated with a forethought purpose and intent of selling the murdered body as a subject of dissection to anatomists it is a new species of assassination or murder for hire and as such no less than from the general horror felt by the people of this country at the process from ministering to which the reward was expected it was certainly calculated to make a deep impression on the public mind and to awaken feelings of strong and appalling interest in the time of the trial of the extent to which this had taken place it was easy to judge from what was everywhere observable on Monday and Tuesday the approaching trial formed the universal topic of conversation and all sorts of speculations and conjectures were float as to the circumstances likely to be disclosed in the course of it and the various results to which it would eventually lead as the day drew near the interest deepened and it was easy to see that the common people shared strongly in the general excitement the coming trial they expected to disclose something which they had often dreamed of or imagined or heard recounted around an evening's fire like a raw head and bloody bone story but which they never in their sober judgment either feared or believed to be possible and they look forward to it with corresponding but indescribable emotions in short all classes participated more or less in a common feeling respecting the case of this unhappy man and his associate all expected fearful disclosures none we are convinced wished for anything but justice this was the expectation of the public but it was unfortunately not altogether realized true the mystery of the murder of mrs docardy had been cleared up but going to the legal objections nothing had been said as to how mary paterson and deft jamie met their death they said operated against a proper disclosure in more ways than one the limitation of the indictment confined the informer's evidence one cited though it undoubtedly was to one crime and prevented it being given in the case of the others and further the limitations did away with the necessity of calling dr. nox and the other medical men whose names were on the list of witnesses and who were supposed to be mixed up in the transaction where are the doctors was the question when the trial closed without any appearance of them and it was repeated out of the court with threatening emphasis in the case which went to trial and on which Burke was condemned there was really no need for them the body had been recovered and identified there was no doubt as to the murder the whole subject of inquiry was by whom it was committed had the other charges in the indictment gone to the knowledge of the size the evidence of the doctors and their assistants would have been required for they and they only could have spoken to the appearance and probable identity of subjects applied to them about certain dates and supposed to be the bodies of the unfortunate victims of the persons placed at the bar then they would have been indispensable as it was they were not needed with the result that public curiosity had only been whetted not satisfied and a circumstance that helped to make this feeling all the more intense was that the indictment in so far as it related to the first two charges seemed to have been framed on information supplied by hair while the fact that the lord advocate made them part of the libel and intimated the production of certain articles belonging to the two victims gave more than reasonable ground for the assumption that he was convinced he had a good case otherwise he would not have sought to lay it before a jury this fact combined with the natural thirst for legal vengeance gave the public hope that the officers for the crown would be able to put hair and his wife upon their trial for some crime other than any that were mentioned in the indictment but in the same series and that by this means the whole plot with all relating to it would be laid bare all these circumstances caused a strong feeling of discontent among every class in the community but especially among the lower orders who seem to think their lives menaced by criminals of the stamp of burkin hair much excitement consequently prevailed but though disturbances were feared by the authorities no serious breach of the public peace occurred until sunday 28th december on that day a band of young men attacked dr nox's house in minto street and they were only driven off by a strong force of police after they had broken a great quantity of window glass end of chapter 24 recording by john brandon chapter 25 of the history of burkin hair and of the resurrectionist times this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra vox.org recording by john brandon the history of burkin hair by george mcgregor chapter 25 burks behavior in prison liberation of mcdougal and the consequent riot visitors at burks house in the west fort burks idea of the obligations of dr nox his confessions also the trial burk had seemed callous and indifferent but when he was removed from the courtroom to the lock up he was considerably agitated he threw himself on his knees on the floor of his cell and prayed to god to whom he had long been a stranger and to whose mercy the judge had so earnestly commended him after this he appeared to be considerably relieved and during the rest of the day he was comparatively cheerful he spoke a good deal to the policeman who was beside him and said he was pleased at the acquittal of mcdougal without any hesitation he conversed freely about the murder of dockerty who he said was not murdered by him in the way described by hair that individual was himself the murderer though he admitted he had held the unfortunate woman's hands to prevent her from struggling the policeman was a fair type of the public as a question he put to burk amply proved he told burk that he wondered above all things how he could imbrew his hands in the blood of daft jamie that burk was in a state of semi delirium is shown by his answer as he hoped to meet with mercy at the throne of grace his hand was not concerned in that murder here in his wife were the sole perpetrators of it though he had decoyed the poor simpleton into their house that his mind was in a strange state he admitted by adding that after he was more composed he would make disclosures that would implicate several others besides hair and his wife in crime similar to that for which he was condemned and if he could make sure of the hanging of hair he would die happy how did he feel when pursuing his horrible vocation was the next query of the constable in his waking moments he had no feeling or he drank to dead in conscience but when he slept he had frightful dreams he also expressed a wish that one of his council should call on him that he might furnish him with notes of his life and adventures as he desired his history to be published whether for notoriety or as a warning to others he did not say in the course of that evening he read two chapters of the bible and afterwards retired to rest his sleep however was not peaceful he awoke in a frantic state every now and then but after a short time he became more composed and fell asleep again at two o'clock on Friday morning he was removed quietly in a coach to the carlton hill prison and placed in the condemned cell here the frenzy onto which he had been laboring since his condemnation took another turn he threw aside the semi-religious feeling which seemed to sway his mind the day before and turned fiercely to the jailer but there was always one beside him as before his trial he had threatened self-destruction and said this is a damned cold place you have brought me till the thirst for vengeance against hair was still strong in him he sat thinking over their connection and broke out every now and then into curses against his one-time associate here he declared was more guilty than he was here he said murdered the first woman he persuaded me to join him and now he has murdered me and i will regret to the last hour of my existence that he did not share the same fate an officer said to him i think i could never wish to see that man forgiven who could murder that poor harmless good-natured daft jamie berk replied with fierce earnestness my days are numbered i am soon to die by the hands of man i have no more to fear and can have no interest in telling a lie and i declare that i am as innocent of daft jamie's blood as you are he was taken into hair's house and murdered by him and his wife to be sure i was guilty so far as i assisted to carry his body to dr nox and got a share of the money later in the day he dropped into the frame of mine in which he was after his sentence and willingly acknowledged to his jailers that he was guilty though beyond that he declined to satisfy their curiosity as the evening advanced he asked if he would be allowed to pray there was of course no objection and again he petitioned the almighty for forgiveness and specially mentioned helen mcdougall that her heart might be touched and turned from evil this was the night on which mcdougall was liberated it was feared that the infuriated mob that paced the streets of the city after the close of the trial would tear her to pieces and she