We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Messrs Burke & Hare

from Tales of Auld Reekie by Dancing with Ghosts

/

about

The Burke and Hare murders were a series of 16 murders committed over a period of about ten months in 1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The killings were undertaken by William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses to Doctor Robert Knox for dissection at his anatomy lectures.

Edinburgh was a leading European centre of anatomical study in the early 19th century, in a time when the demand for cadavers led to a shortfall in legal supply. Scottish law required that corpses used for medical research should only come from those who had died in prison, suicide victims, or from foundlings and orphans. The shortage of corpses led to an increase in grave robbing by what were known as resurrection men. Measures to ensure graves were left undisturbed exacerbated the shortage. When a lodger in Hare's house died, he turned to his friend Burke for advice and they decided to sell the body to Knox. They received what was, for them, the generous sum of £7 10s. A little over two months later, when Hare was concerned that a lodger suffering from fever would deter others from staying in the house, he and Burke murdered her and sold the body to Knox. The men continued their murder spree, probably with the knowledge of their wives. Burke and Hare's actions were uncovered after other lodgers discovered their last victim, Margaret Docherty, and called the police.

lyrics

Messrs Burke and Hare Karl Robins & Andy Waterhouse


Doctors and physicians in the reign of George IV
They pushed the bounds of medicine in the jewel of the north
Dissection of the human form the order of the day
For an audience of students who were always glad to pay

The law was clear, take only those the court decreed must die
So corpses for anatomy remained in short supply
This need for fresh cadavers led to robbing of the graves
And families had to guard their loss to see that all slept safe

When a tenant in a lodging house was found dead in his sleep
Two friends removed the body for the bounty that they’d keep
The princely sum of £7 was gratefully received
And an easy money making scheme was born, they did believe


Chorus 1: They were Messrs Burke and Hare
And you’ll find that none compared
To the quality of merchandise they’d sell
Freshly killed and boxed
Then sent to Dr Knox
For his lectures on anatomy from hell


So for much of 1828 deliveries were made
As murders were committed and they plied their deadly trade
Helping souls along their way, now free from worldly woes
Those missing poor unfortunates last seen near Tanner’s Close

Most were helpless women who were plied with alcohol
Then suffocated where they lay, discarded like rag dolls
Daft Jamie though put up a fight and nearly did escape
Unlike the poor young boy whose spine was cruelly snapped in rage


Chorus 1


Mrs Mary Docherty was the final one to die
Discovered in Burke’s bedroom by James and Annie Gray
The police were quickly called and arrests they soon were made
Hare saved himself - King’s evidence was the price he paid

Burke made a full confession, said he was the one to blame
Hare and Knox, though never charged were treated with disdain
Condemned by his own words then they sentenced Burke to hang
Followed by dissection as the crowds they cheered and sang


His bones were sent off for display and a death mask it was made
To remind the world of William Burke’s foul deeds and evil ways
His skin was used to make a book that all could plainly see
And the atrocious crimes of West Port all went down in history



Chorus 2: They were Messrs Burke and Hare
Until the trial judge did declare
That William Burke must forfeit his own life
God damned his wretched soul
When the death bell, it did toll
And twenty thousand saw him hanging high

Chorus 1

credits

from Tales of Auld Reekie, released September 14, 2017
Karl Robins guitars and vocals
Sheree Hemingway vocals
Andy Waterhouse vocals
Gary Hetherington instrumentation

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Dancing with Ghosts image

Dancing with Ghosts Berwick Upon Tweed, UK

contact / help

Contact Dancing with Ghosts

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like Dancing with Ghosts, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring Riley Pinkerton (aka The Rat Queen) from the theatrical NYC rockers, Castle Rat.
listen now