numbers of persons now engaged in the traffic, and the consequence was
more frequent detection. Every means which ingenuity could suggest was
put in practice to obtain bodies which had not been buried; and for this
purpose, the men, when they heard of the body of a person being found
(drowned for instance), and which was lying to be owned, trumped up a
story of an unfortunate brother or sister, humbugged a coroner's jury
(who, by the by, were more than once so well imposed on as to make a
subscription, to enable the supposed brother to bury his relative), and
thus obtained possession of the body. In this sort of trickery the wives
of the men were often employed, as their application was attended with
less suspicion, and it was never difficult to impose on the parochial
officers, who were always anxious to avoid the expense of burying the
deceased. Subjects were thus occasionally procured, but they were much
more frequently obtained by pretending relationship to persons dying
without friends in hospitals and workhouses. As, of course, the bodies
thus obtained were much fresher than those which had been buried, they
produced generally (independent of the teeth,) as much as twelve guineas
each.
But the poor and friendless were not the only sufferers from this
system; persons moving in a higher sphere of society have often suffered
the loss of their friends, when they were confident in security. What
will the wealthy not feel, when they are told that the very men employed
to solder down the leaden coffin of a child have abstracted the body,
and carried it off, without exciting the slightest suspicion, in the
baskets with their tools?
Yet, notwithstanding all these means of procuring subjects, the
difficulties were occasionally so great, that students from the country
have been obliged to wait for months without being able to study anatomy
practically; at the same time having to live at an expense they could
ill afford, in London. In Scotland, at one time, to the great honour of
the labouring classes, no such persons as resurrection-men could be
procured for any remuneration, and it was then necessary for the
students to exhumate bodies for themselves. Indeed, for a long time,
this, in many parts of that country, was the constant practice; but,
from the great horror with which the Scotch in particular regard the
violation of the tomb, these attempts were always attended with
considerable danger; and very frequently the graves were guarded with so
much diligence, that the carrying off a body was totally impracticable.
Instances indeed occurred, where the parties engaged in such an
enterprise were fired upon by persons employed to watch, whom they had
not observed; and, in one case with which the writer is acquainted, the
life of one of the parties was sacrificed.
The surgeons from their anxiety to obtain subjects, and from the
acknowledged illegality of the proceedings, were frequently not overnice
or minute in their inquiries as to the cause of death, or the means by
which the body offered to them was obtained. The impossibility of
obtaining any answer the truth of which could be relied on, and the
independence of the "resurrection-men," who were always sure of a
market, may be reckoned as almost sufficient excuses for this lax mode
of proceeding; and it is just to believe, that no suspicion can ever
have entered the imagination of the anatomists, that unfair means had
been resorted to, to take away the life of the subjects offered to them,
merely with a view to their bodies being submitted to their dissection.
To such causes may be ascribed the non-discovery of the suspicious cause
of death of the numerous miserable victims whom investigation proves to
have been murdered.
In this case, happily, the frequency of the visits of the supposed
_resurrectionist_ or body-stealer to the same museum enabled the police
to discover his haunts, together with the circumstances attending the
disappearance of the deceased, which were sufficient to afford
convincing proof of her murder at his hands. Paterson, the porter to Dr.
Knox's museum, was well acquainted with the persons of Burke and a man
named Hare, by whom this subject had been sold, and he related the
circumstances attending its purchase to the police serjeant, by whom the
investigation was carried on, in such a manner, as at once secured their
apprehension. He said that on the 31st of October, Burke and Hare called
at the dissecting-rooms, and said that they had got something for the
doctor, at the house occupied by the former. Paterson had before visited
this place on similar occasions, and was well acquainted with its
position, and on the next morning he went to the house in
Tanner's-close, where he was told the body lay. He found there Mrs.
M'Dougal, who passed as the wife of Burke, and Mrs. Margaret Laird, who
stood in the same relation with regard to Hare. Upon his entrance, Burke
pointed to a heap of straw under the table, signifying that the body was
there; and the witness gave them 5_l._ to be divided between the two
men, 3_l._ more being agreed to be paid, if the subject should turn out
to be such as was desired. The men divided the money, and promised to
carry home the body on the same night to the museum. It arrived, packed
in a tea-chest, and at the time of the visit of the police, which was on
the following day, (the 2nd of November,) it had not yet been looked at.