had as a matter of safety been detained in the lockup immediately on her liberation she returned to her house in the west port and remained there un molested until the next night then she went out to shop in the neighborhood for the purpose of purchasing some whiskey berks prayer had not yet been answered the shopkeeper refused to supply her and on her way home she was noticed by a number of boys who recognizing her raised the cry there's mcdougall speedily a crowd assembled a rough tumultuous crowd strongly under the sway of judge lynch fortunately for her the police came to her rescue and again for safety took her to the watch house in western portsburg the infuriated mob endeavored to prevent this and sought to tear the woman from the grasp of the officers in order that they might execute summary justice upon her but her guardians drew their staves and by laying about them in a determined manner attained their purpose at last the watch house was reached but still mcdougall was not safe the crowd which had grown to huge dimensions worked the place from every side smashed the windows and seemed so determined to gain admittance and work their will upon the unfortunate woman that the officers judging themselves unable to make sufficient stand had her dressed in men's clothes and she escaped by a back window unobserved the show of resistance was made for a short time to allow mcdougall to reach a place of safety and then it was announced to the mob that she was being detained in order to give evidence against hair this pacified the passions of the people but they were willing she should escape in the main time if there was any chance of making sure that hair would be punished and they quietly dispersed mcdougall though out of the office was still under police protection and on sunday 28th december she was accompanied outside the city on her way to sterling sure with it was stated between 10 and 12 pounds in her possession up until the friday night following the trial the house occupied by berk and mcdougall in the westboard was visited by great crowds of people who wished out of curiosity to see the place where such foul crimes had been perpetrated on that night however the person who had the key gave it up to the landlord as he wished to escape the imputation cast upon him by some that he had been making money by showing it off on the following sunday also the street was crowded by well-dressed people all attracted to the scene by its evil reputation here is the description given by one of the edinburgh newspapers of that period of the houses occupied by berk and his accomplice the immediate entrance to it berks house is appropriate namely through a dark passage where the women stood while the murder of the irish woman was being perpetrated the dwelling is one small room an oblong square which presents the exact appearance it had when the culprits were apprehended there is still the straw at the foot of the bed in which the murdered woman was concealed although it has an air of the most squalid poverty and want of arrangement on the floor is a quantity of wretched old shoes of all sizes meant by berk perhaps to indicate his being a cobbler but they were so wretchedly warned that we cannot suppose they were left with him to be mended or that he designed to improve their appearance for the purpose of selling them we incline to think that they belonged to some of his victims the dwelling is most conveniently situate with the murderous trade he pursued there being many obscure approaches to it from different directions hair's dwelling also has attracted many visitors its appearance is equally devorable with that of berk it is on the ground floor consists of two apartments and overlooks a gloomy close beside it is a sort of stable used by hair as a pigsty and secured with a large padlock in this it is believed hair and berk committed many of their butcheries and here we are inclined to think deaf jaymey encountered his fate but to return to berk in the condemned cell as the time passed on his mind appeared to be agitated for brief periods though in general he seemed resigned to the fate his crimes so richly deserved on one occasion he broke out in a curious manner he had been sitting quietly apparently thinking over his past life and of the near approach of its end when he startled his attendant by saying i think i am entitled and ought to get that five pounds from dr nox which is still unpaid on the body of dockerty why dr nox lost by the transaction as the body was taken from him was the reply of the amazed water that was not my business at berk i delivered the subject and he ought to have kept it but you forget that were the money paid here would have the right to half of it argued the other i have got a tolerable pair of trousers explained berk musingly and since i am to appear before the public i should like to be respectable i have not a coat and waistcoat that i can appear in and if i got that five pounds i could buy them as the time went on berk was induced to make a confession of his crimes on the third of january 1829 he dictated a confession before sheriff tate the procurator fiscal and the assistant sheriff clark and on the 22nd of the same month he supplemented it by a short statement made in the presence of the same parties with the addition of the reverend william reid a roman catholic priest application was made to the lord advocate by an edinburgh gentleman to obtain admission to berk sell to receive a confession from the criminal this was refused and on an appeal being made to the home secretary the refusal was confirmed on the 21st of january however the condemned made another and fuller confession but this time unofficial and this document had such a curious history that an account of it must be reserved until the proper time between his condemnation and execution berk was visited by protestant and roman catholic clergyman and he received the ministrations of both without preference end of chapter 25 recording by john brandon chapter 26 of the history of berkin hair and of the resurrectionist times this is a leper vox recording all leper vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit lepervox.org recording by mary paterson the history of berkin hair by george mcgregor chapter 26 the complicity of the doctors numerous disappearances dr nox and david paterson paterson defends himself the echo of surgeon square the scapegoat as time went on the excitement among the public increased and the newspapers thoroughly roused to the importance of the westport murders and freed from restraint by the decision of the court spoke out fearlessly the complicity of the doctors as it was called came in for a large share of attention and severe comment while rumors as to the action the authorities intended to take regarding hair and his wife were eagerly canvassed it was stated that hair after the trial made important disclosures confessing to having been concerned in no less than 12 different acts of murder in some of which he was the principal in others the accessory and that he knew of another though he was not in any way a party to the commission of it then it was said that berk had confessed to having sold some 30 or 35 uninterred bodies during the previous two years and it was argued that these could only have been obtained by murder notably the murder of unfortunate women large numbers of him had mysteriously disappeared in that time no one knew how natural deaths had become very rare among that class and for some time the determined of one of them was a thing almost unknown this it was argued showed that a gigantic conspiracy to murder for the purpose of obtaining subjects for dissection had been going on in edinburgh and it was suspected that the gang was larger than it really was a medical man informed a journalist that in the autumn of 1828 the body of a woman was offered for sale by some miscreants probably of berks gang was the opinion hazarded to the assistant of an eminent teacher of anatomy in edinburgh the assistant did not know them for they were not regular resurrectionists he knew them well enough but as he required a subject he told them to bring the body and if it were suitable he would purchase it the body was conveyed to the dissecting room the same evening and on being turned out of the sack the assistant was startled to see it was that of a woman of the town with her clothes and shoes and stockings on he carefully examined the body and found there was an enormous fracture on the back of the head and a large portion of the skull driven in as if by the blow of a hammer with an oath he asked them where and how they got the body and one of them coolly replied that it was the body of an unfortunate who had been popped in a brawl in holkerson's wind the subject was refused and the merchants had to take it elsewhere this and many similar stories naturally gave rise to a demand for a searching investigation alike in the public interest and in the interests of the teachers of anatomy themselves it was advocated that all the anatomical teachers and others who used cadavera for their classes both in and out of the university ought to be examined as to the manner in which they were