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n The crimes of the resurrectionists drew nothing butndisgust from the ordinary, honest citizenry but taking bodies from thenchurchyard was one thing whilst slaughtering the living was quite another.
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nBurke and Hare found their work perhaps a little too easy, far easier thanndigging canals, mending boots and shoes or peddling this and that around thencapital, and certainly much, much better paid. They were even consideringnwidening their business base, with Burke going to Glasgow, or maybe evennIreland, in search of more victims, which would be transported back to Hare innEdinburgh and thence to Knox.
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| Edinburgh |
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nBefore this venture got off the ground however,nBurke was in Rymer’s grocery shop on the morning of Hallowe’en 1828, taking andrink and chatting to the shop boy, when a frail old lady entered. From thenvery second she opened her mouth her fate was sealed. She was, she told thenproprietor, Mary Docherty over from Innisowen nsearching for her son who was, so she was told, living at Edinburgh.nWell, wouldn’t you know it now, wasn’t me own dear mammy’s name Docherty andnher from Innisowen too, says the man bantering with the shop boy. Burke hadnbecome a Docherty in that instant, a long-lost kinsman to be sure, and rightnhere in Edinburgh, be gob. Come to breakfast, won’t you now, and let’s benhearing your tales of the Emerald Isle.
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| Mary Docherty |
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nSo, off went another innocent withnBurke to his place, where McDougal made a fine breakfast but MrsnDocherty, good Catholic as she was, could not eat until after noon, it being anFriday and all. Burke went away to find Hare and the two of them returned tonfind the old lady had finally finished eating and the things were being tidiednneatly away.
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nThere was a problem though, as an old soldier, James Gray and hisnwife Ann had been lodging with the Burkes for the past week. Gray was anGrassmarket man, who had served with the Elgin Fencibles and the 72ndnRegiment, and was back home after seventeen years away serving the King. Wouldnit be possible for these good souls maybe to find alternative accommodationnwith my good friend Mr Hare for a couple of days, so as to give old MrsnDocherty a room with her kinsfolk, asked Burke, and the cooperative couplenagreed to move out.
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| Three fine fellows of the 72ndnRegiment |
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nSo, out came the bottle and Burke got his tin whistle out,nand the old songs were sung, and slip jigs and reels were played, and a step orntwo was measured, and Mrs Docherty hurt her foot at the dancing because shenwasn’t nearly as young as she’d once been, but it was all great craic and a grand old time was had by all.nAnd, as at any good shindig, fisticuffs finally broke out, with Burke and Harenslugging away at each other in fine style, which brought the neighbours roundnto see the fun and someone, peeping through the keyhole, swore they saw McDougalnpouring whisky down the old lady’s throat, straight from the bottle.
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nOld MarynDocherty tried to settle the scrapping down but a soused Hare knocked her overna stool by accident and she fell heavily, too full of drink to rise again. McDougalnand Mary Hare then left the room and Burke and Hare dropped on the old womannlike a pair of vultures, throttling her where she lay, stripping the body andnhiding it in a pile of straw next to the bed. Paterson, Knox’s porter, wasnbrought and shown the place where his ‘subject’ would be ready in the morning,nthen the women returned and at about four in the morning, the murderous broodnwent to sleep.
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| Doing Docherty to Death |
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nThe following morning, Burke went to Hare’s house and invitednthe Grays back for breakfast, and when they all got back, they found Harenacting very oddly, splashing whisky on himself and the furniture, and visiblynagitated. Mrs Gray dressed her child but when she started looking for a lostnstocking, Hare ordered her away from the straw pile near the bed. Then, whennshe made to get some potatoes that she had stored under the bed, Hare againnbecame jumpy, only heightening Mrs Gray’s suspicions that something wasnseriously amiss. Where was that little old lady that they’d given up their roomnfor, she asked, simply to be told that she started abusing Burke when she wasnthe worse for drink, so they had thrown her out into the night. Eventually,ncircumstances left Mrs Gray alone in the room so went over to the straw pile tonsatisfy her curiosity.
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| Burke’s Room |
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nThe first thing she lifted from the pile was the arm ofnthe dead, naked, elderly Irishwoman. She called her husband in, who lifted upnthe corpse’s head, finding blood all about the mouth and ears. The Grays packednwhat belongings they could together and made to leave as quickly as they couldnbut Helen McDougal met them on the stair. Ann Gray confronted hernand McDougal broke down, sobbing that the old lady had drunk herselfnto death and such a thing could happen in any house.
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nShe offered the Graysnmoney to keep quiet about this terrible thing and promised to give them anothernten pounds every week to keep their mouths shut, but James Gray was having nonenof it. McDougal and Mrs Hare took the Grays to a tavern over thenroad and tried again to persuade them to hold their tongues, blaming theirnhusbands for the whole sorry mess. Gray remained obdurate, and his wifensupported him, so seeing the game was up, the women took flight to warn theirnmenfolk.
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nBurke and Hare meanwhile made arrangements to dispose of the body;nBurke bought an empty tea chest from Rymer’s grocery and the body was wrappednin a sheet, placed inside and covered with straw, and the lid roped down. Anstreet porter was hired and the box carried to Knox, who gave Paterson £5nwhich, in turn, was passed on, five shillings for the street porter, and twonpounds seven shillings and sixpence each to Burke and Hare, with the promise ofnanother £5 to be paid later.
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nIs it the end of the road for Burke and Hare? Tomorrow will tell…