Upon the chest being opened, appearances presented themselves which
induced Paterson to believe that the body had never been buried; the
face was livid, and blood was running from the nostrils and mouth; and,
as we have already said, subsequent examination proved that death had
been caused by suffocation.
Coincident with the discovery of this evidence, the voluntary testimony
of two other witnesses was obtained, which afforded conclusive proof of
the violent means resorted to by Burke and Hare, to procure the death of
the deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Gray, poor persons, who were travelling
through Edinburgh, informed the police, on the same day, of occurrences
which they had witnessed on the night of the 31st October, which induced
the most dreadful suspicions in their minds. They stated that they had
taken up their lodgings in the house occupied by Burke in the course of
that day, and towards the evening they had seen Mrs. Campbell go in with
that person. They, however, retired to rest without holding any
communication with her, as she appeared to be intoxicated; but in the
morning, they were surprised to find that she was gone. They inquired of
Mrs. Burke what had become of her, and she said that they had turned her
out because she was impudent; but an undefinable apprehension lurked in
their minds of some wrong having been done, and seizing an opportunity
they peered into Burke's room, and there, under the table, they saw
marks of blood, and upon further investigation, the body of the murdered
woman concealed beneath some straw. Terror-struck with the discovery,
they immediately gathered up their bundles and proceeded to quit the
house, but were dissuaded from their intention by Mrs. Burke, who had
ascertained the fact of their having made so important a discovery, who
urged them to stop, "as it might be 10_l._ a week to them." They,
however, rushed from the place as soon as they could escape, and on the
following day conveyed intelligence to the police of what they had seen.
Upon the arrival of the authorities at the Tanner's-close, they found it
to be a scene well fitted for the performance of such tragedies as had
been recently enacted within its limits. The close itself was narrow and
dark, and contained only one house, which was situated at the bottom.
Here, almost shut out from the light of heaven, lived this detestable
murderer, letting out lodgings either by the night or otherwise, to such
poor wretches as would put up with the accommodation which he could
offer. The house consisted of two rooms only, one of which was occupied
by Burke and his wife, while the other was devoted to his lodgers. The
former contained nothing but a miserable bed, a table, and some straw,
still reeking with the blood of the murdered woman, while the latter was
totally devoid of furniture. Fortunately for their purpose, the whole
party, four in number, was assembled; and they were all immediately
secured and conveyed to prison. Burke, it appeared, had carried on a
pretended trade of shoemaking, and in one corner of his room was found a
pile of old boots and shoes, consisting of nearly forty pairs; but the
discovery also of a great number of suits of clothes, of various sizes,
and bearing distinct marks of blood, afforded sufficient proof, that the
murder of Mrs. Campbell was not the only one which had been perpetrated
within the apartment.
It would be a vain effort to attempt to convey even a faint idea of the
universal horror excited by these dreadful discoveries, and the fearful
execration heaped upon the heads of the diabolical assassins. Even the
surgeons, who were looked upon as the supporters and the indirect
instigators of the murders, shared with the prisoners the effects of the
strong public sensation which existed; and in several places throughout
the empire--for, the system being the same everywhere, the indignation
of the people was not confined to Edinburgh--attempts were made to
destroy the dissecting-schools. In this, however, and in the obloquy
cast upon the gentlemen of this profession, it must be said that they
suffered unjustly. They were the victims, as well as the public, under a
defective system of legislation; and the insufficiency of the law was to
be blamed, and not those whose absolute necessity compelled them to
adopt measures, of themselves illegal, but excusable, considering the
advantages to be derived from them to society, and the utter neglect of
the efforts which they had made, to secure such provisions by the
legislature as should enable them to proceed in a manner becoming the
high and honourable station which they filled.
The examinations of the prisoners before the magistrates of Edinburgh
served only to bring to light fresh atrocities and to excite fresh
horror; and eventually the whole of the prisoners were committed for
trial, the evidence being clear and conclusive as to the implication of
the men, although that which affected the women left great doubts as to
the possibility of their conviction being secured.