accustomed to receive their subjects in particular the assistants and students of dr nox during the two previous sessions ought to undergo an examination as to the quarter when bodies were procured the state in which they were received and the manner in which they were dissected without such a complete and thorough examination it was argued the public could have no guarantee that every anatomical teacher in edinburgh had not a bark in his pay for it seemed to be the impression in the minds of the people that one gentleman stands in the same relation to bark that the murder of bankwo did to mcbeth the edinburgh weekly chronicle was especially outspoken in respect to dr nox with regard to dr nox this journal said too much delicacy and reserve have been maintained by a part of the press when the atrocities in question first transpired it was stated that nox conducted himself with the utmost civility towards the police officers who went to his house in search of the body when the fact is he swore at them from his window and threatened to blow their brains out and it was only upon their proceeding to force the door of his lecture room that it was opened by one of the keepers from nox the chronicle passed on to paterson his curator or porter who that journal asserted actually offered dockerty for sale to a respectable gentleman in the profession before she was dispatched he saw her in berks house immediately after the spark of life had been extinguished and he then again offered her for 15 pounds to the same gentleman who indignantly ordered him out of his house the caledonian mercury was equally plain and would give no countenance to the idea that nox and his assistants had been opposed upon by berk and hare and gave all its weight in favor of the complicity idea it also repeated the story of the supposed negotiations between paterson and the most respectable teacher of anatomy as to the sale of dockerty's body for 15 pounds with this addition that he stated to the gentleman in question on his second visit that the body he wished to dispose of was the body of a woman and that he had a desperate gang in his pay through whom he could procure as many subjects as he wished for nox remained silent under all these charges but paterson could not and he wrote a letter on the 15th january to the editor of the caledonian mercury he contended that he had been shamefully wronged by the many false and cruel accusations made against him and stated that he had only kept silence by advice of dr nox as he was according to promise to espouse my cause and clear my innocence but which i now find he has cruelly failed to perform and i now most solemnly protest and can prove that throughout all the services rendered by me to dr nox i acted entirely under his own guidance and direction he also denied a statement to the effect that he had absconded and had been dismissed from dr nox's service and he called upon the authorities if they conceived him in any way guilty in the transaction to bring him to a public trial and either let him be found guilty or have the benefit of an honorable acquittal to this letter the editor of the mercury appended some questions but these will be best explained by a quotation from a letter from paterson dated 17th january 1829 in reply to them he says after the publication of my letter to you in this day's paper i observe you have inserted the following queries first whether it be true or the reverse that about one o'clock in the morning of first november last i in conjunction with another individual whom i well know offered the body of a woman for sale to a highly respectable lecturer on anatomy my answer is simply no secondly whether or not i asked 15 pounds for the subject stating at the same time that dr nox would give only 12 answer no thirdly whether i did not say that i wish to have no further dealings with the doctor because he had handed us over to his the doctor's assistance my answer is no and lastly whether the body so offered was or was not the body of the woman doherty to this i answer that having nobody to offer the transaction could not take place paterson proceeded to explain however that about three weeks before the murder of dockerty a friend of the most respectable anatomist referred to by the mercury called on him and asked where the individuals lived that were in the habit of supplying dr nox with subjects he did not know so he could not give any information but as the sum of 15 pounds was offered for a subject he promised that the next time he saw the resurrectionists he would mention the matter to them provided always that dr nox was supplied paterson again gave a most emphatic denial to the statement of his dismissal which the mercury had reported upon the authority of dr nox himself and he had closed a copy of a letter from that gentleman dated the 11th of january asking him to return to his employment again the mercury returned to the charge and said now this is not a question of probability but a fact and we again ask him paterson whose was the corpse he confessedly offered for sale an error or an hour and a half after burke had according to his own evidence in the witness box told him he had something for the doctor which would be ready in the morning paterson replied to this on the 23rd january and complained that he was being made the scapegoat for a personage in higher life as his letter is not only interesting in itself but also because there is introduced in it an account of a transaction with andrew merleys the merry andrew of an early chapter of this work it is worth quoting pretty fully i will now give you says paterson what i trust the public will consider a satisfactory explanation of the transaction alluded to in your paper of the 22nd which will at the same time answer the queries in the caledonian mercury of the 17th about three weeks before the murder of dockerty a mister called upon me who was very intimate or appeared to be so with doctor during the conversation in a walk along the bridges the topic turned upon the scarcity of subjects amongst the lecturers i was asked how doctor was supplied and after informing him to the best of my knowledge that he mister said he understood that doctor could not get one and that he had offered him 15 pounds if he could get one for him my answer was that i thought there was nothing more easy as there were plenty of resurrection men came about doctor's rooms who might procure one for him he then requested me to accompany him to doctor's house and he would ascertain if doctor had got one i did so doctor and mister talked for some time on various matters when the discourse turned upon the matter in question i heard doctor offer 15 pounds for a subject as he was in great straits i took no part in the conversation nor made any remark but after we had left doctor mister strongly urged me to allow a subject to go to doctor's rooms when any should arrive without the knowledge of doctor for which no doubt i was to receive a remuneration for my trouble doctor about that time had 15 subjects and i did resolve to allow one to doctor at the first opportunity shortly after this time brick and hair brought a subject but not having an opportunity of speaking to them that night resolved to do so when i next saw them or any other of the resurrectionists a few days after a notorious resurrectionist called at the rooms and informed me that he was going to the country upon business and inquired if the doctor was in want of goods i replied that possibly he might but that i wanted one for a friend and would pay him when he returned the bargain was struck and he received earnest and a trunk saying he had two customers before me and it might be eight or ten days before he could supply me as the grounds were strictly watched this passed over and on friday evening the 31st october a person brought a letter addressed to mr surgeon's square this turned out to be from andrew m or mary andrew as he was styled the following is a literal copy october 29 doctor i'm in the east and has been doing little business and short of sillar send out about ot and 20 shillings weigh the cater the thing will be in about four on saturday morning it's a she saw hey the place open and m s just after i received this letter i went with mr to spend the evening and returned home about 12 o'clock i found burke knocking at the door of my lodgings after my return from burks which was only a few minutes past 12 o'clock i went to bed the letter had escaped my memory i slept none the suspicions i had entertained of burkin hair and the determination i had come to to examine the body of the subject they were to send and a retrospective view of their late conduct passed before me the letter now came into my mind it was between three and four o'clock i went to doctor did say i expected a subject from his friend did not say what place the doctor desired it to be sent to his lecture rooms as his assistants were or would be in waiting he did not refuse it as has been alleged the doctor did not receive it however as mr andrew m s thought proper to address it to another quarter a very common trick with him especially if he received part in advance i confess that the circumstance of the subject coming