MORTSAFE IN GREYFRIARS CHURCHYARD, EDINBURGH.

Most of the disgraceful riots which took place in the burial-grounds, were not between resurrection-men and friends guarding a grave, but between two gangs of body-snatchers. In cases of this kind one gang would do all in its power to bring its rival into disrepute; the stronger party, after driving the weaker one away, would put the burial-ground into a most disgraceful state, and then give information against their opponents.

Besides watching, many other devices were tried to prevent the depredations of the resurrection-men; spring guns were set in many of the cemeteries, but these were often rendered harmless. If the men intended going to a certain grave at night, late in the afternoon a woman, in deep mourning, would walk round the part of the cemetery in which the grave was situated, and contrive to detach the wires from the guns. Loose stones were placed on the walls of the grave-yard, so as to make scaling the walls almost an impossibility; this was useless when the custodian had a house with a window looking into the burial-place. If entrance could not be obtained in this way, there was generally some other house through which the men could gain admission to the grave-yard. Mort-safes, or strong iron guards, were placed over newly-made graves for protection; some of these can be seen at the present day in the Greyfriars Churchyard, Edinburgh (see illustrations).

MORTSAFE IN GREYFRIARS CHURCHYARD, EDINBURGH.

Iron coffins were also used by some persons to protect their friends from the Resurrectionist. The following interesting advertisement appeared in Wooler’s British Gazette for October 13th, 1822:

“Many hundred dead bodies will be dragged from their wooden coffins this winter, for the anatomical lectures (which have just commenced), the articulators, and for those who deal in the dead for the supply of the country practitioner and the Scotch schools. The question of the right to inter in iron is now decided. Lord Chief Justice Abbott declared he wished they might be generally used; Justice Bailey declared that if the Ecclesiastical Court was to grant a suit for a fee, they, the Court of King’s Bench, would grant a prohibition, knowing it had no such right. Sir William Scott, now Lord Stowell, decided and directed the interment without any extra fee, as this question was raised by an undertaker; those undertakers who have IRON COFFINS must divide the profits of the funeral with Edward Lillie Bridgman. Ten Guineas reward will be paid on the conviction of any Parish Officer demanding an extra fee, whereby I shall lose the sale of a coffin. The violation of the sanctity of the grave is said to be needful, for the instruction of the medical pupil, but let each one about to inter a mother, husband, child, or friend, say shall I devote this object of my affection to such a purpose; if not, the only safe coffin is Bridgman’s PATENT WROUGHT-IRON ONE, charged the same price as a wooden one, and is a superior substitute for lead. Edward Lillie Bridgman, 34, Fish Street Hill, and Goswell Street Road, performs funerals in any part of the kingdom, and by attention to moderate charges insures the recommendation of those who employ him. Twenty-five private grounds within the Bills of Mortality receive them; dues from seven shillings to one guinea. Patent cast-iron tombs and tablets, superior to stone.”

The advertisement is headed by a rough cut, showing the coffin[16] and the iron clamps by which it was fastened. There was another maker of patent coffins, who is mentioned by Southey in his ballad called The Surgeon’s Warning. The ballad represents the fear of a dying surgeon, lest his apprentices should serve him after death as he, during his life, has served many other persons:

“And my ’prentices will surely come
And carve me bone from bone,
And I, who have rifled the dead man’s grave,
Shall never rest in my own.
“Bury me in lead when I am dead,
My brethren, I entreat,
And see the coffin weigh’d I beg,
Lest the plumber should be a cheat.
“And let it be solder’d closely down
Strong as strong can be, I implore,
And put it in a patent coffin
That I may rise no more.
“If they carry me off in the patent coffin
Their labour will be in vain,
Let the undertaker see it bought of the maker,
Who lives in St. Martin’s Lane.”