During the period which elapsed subsequently to their committal, and
preparatory to their trial, Hare, with a degree of villany excelling
that of his fellow in guilt, offered to make disclosures upon the
subject of the system which had been carried on, upon condition of his
own indemnification from punishment, and that of his wife. Mrs. Laird,
it had been discovered, was the least guilty of the whole party, and so
far as her discharge was concerned but little difficulty was
experienced; but upon the question of the other terms desired by Hare to
be imposed in reference to his own case, considerable doubt was
entertained. Long and frequent consultations were held by the
magistrates upon the subject, in which the probabilities of the
conviction of these associates in villany were most anxiously weighed;
and it was at length determined that, for the sake of that justice which
imperatively demanded the most satisfactory and complete evidence of the
guilt of one at least of the gang, the offer should be accepted. The
prisoner then made a statement to the officers of the jail, which was
reduced to writing, but which, from causes too obvious to need
repetition here, was not published in full. That portion of it which
immediately affected the case of Burke and Mrs. M'Dougal came out upon
the trial; but many particulars with regard to the system which had been
carried on were most properly concealed from the public knowledge.
On the 23rd December in the same year, the two prisoners, William Burke
and Helen M'Dougal, were put upon their trial before the High Court of
Justiciary at Edinburgh. The indictment charged against them several
murders, founded upon the communications made by Hare; but after much
discussion on the part of the counsel for the crown, and on behalf of
the prisoners, it was determined that that part only of the indictment
which alleged them to have murdered Mary Campbell should be proceeded
with, inasmuch as that the disclosure of any of the particulars of one
murder in the course of a trial for another would materially prejudice
the minds of the jury against the persons charged. The murder of Mrs.
Campbell was alleged to have been committed by suffocation.
The preliminary witnesses produced a plan of the house of the prisoners
in Tanner's-close, and proved the identity of the remains found at the
house of Dr. Knox.
William Noble, the shopman to Mr. Rayner, a grocer at Portsburgh, near
Tanner's-close, was then examined, and he proved, that on the night of
the 31st October Burke, who had been in the habit of dealing at his
employer's house, called there in order to purchase some trifling
articles of grocery. While he was standing at the counter, Mrs. Campbell
entered the shop, and begged for charity. She said that she had come to
Edinburgh to search for her son, a boy of eleven years old, but that she
had been unable to find him, and that she was now quite destitute. Burke
inquired her name, and on her mentioning the name of Campbell he at once
claimed acquaintance and relationship with her, and finally took her
away with him, saying that he would provide her with lodging for the
night. The woman at this time was sober. The witness added that on the
following day, Burke called again and purchased an old tea-chest, and
Mrs. Hare, whom he knew, as well as her husband and Mrs. M'Dougal,
carried it away about half-an-hour afterwards.
Mrs. Ann Black and Hugh Alison gave evidence tracing Mrs. Campbell to
Burke's house, and as to the occurrences of the dreadful night of her
death. The former said that she was a lodger of Burke's; and upon going
home on the night of the 31st of October, she saw Mrs. Campbell sitting
in Burke's room by the fire. She was ill-clad, and was eating porridge;
and in answer to a question which the witness put, Mrs. M'Dougal said
that she was a Highland woman, a friend of her husband's, and that she
had been assisting them in washing. The witness then quitted the room;
but subsequently, in passing through it after dark, she saw that Mrs.
Campbell was much intoxicated. Hare and his wife were then there, and
had brought in some spirits with them, and they were all merry, and
laughing and singing together. The witness afterwards heard dancing, and
on looking into the room, she saw that it was Mrs. M'Dougal, Hare, and
Mrs. Campbell. Between ten and eleven o'clock she heard a disturbance,
as if Burke and Hare were fighting, and a woman screaming, but she took
no notice of it, as such occurrences were frequent with her landlord's
friends. In the morning she inquired of Mrs. M'Dougal where Mrs.