from the east at the nick of time dockerty was murdered looks rather suspicious but when i inform you that i have seen three subjects at the same time of day sent the lecture room from different quarters your suspicions will cease for the third time he denied that he had been dismissed by dr nox and said that since this last letter to the doctor had sent for him expressing the most friendly intentions towards him but a more serious charge than that was made against david paterson in a communication from dr nox's principal assistants also published in the caledonian mercury these gentlemen after declaring that paterson was not keeper of the museum belonging to dr nox though he was cited and gave his evidence at the trial of bark as such said with regard to his connection with berkin hair he was so far associated with them that he was on the eve of entering into an agreement with one of these miscreants to accompany him to ireland that they might as he said procure a greater supply of subjects and at less price the people being put are there whether this was the case or not was never made clear but it was certainly stated by bark in his current confessions that such a project was on foot though he did not state who the other party was popular belief was that it was paterson paterson had taken another method of repelling the allegations brought against him this was a pamphlet in the form of a letter to the lord advocate under the title of an echo from surgeon square the current of thursday 22nd january gave an account of this document and taking it all in all after making allowance for the prejudice the paper exhibited in common with the great mass of the public against the man it is a fair indication of its content the statement it said had for its object the vindication of mr. d paterson the late assistant of dr. knocks and of course through the blame on others the pamphlet contained a good deal of irrelevant matter and sundry details as to the means of procuring subjects for the anatomical schools which were not of great interest and rather calculated to do injury it contained however information of greater importance if it can be depended on which we have no doubt will be eagerly sought after in the present general excitation the document stated that dp was first in the employment of doctor in the year 1824 or 1825 for about one year and on his return from the army at the close of 1827 he applied to doctor for his former situation and was engaged in the beginning of february 1828 as museum keeper his salary was very small but from the fees paid him by the students he can try to make a very comfortable livelihood he had nothing whatever to do with the subjects or bodies brought to the lecture room his sole duty was to keep the museum at that time he did not know how the doctor obtained his subjects shortly after he saw burkin hair burk was called john and hair william and understood from a conversation that passed between them and one of the assistants that they had been in the habit of supplying subjects previous to that time he threw the blame of negotiating with these two men on one of doctor nox's assistants and said that once after he began to be suspicious of the true nature of the calling of these two men he asked burk where he got the body he was then offering the man replied sternly if i am to be catacysed by you where and how i get subjects i will inform the doctor of it and if he allows you to do so i will bring no more to him mind that in other respects the echo was very similar to the letter by paterson already quoted but before concluding this part of the subject it will be proper to give leitens opinion of paterson's position in the dispute writing in 1860 on the complicity of the doctors he gives this calm testimony in paterson's favor as for the curator who is still a respectable inhabitant of edinburgh and upon whom the short lived blind fury of some newspapers of the time fell with much surprise to himself and much indignation elsewhere he was of all the parties concerned the most free from blame nor did anyone but himself come forward and assist the authorities in the prosecution nay it is understood that under a passing reflection that the number of apparently unexumed bodies brought by these men required explanation he mentioned the circumstance to his principal and that gentleman silenced him at once by the statement that they had long known of the practice of sale and purchase and so the suspicion passed away viewing the whole matter after the lapse of fully half a century there seems no reason to doubt that paterson though certain of his acts were to say the least of it shady and morally reprehensible if not legally punishable was made as he himself said the scapegoat for a personage in higher life end of chapter 26 recording by marie paterson chapter 27 of the history of berk and hair this is a leber vox recording all leber vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit www.lebervox.org recording by catherine emerson the history of berk and hair and of the resurrectionist times by george mcgregor chapter 27 the legal position of hair and his wife gossip about berk mrs. hair and her child constantine berk anatomical instruction mrs. docrates antecedents but in addition to this outcry against paterson the public mind was as has already been indicated agitated by the rumors that no further action was to be taken against hair and that he and his wife were to be liberated the caledonian mercury was greatly exercised over the following passage in the charge given to the jury at the trial by the lord justice clerk quote they the jury had been told of the hairs being concerned in the murders with what murders they might be chargeable he did not know but to a certainty they could not be liable on either of the charges contained in the indictment now under trial in which had not been sent to the jury end quote the mercury argued and quoted legal authorities too that hair and his wife were liable to be charged for the murders of mary paterson and daft jamie regarding which they had not given evidence and that the protection of the court only extended to any self-crimination in the case in which they had given evidence quote the public prosecutor it was contended has discharged all title to molest them in regard to the murder of dockerty the only part of the liable against burke which went to trial because they gave evidence and criminated themselves in regard to the crime but he is not discharged this title to pursue them for the murder of paterson or daft jamie and accordingly when mr. cockburn proposed to interrogate hair in his cross examination concerning his connections with the latter crime the court interposed by telling the witness that he was entitled to decline answering such a question as tending to discriminate himself and as beyond the reach of the protection afforded him for his evidence in the case of dockerty it was frequently stated from the bench that his answering the question put by mr. cockburn would implicate himself in the crime and how else could he have been entitled to decline answering it as a protected socios he was bound to answer every question that should be asked him within the compass of that protection and if it had extended to and included the murder of jamie which was included in the same charge the obligation to answer would of course have been co extensive with the protection end quote the edinburgh weekly chronicle lamented quote the acquittal of the fiend mcdougall end quote and said there had been some very painful suspicions that the investigation of these murders was not to be further prosecuted quote we happen to know they said that a certain public functionary not the lord advocate who zeal in forwarding the late trial is beyond all praise remarked the other day that they were perfectly sick of the business and were resolved to stir no further in it lest it should bring shame on the city in the present state of the public mind no lord advocate will dare to say thus far to the death of burke shall the tide of public vengeance flow and no farther it is satisfactory to reflect however that our law has wisely restricted the lord advocates prerogative so that even where he disposed he cannot screen a murderer from justice if the deceased's relations inclined to prosecute him the law says that murder shall not go unevented if either the public represented by the lord advocate or those who have been deprived by it of a near relative insist for punishment will not then the friends of some of the butchered individuals whose blood calls to heaven for retribution be roused to prosecute the butchers no one can doubt that money would be liberally provided by the inhabitants to defray all expenses end quote the rumors which so alarmed these newspapers and it must also be said a large portion of the public had foundation in fact after her and his wife had given evidence against burke they were recommitted to jail under a warrant of the sheriff this was done probably to allow the lord advocate time to consider in what relationship he stood towards them whether he could try them on the first two charges in the indictment or whether he was bound to release them they having turned king's evidence he seems to have come to the conclusion that he must liberate them and accordingly on the 19th of january the commitment was withdrawn this was a wise decision notwithstanding all that was said to the contrary at the time in the public prince and elsewhere if the crown could not gain a conviction against burke of the murder of dockerty without the aid of two of his accomplices it was not at all likely that it would be able to convict hair and his wife without similar evidence thus so far as the public prosecutor was concerned the two informers were free but proceedings of another kind were taken against hair who was detained in prison pending their settlement though his wife was liberated on the 19th of january other matters were also attracting the attention of the people for every issue of the newspapers gave circulation to gossipy stories about burke or his accomplices are relating to circumstances bearing in some way or other upon the subject which was causing such universal interest it was stated for instance that at one time burke made considerable sums of money among the unlettered inhabitants of the west port by writing begging petitions and that while working at the construction of the union canal he was for the first time engaged in the trade of a resurrectionist whatever truth there may have been in the first part of this statement there is good reason to believe that the latter part was founded upon mere idle rumor it was also alleged that in the course of the preceding summer burke made an attack upon an unfortunate girl in st cuthbert's entry at the head of the west port evidently with murderous intent she escaped from his grasp and ran to the watch house where she gave a particular description of her assailant to the police who would certainly have been able to apprehend him had he not judiciously left the city for a time until the hue and cry was given up it is difficult to believe that burke would have acted so unconsciously that he should have sought to dispense with that drugging with whiskey which so often did have his work for him his friendly relationship with certain members of the police force was emphasized by a statement that he was in the habit of going home at any hour of the night or morning always accompanied by the constable on the beat to whom he gave a glass or two of whiskey out of a bottle he carried with him and it was urged that an inquiry should be made into this breach of discipline such were the items of gossip about burke to which publicity was given by the newspapers but a charge of a serious kind was made against mrs. hair in the issue of the current published on the first january 1829 it was stated that mrs. hair after log's death and at the beginning of her relationship with hair bore a child which the people of the neighborhood asserted was murdered by her so confidently was this allegation put forward that it was added that there would be no difficulty in obtaining sufficient evidence to establish a case against her for destroying the life of an infant a singular fact was mentioned in the same paper in connection with hair his mother and sister from ireland arrived in edinburgh a day or two before proposing to visit him and it was not until they were within two miles of the city that they were apprised of the fact that he was involved in a series of the most shocking murders another statement was that hair in the course of the summer of 1828 had murdered a young woman who was a servant to one of the city clergymen this if true would point to the identity of the body over the proceeds from the sale of which burke quarreled with his colleague another person who came in for a share of public attention was Constantine Burke the brother of the condemned man in whose house in the cannon gate it has been seen mary paterson was murdered after the trial he was continually in danger of being maltreated by the mob and at last the sheriff gave him a small sum of money to enable him and his family to leave the city according to the current Constantine had always been a sober industrious poverty-pressed man he admitted having once taken a chest to sergent square being conducted to the place by his brother and hair although he was not aware of its contents or its destination receiving ten shillings for his trouble he suspected his employers were resurrectionists and he then declared he would do no work for them again while all these stories were in circulation thoughtful persons were considering the revelations in their most practical bearing they admitted the necessity for teachers of anatomy being supplied with a sufficient number of subjects for dissection for it was apparent that had the legitimate supply been adequate there could have been little temptation to anyone to enter upon a career of crime theories were started as to how the evident defect was to be remedied letters on all aspects of the subject were sent to the newspapers and a wordy battle was fought out amid all this clamor on the fifth of january 1829 several of the anatomical teachers in edinburgh had an interview with the lord advocate and on the seventh of the same month the royal college of physicians and surgeons held a meeting at which they passed resolutions expressing regret that anatomical instruction which they conscientiously believed to be an essential part in the education of medical men should ever have furnished a temptation to such unexampled atrocities and calling upon the legislature to remove the restrictions under which instruction was then given this however was only one side of the question and the resolutions right and proper in themselves only served to inflame the public mind for they showed that bodies obtained at least in a surreptitious manner were being used other incidents added to the general excitement several boys belonging to respectable families disappeared suddenly and the conclusion at once jumped at by their despairing relatives was that they had been stolen away to supply the dissecting tables of the teachers of anatomy no other explanation seemed at all tenable until the missing lads were discovered some days later in a village some miles from edinburgh whether they had gone to hawk broadside or pamphlet accounts of the trial of bergen mcdull another matter which gave additional cause for anxiety was an attempt to steal the body of a man from a house in edinburgh early on the morning of tuesday the 20th january some passers-by observed a curious-looking package being lowered by means of a rope from the upper window of the house on examination it was found to be the body of a man named mcdonald better known locally as nosy on account of the size of his nasal organ who had died the day before the thieves had broken into the house where the corpse was laying unattended and were in the act of removing it when the discovery was made they managed to escape by the back of the house and were never captured this desultory chapter may be brought to a close by an interesting item regarding miss docarty the last victim of the west port murderers to which publicity was given by the glasgow herald shortly after the conclusion of the trial quote the poor woman sally docarty or cambell it was stated was well known among the inhabitants of the old wind glasgow about two years ago where she kept a lodging house for indigent people she was a thin-faced woman generally wore a red double cloak and had of course experienced a great deal of hardships in the station of life to which she was habituated at the period alluded to she had a son a shoemaker and a young man for a husband of the name of cambell the last time she appeared in the glasgow police office was as the complainer against this fellow who is still living for demolishing all the crockery and pulling down her grape from the fireplace end quote it was in search of the sun mentioned in this notice that mrs docarty went to edinburgh where she met with a death the violent nature of which was not inconsistent with the sad life she had lived but it is a remarkable fact that while the murder of this poor woman was the crime which led to the discovery of the dreadful conspiracy in which berke and hair were engaged and to the execution of the former the popular minds speedily lost the hold of the fact and oral tradition in many parts of the country in the city of edinburgh itself even to this day has it that berke suffered the last penalty of the law on the scaffold for the murder of death jamie end of chapter 27 chapter 28 of the history of berke and hair and of the resurrectionist times this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra vox dot org recording by john brandon the history of berke and hair by george mcgregor chapter 28 berke's spiritual condition the erection of the scaffold the criminals last hours seen at the execution behavior of the people the hour for the closing scene of the berke and hair tragedy was now almost come and berke to all appearance seemed to regard his approaching fate with composure he's even reported to have declared that had a pardon been offered him he would have refused it but if the story is true it is more likely that the firm conviction that