Campbell was, and she told her, that she and her husband (Burke) had got
too friendly, and that she had kicked her out of the house. Alison, the
witness, corroborated the evidence of Mrs. Black, as to the disturbance
which occurred in the house of Burke at about the hour mentioned, and
which he had heard in his residence at one of the upper flats of a house
nearly adjoining, but he had distinguished screams of agony, and cries
for help, succeeded by a noise as if some person had been strangling or
suffocating. He afterwards heard the voices of two men in conversation
in the close, whom he had taken to be Burke and Hare.
Mr. and Mrs. Gray, whose names we have already mentioned, were also
examined upon the same point, and having proved the presence of Mrs.
Campbell in Burke's house at the time of their arrival, they stated that
Mrs. M'Dougal had told them in the morning, that she had turned out the
deceased because she was impudent. They, however, watched their
opportunity, and slipping into the room unseen, discovered her body
concealed among the straw under the table.
Other confirmatory evidence was also given upon the same subject; and
David Paterson, the porter at Dr. Knox's, having detailed his account of
the transaction of the purchase of the body in the manner in which we
have already described it, and of its arrival in a tea-chest; and other
witnesses having proved that they saw the prisoner (Burke) and Hare
carrying a tea-chest in the direction of Dr. Knox's, but in such a line
of street as clearly showed their object to be to escape observation,
William Hare, the approver, was called.
Lord Meadowbank, a learned and very distinguished judge, presided upon
this occasion, and with the most humane feelings, he earnestly cautioned
this witness to give his evidence with truth. The fellow, whose
appearance in the witness-box excited great interest and indignation,
sullenly answered, that he intended to do so, but that he only came
there as a witness in the case of the "old woman," as he emphatically
described the deceased Mrs. Campbell, as distinguished, doubtless, from
other miserable victims; and his examination then proceeded. We shall
give his evidence as nearly as we can in the terms in which it was
delivered by him in the witness-box. Having been sworn in the common
form, he said he was a native of Ireland, and had resided in Scotland
ten years. He had been acquainted with Burke about twelve months.
M'Dougal lived with Burke as his wife; witness lived in the West Port,
not far from Burke; he was in a public-house in the West Port on the
forenoon of the 31st of October, when Burke came in, and they had a
gill; he asked witness to go down to his house, to see the shot he had
got to take to the doctor's; he said he had taken an old woman off the
street, and wished witness to go down and see her, and see what they
were doing. He understood by the word "shot," that he was going to
murder the woman. He went to Burke's house, and found there was a
strange man and woman (their name was Gray), the old woman, and Helen
M'Dougal; the old woman was washing her short-gown; it was white and red
striped. [Identified the bedgown.] Witness remained in the house about
five minutes, and then went home. Between eight and nine on the same
night he was at the house of a man named Connaway with his wife; and
Burke, Mrs. M'Dougal, the old woman Campbell, and a lad named Broggan,
Mrs. M'Dougal's nephew, came in. Liquor was introduced, and after a
while, Burke and Broggan went away. Witness remained some time longer,
but then he also quitted the house, and went to Tanner's-close. There
had been some dancing at Connaway's; and at this time he had no idea
that any harm was to be done to the old woman on that night. Soon after
he arrived at Tanner's-close, Burke, M'Dougal and Mrs. Campbell also
came in, the latter being so much the worse for liquor as scarcely to be
able to keep her feet. A quarrel arose between him and Burke (which was
evidently got up for the purpose of murdering the old woman in the
confusion which would be the result of it), upon the subject of his
being in the house, Burke declaring that he had no business there, while
he asserted that he had been invited by Mrs. M'Dougal. They began to
fight, and Mrs. Campbell appeared alarmed, and called police and murder.
She ran into the passage twice, but was brought back each time by Mrs.