a pardon would not be granted had as much to do with the remark as any sentiment of resignation it was simply a case of bowing before the inevitable and so far as the outward affairs of religion were concerned the condemned man was very attentive though it could not be said that he looked forward to eternity with hope or if he did he kept his feelings very much to himself a large section of the people always inclined for dogmatic discussion on religious matters found full scope for their critical powers in the consideration of berke spiritual state the rank and unbending calvinists argued that a new spiritual birth was under the circumstances if possible and on that point they were doubtful not at all probable while the armenians with a wider theology thought in the words of the paraphrase as long as life its terms extends hopes blessed dominion never ends for while the lamp holds on to burn the greatest sinner may return theologians however could discuss as much as they liked but it was never certain whether berke spiritual state was such as to give reason for hope the execution that has been seen was fixed to take place on wednesday the 28th january 1829 and to this event the people had looked forward with ghastly satisfaction indeed so high did public feeling run that the authorities deemed it prudent to remove berke from carlton hill jail to the lock up in liberton's wind at four o'clock on the morning of tuesday the 27th january the day before the execution this was absolutely necessary as had the removal taken place at a time when the people were about or were expecting it the probability was that instead of undergoing a judicial execution berke would have been torn to pieces by an infuriated mob the long confinement in prison had not changed his appearance much he was given a black suit in which to appear on the scaffold and this afforded him some consolation shortly after noon on the same day preparations were begun at the place of execution in the lawn market strong poles were placed in the street to support the chain by which the crowd was to be kept back and on this occasion the space was considerably larger than usual the work progressed witnessed by a large crowd which gradually swelled in size as the excited people came to see the erection of the structure that was to work legal vengeance on a hated murderer as the night went on and the work approached completion the rain fell heavily but the crowd notwithstanding showed no diminution and whenever any important part of the erection was finished they raised an approving cheer about half past ten o'clock the frame of the gibbet was brought to the spot and its appearance was the signal for a tremendous shout it was quickly put in its place for the men did their job with a grim satisfaction and manhole was completed the crowd as a contemporary newspaper put it events their abhorrence of the monster Burke and all concerned in the west port murders by three tremendous cheers and these were heard as far away as princess street this was about two o'clock in the morning and wet and dismal though it was those anxious to see Burke suffer for his crimes were beginning to take up their places closest and stairs were quickly packed by intending sightseers who preferred to remain outside all morning then run the risk of being disappointed by arriving late by seven o'clock the vicinity of the scaffold was occupied by one of the densest crowds until that time witnessed on the streets of edinburgh from twenty thousand to twenty five thousand persons were calculated to be present many of the best people in the city being among them every window giving a view of the place of execution had been bought up some days previous the price paid varying according to the excellence of the view from five to twenty shillings the scene at this time said the writer already quoted was deeply impressive no person could without emotion survey such a vast assemblage so closely wedged together gazing at the fatal apparatus and waiting in anxious and solemn silence the arrival of the worst of murderers matters meanwhile had been going on quietly inside the prison Burke had during the day been visited by the reverend messers reed and steward two priests of the roman catholic church and the reverend messers portious and marshal protestant ministers and he received their spiritual consolations calmly but without much apparent benefit though he lamented his connection with the murders to which he had confessed he slept soundly the greater part of that night and rose about five o'clock on the wednesday morning shortly after wakening he held up his hands and remarked with an earnestness that struck his attendance oh that hour has come which shall separate me from this world this was thoroughly dramatic but whether it proceeded from a weariness of this life or a hope for a better can never be known an incident even more dramatic but similar in character occurred shortly afterwards he had been placed in irons shortly after his condemnation and he now expressed a desire to be freed from them the men proceeded to knock them off and the fetters fell with a clank on the floor of the cell so may all my earthly chains fall exclaimed Burke these remarks whatever his spiritual condition show that he was a man however debased by a terrible curse of wickedness of considerable education and natural refinement about half past six o'clock two catholic clergymen who had been so attentive to him arrived at the lock up and for half an hour he was closeted with mr reed then he entered the keeper's room and sat down for a short time in an armchair by the side of the fire deeply immersed in thought that his meditations were saddening was apparent by the heavy sighs that came now and then from his breast he was at last fairly in the presence of death but the law was more merciful to him than he had been to his victims he was given time to prepare for the awful change but they were hurled in the midst of their sins drunken and unrepentant into eternity Bailey's small and Crichton had meantime entered the jail and the two priests commenced the last religious exercises the condemned man joined in the devotions with the parent fervor and he seemed much affected by the exhortation to confide in the mercy of God after that he retired to an adjoining apartment but on the way he was met by Williams the executioner who accosted him in an unceremonious manner Burke waved him away remarking I am not just ready for you yet but Williams followed him and set about the work of pinioning the criminal submitted to the operation without a movement and simply remarked that his handkerchief was tied behind when this was done he accepted a glass of wine which was offered him and on putting it to his lips he looked around and gave his last toast farewell to all my friends for a few minutes he talked with the Protestant ministers and then the magistrates dressed in their official robes re-entered the room with their rods in their hands Burke seeing the ented now come expressed his gratitude to the magistrates and especially to Bailey's small for their kindness to him and also to the prison and lock up officials the solemn procession then formed and marched out of the jail to the scaffold Burke was supported on either side as he walked up Liberty's wind towards the lawn market by the Catholic priests and he leaned on the arm of Mr. Reed the two Baileys headed the procession and whenever they made their appearance the enormous crowd sent up one loud and simultaneous shout the condemned man was affected by this outburst of popular feeling and as if afraid the mob might break through the barriers and tear him to pieces he made haste to ascend the scaffold his appearance there was the signal for another yell of execration from the multitude shouts of Burke hymn choke hymn no mercy hangy came from all sides but otherwise the crowd showed no signs of interfering they wished to see the hangman do his duty properly if he did so they had no particular desire to take part in the work Burke looked round somewhat defiantly and then quietly kneeled down by the side of one of the priests and engaged in devotional exercises for a few minutes after which the Reverend Mr. Marshall offered up a short prayer this solemn ceremony however found small favor with the spectators they wished to see the culprit and the kneeling kept him out of their view so they cried out to the persons on the scaffold stand out of the way turn him around and though the magistrates intimated by signs as well as they could the nature of the ceremony that was going on the climbers still continued and there were frequent shouts of hair hair bring out hair hang knocks he's a noxious morsel the others of the similar kind about ten minutes had now gone and the crowd was becoming impatient after he had completed his devotions Burke lifted the silk handkerchief upon which he had been kneeling and put it in his pocket he gave a glance up to the gallows and then stepped on the drop with a firm step the executioner proceeded to adjust the rope round his neck and his confessor said to him now say your creed and when you come to the words Lord Jesus Christ give this signal and die with