M'Dougal; and upon her re-entering the room the second time, witness
intentionally pushed her over a stool upon the floor. She got up so as
to rest upon her elbow, but was so drunk as not to be able to regain her
feet; she called on Burke to quit fighting, and he did so; but then
having stood for some minutes on the floor, Burke stood stride-legs over
her, and laid himself down above her--his breast being on her head. She
gave a cry, and then moaned a little; he put one hand on her nose and
mouth, and the other under her chin, and stopped her breathing; this was
continued for ten or fifteen minutes; he never spoke while this was
going on; after he had risen from above her he put his arm upon her
mouth for some minutes; she appeared quite dead; witness was sitting all
the while on a chair. When he saw the woman was dead, he stripped the
body of the clothes, put it into a corner, doubling it up, and covering
it with straw; witness's wife and M'Dougal, when they heard the first
screech of the old woman, ran into the passage, and did not come in
again until the body was covered with straw; before this they were lying
in the bed; and witness sat at the head of the bed; did not observe
blood on the floor, or on the woman's face at the time; did not observe
the woman in the passage cry--but nobody came to the door during the
time. Burke had not been above the woman more than a minute or two, when
the woman started out of bed and ran to the door; he saw none of them
attempting to save or assist the old woman, and such could not have
happened without his seeing it. When it was all over the woman came in
again, and then Burke went out; the woman asked no questions, nor did
they make any remark, but they went to bed again without a word being
exchanged. When Burke returned, he brought with him the man from Dr.
Knox's (Paterson), and he looked at the body; he said it would do well
enough, and they were to get a box and put it in, in order to carry it
to his master's house. At this time the women were in bed, but he could
not tell whether they were awake or not, and he soon afterwards fell
asleep himself. He was rather the worse of liquor, but he knew well
enough what he was about. He awoke about seven o'clock in the morning;
he found himself on a chair, with his head on the bed; the women were in
the bed, and John Broggan was lying beyond his aunt; Burke was at the
fireside. He and his wife got up and went home. In the course of the
day, Burke called on him, and asked him to assist in procuring a box.
They went first to Surgeons'-square, where Dr. Knox's school was
situated, but failed in obtaining one there; and then Burke went and
purchased a tea-chest at the grocer's. M'Culloch, a porter, took the box
home, and witness arrived there with him before Burke came in. They were
standing at the door when he came; and he asked whether they had put up
the body. He answered that they had not; and Burke then remarked that
they were worth little if they had not done that. They, however,
directly went in; and witness and M'Culloch assisted in placing the body
in the chest, the latter forcing it down in its place. M'Culloch also,
on seeing some of the woman's hair hanging out, pushed it into the box,
remarking that it would be "a fine thing to have that seen!" The chest
was corded; and M'Culloch was instructed to carry it to
Surgeons'-square, witness and Burke accompanying him. On their way they
met Mrs. M'Dougal and his (witness') wife, in the High School Yard, and
they all went together. Having delivered the chest to Paterson, it was
placed in a cellar, and the latter then went with them to Dr. Knox at
Newington, where he and Burke were paid 2_l._ 7_s._ 6_d._ each, 5_s._
being given to the porter.
The witness was cross-examined by Mr. Cockburn on behalf of the
prisoners, when he admitted that he had followed many businesses, both
in Ireland and in Scotland. He had been frequently concerned in
supplying medical schools with subjects, but had never assisted in
raising any bodies from church-yards. He had often seen bodies carried
to the houses of medical lecturers, but declined to say how often; he
also declined to say whether he had been concerned in the murder of any
other person but the old woman, and whether he had been present at any
other murder in the course of the same month of October.
[Illustration: Mob Persuing M^{rs.} M^cDougal.
p. 175]
Mrs. Laird, the wife of this witness, gave evidence very similar to that
of her husband, corroborating his statements as to so many of the
transactions which he had described as had fallen within her knowledge
and observation.
This completed the case for the prosecution, and a most humane and able
address having been delivered to the jury by Lord Meadowbank, at
half-past eight o'clock in the evening, they retired to consider their
verdict. During the period of their absence, which extended to fifty
minutes, the most breathless anxiety was exhibited as to the result of
the trial, and upon their re-entering the court, an eager silence
prevailed amongst the persons assembled. The verdict consigned Burke to
an ignominious fate by a declaration of his guilt; but the jury,
contrary to all expectation, declared, that as to Mrs. M'Dougal, the
offence alleged was "not proven," a finding which relieved her from all
immediate consequences upon the indictment.
Lord Meadowbank immediately passed the sentence of death upon Burke, and
ordered him to be hanged on the 28th January, 1830, and his body to be
delivered over to the surgeons for dissection.