his blessed name on your lips the shouts from the crowd still continued and the people out of their better reason by the excitement cried out Burke him give him no rope do the same for hair weigh them together wash the blood from the land and you'll see daft Jamie in a minute Williams then tried to loosen Burke's neckerchief but he found some difficulty in doing so and the condemned man said the knots behind these were the only words Burke uttered on the scaffold the rope was then adjusted a white nightcap was put on his head and pulled over his face and Burke with an air of firmness began the recitation of the creed when he came to the holy name he gave the signal the bolt was drawn and the greatest murderer of his time except perhaps his associate hair was swinging on the gallows the multitude set up a fearful yell and every time the body of the dying man gave a convulsive twitch the crowd cheered to the echo an eyewitness said he struggled a good deal and put out his legs as if to catch something with his feet but some of the undertaker's men who were beneath the drop took him by the feet and sent him spinning round a motion which was continued until he was drawn up above the level of the scaffold it was now fully a quarter past eight o'clock and Burke had been separated from this world the body was allowed to hang until five minutes to nine o'clock when the executioner cut it down amid the gloating yells of the people they made a rush forward to the scaffold as if to lay hold of the corpse of the murderer but they were kept back by the strong force of policemen who lined the barriers the assistants at the scaffold too seemed to be affected by the general frenzy and a scramble took place among them for portions of the rope or shavings from the coffin or anything that would serve as a relic of the closing scene of the west port murders the great Burke and hare tragedies the body was conveyed to the lock up and the large crowd dispersed without a single mishap having occurred though the people still labored under intense excitement which even an accident might divert in a dangerous direction end of chapter 28 recording by john brandon chapter 29 of the history of Burke and hare and the resurrectionist times this is a LibriVox recording while LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the history of Burke and hare by George McGregor chapter 29 lecture on Burke's body right among the students excitement and edinberg the public exhibition dissection of the body of the murderer chronological developments of Burke and hare it was certainly a strange conclusion to the west port tragedies that the man who had been so active participant in them and who had assistant supplying so many subjects for dissection should himself after death a death also by strangulation become a subject of more than ordinary interest not only was that the case but the public exhibition of the body while it may be regarded as being in a sense an act of retributive justice displays a certain amount of barbarity of feeling and sentiment which is difficult to believe could have existed in this country so short a time ago as 50 years the rapid advance made by all classes during that period is generally admitted but it should be borne in mind in reference to the events now about to be described that only a few years ago public executions were common and that the change in the manner caused among certain classes some little irritation the propriety of having executions in private is now fully and freely acknowledged but having a regard to the comparatively recent change we should not look upon our respective fathers and grandfathers as altogether barbarous but passing from the line of thought suggested by the events that followed Burke's execution the threat of the narrative may be continued the body as already stated was conveyed from the scaffold to the lockup and there it remained until the next morning it was expected it would be taken to the college during the day and a large crowd surrounded the building the motive of the people may have been simple curiosity but the authorities being afraid the rougher part of the crowd if they obtained an opportunity might seize the body and treat it with scant respect deemed it proper to delay the removal until such time as it could be done with safety this was done early on thursday morning when the excited populace was asleep the body was laid out on the table and several eminent scientists among them mr. Liston mr. George comb sir William Hamilton and mr. Joseph the sculptor who took a cast for a bust examined it before the students began to gather Layton who seems to have seen the body says it was that of a thick set muscular man with a bull neck great development about the upper parts with immense thighs and calves so full as to have the appearance of globular masses the count tenants as we saw it was very far from being placid as commonly represented if you could not have perceived easily that there remained upon it the bitter expression of the very scorn with which he had looked upon that world which pushed him out of it as having in his person to face the image of his maker he supplements this by a sentence from the notes of another eyewitness he Burke was one of the most symmetrical men i ever saw fondly develop muscles and fondly form of the athlete class dr. Monroe in the afternoon of the day the body was removed to the college gave a lecture upon it and for this purpose the upper part of the head was sawn off and the brain exposed the brain was described as being unusually soft but it was pointed out that a peculiar softness was by no means uncommon in criminals who had suffered the last penalty of the law while this lecture was going on a large number of students had assembled in the quadrangle of the college and clamored for admission those who were entitled to be present at the class opening at one o'clock in the afternoon were provided with tickets but owing to the greatness of the crowd it was with the utmost difficulty that these could be made available even with the assistance of the police at last all the ticket holders were admitted and then the doors were thrown open to as many of the other students as the room would accommodate many however were left outside the lecture began at the regular hour but the nature of the subject caused it to extend over two hours instead of the usual time meanwhile the crowd in the quadrangle had grown so unruly that a strong body of police had to be called to preserve order instead of keeping the youths in awe this display of force rather exasperated them and they made several attempts to overpower the constables and the course of the struggle the glass in the windows of the dissecting room was destroyed the police had to use their staves and many of the combatants on both sides were injured some of them rather seriously the lord provost and bailey small the college bailey put in an appearance thinking their presence would have a salutary effect but they were glad to retire with whole bones under the abuse that was showered upon them the disturbance continued until four o'clock when professor christensen came to the rescue he intimated that he had arranged for the emission of the young men in bands of fifty at a time and had given his own personal guarantee for their good behavior this was an appeal to their honor which is always found to be effectual with the crowd for students however riotously inclined and in the present instance the youths cheered the professor lustily the tumult ceased and some of the ring leaders who had been apprehended by the police were liberated on their parole by the magistrates the students were thus pacified but it was far otherwise with the city mob there had been a restlessness throughout enberg all day and it was threatened that unless the public were admitted to view the corpse an attack would be made on the college and the remains of the murderer taken out and torn to pieces the manner in which the students had gained their end was quite after the mind of the discontents and in their case it was owing to greater numbers likely to be more quickly successful the magistrates were in a quandary but they came to the conclusion that it would be better to have a public view and in this way endeavor to allay the tumultuous spirit that was abroad accordingly they sent out scouts among the crowds that from the streets to intimate their decision and by this means the people were induced to return home those who witnessed the scene at the college of enberg on friday the 30th january 1829 would never readily forget it the magistrates and the university authorities had made the most elaborate preparations for exhibiting the body of Burke it was placed naked on a black marble table in the anatomical theater and a through passage was arranged for the accommodation of the visitors the upper part of the skull which had been sawn off for the purposes of lecture on the preceding day was replaced and to the uninitiated it was unlikely that what was apparently a slight scar would be much noticed the spectacle says Leighton who saw it was sufficiently ghastly to gratify the most epicurian appetite for horrors there was as yet no sound of corruption so that the death power as it contrasted with the black marble table showed strongly to the inquiring an often revolting eye but the face had become more blue and the shaved head with marks of blood not entirely wiped off rather gave effect to the grin into which the features had settled at the moment of death however inviting to lovers of this kind of the picturesque the broad chest that had lain with deadly pressure on so many victims the large thighs and round calves indicating so much power it was the face embodying a petrified scowl and the wide staring eyes so fixed and specter like to which the attention was chiefly directed it was to this site that the people crowded the streets of the old town of Edinburgh it made it appear as if the occasion were one of general holiday the doors of the anatomy theater were thrown open at ten o'clock in the forenoon and from that hour until dusk the crowd streamed through the narrow passage in front of the body at the rate it was calculated of 60 per minute so that the total number who viewed it this way was about 25 000 the crowd was composed for the most part of men though some seven or eight women pressed in among the rest but they were roughly handled by the male spectators and had their clothing torn notwithstanding this extraordinary number there were still many who did not obtain admittance and in the hope that the exhibition would be continued on the Saturday many returned to the college next day but to their great disappointment they were refused admission this was Burke's last appearance an informant of Layton gives the following interesting notice of the subsequent treatment of the body of the murderer after this exhibition Burke was cut up and put in pickle for the lecture table he was cut up in quarters or rather portions and salted and with a strange aptness of poetical justice put into barrels at that time an early acquaintance and school fellow was assistant to the professor and with him I frequently visited the dissecting room when calling on him at his apartments in the college he is now a physician in the course of gallery he showed me Burke's remains and gave me the skin of his neck and of the right arm these I had tanned the neck brown and the arm white the white was as pure as white kid but as thick as white sheepskin and the brown was like brown tan sheepskin it was curious that the mark of the rope remained on the leather after being tanned of that neck leather I had a tobacco dose made and on the white leather of the right arm I got Johnston to print the portraits of Burke and his wife and hair which I gave to the noted and taquarian and collector of curiosities Mr. Frazier jeweler and it was in one of his cases for many years maybe still if he is still alive Burke's body was thus destroyed but the qualities which were denoted by the developments of his head gave rise to an excited discussion between freniologists and their opponents comb the apostle of freniology and sir William Hamilton the metaphysician with their followers waged a terrible war of words over the conclusions to be drawn from the measurements of Burke's head this is not the place to review the discussion but in view of the importance of the question an estimate of the phrenological development of Burke published at the time may be quoted the account reads thus phrenological development of Burke circumference of the head 22.1 inches from the occipital spine to lower individuality 7.7 inches from the ear to lower individuality 5 inches from ditto to the center of phyloprogenitiveness 4.8 inches from ditto to firmness 5.4 inches from ditto to benevolence 5.7 inches from ditto to veneration 5.5 inches from ditto to conscientiousness 5 inches from destructiveness to destructiveness 6.125 inches from cautiousness to cautiousness 5.3 inches from ideality to ideality 4.6 inches from acquisitiveness to acquisitiveness 5.8 inches from secretiveness to secretiveness 5.7 inches from combativeness to combativeness 5.5 inches imatitiveness very large phyloprogenitiveness full concentrativeness deficient adhesiveness full combativeness large destructiveness very large constructiveness moderate acquisitiveness large secretiveness large self-esteem rather large love of approbation rather large cautiousness rather large benevolence large veneration large hope small ideality small conscientiousness rather large firmness large individuality upper moderate ditto lower full full form full size ditto weight ditto color ditto locality ditto order ditto time deficient number full tune moderate language full comparison full casuality rather large wit deficient imitation full the above report it may be necessary to observe was taken a few hours after the execution in consequence of the body having been thrown on its back the integuments not only at the back of the head and neck but at the posterior lateral parts of the head were at the time extremely congested for in all cases of death by hanging the blood remaining uncoagulated invariably gravitate to those parts which are in the most depending position hence there was a distention in this case over many of the most important organs which gave for example imatitiveness combativeness destructiveness etc in appearance of size which never existed during life and on the other hand made many of the moral and intellectual organs seem in contrast relatively less than they would otherwise have appeared in this state a cast of the head was taken by mr. joseph but although for a phrenological purposes it may do very well yet no measurement either from the head itself in that condition or a cast taken from it can afford us any fair criterion of the development of the brain itself we know that this objection applies to the bus of all the murders which adorn the chief pillars of the phrenological system in a no case is it more obvious than in the present our able professor dr. Monroe gave a demonstration of the brain to a crowded audience on thursday morning the day before the public exhibition of the body and we have from the best authority been given to understand it presented nothing unusual in its appearance we've heard it asserted that the lateral loaves were enormously developed but having made inquiry on this subject we do not find they were more developed than as usual as no measurement of the brain itself was taken all reports on this subject must be unsatisfactory nor could the evidence of a eyewitness in such a matter prove sufficient to be admitted as proof either in favor of or against phrenology the question which naturally arises is whether the above developments correspond with the character of Burke it is not our intention to enter into any controversy on this subject yet we cannot help remarking that it may be interpreted like all the developments of a similar kind either favorably or unfavorably for phrenology as the ingenuity or prejudice of any individual may influence him we have the moral organs more developed certainly than they ought to have been but to this it is replied that Burke under the benign influences of these better faculties lived upwards of 30 years without committing any of those tremendous atrocities which have so paralyzed the public mind he is neither so deficient in benevolence nor conscientiousness as he ought to have been phrenologically speaking and these organs which modified and gave respectability to his character for as many as 30 years all of a sudden ceased to exercise any influence and acquisitiveness and destructiveness arising like two arch fiends on both sides leave the state of inactivity in which they had reposed for so long a period and gain a most unaccountable control over the physical powers under which they had for so many years succumbed but is the size of the organ of destructiveness in Burke larger than is found in the generality of heads and are his organs of benevolence and conscientiousness less developed than usual while dealing with his question of phrenology it will be interesting to give the phrenological development of hair taken the night before his release from prison from the occipital spine to lower individuality 7 and 17 20th inches from the ear to lower individuality 4.8 inches from ditto to the occipital spine 4.3 inches from ditto to phylo progenitiveness 5 inches from ditto to firmness 5.7 inches from ditto to benevolence 5.4 inches from ditto to causality 5 inches from ditto to comparison 5.4 inches destructiveness to destructiveness 5 and 19 20th inches secretiveness to secretiveness 5.8 inches acquisitiveness to acquisitiveness 5 and 11 20th inches combativeness to combativeness 5.7 inches ear to conscientiousness 4.5 inches ideality to ideality 5.4 inches development the organ of destructiveness is large in hair but certainly rather below than above the average size the organ of acquisitiveness is also large but its true development cannot be ascertained in consequence of the size of the temporal muscle under which it lies secretiveness is large benevolence is well developed in proportion to the size of the head conscientiousness is full cautiousness is large combativeness is large ideality is very large causality is large wit is full end of chapter 29