“Wilson is described as a desperate character, and of ferocious countenance. He is supposed to have been two or three years in this abominable practice, and to have realised a considerable sum in the course of that time. His career is now stopped, and that justice and doom which overtook a Burke and a Hare are his last and only portion.
“LINES ON THE OCCASION.
| Of Burke and of Hare we have heard much about, Yet Burking’s a trade that was lately found out— Their plans of despatching were wicked indeed, ’T was thought of all others that theirs did exceed; But the scheme first invented of Burking by snuff, May yet be prevented by taking the huff, For if strangers invite you to take of their dust, Decline their kind offers—refuse them you must; And would you be safe, and keep from all evil, Shun them as pests as you’d shun the d——l; By these means you’ll live, avoiding all strife, Shunning snuff takers all the days of your life. |
“Printed for the Publishers by T. KAY.”
The difficulty of getting reliable information is increased by the incomplete nature of most of the newspaper records. In many cases there is an account of a preliminary examination of some of the men who were arrested for body-stealing. The report states that they were remanded, but further search fails to find any subsequent notice of the case. It is often impossible to fix who the men were who thus got into trouble, as they nearly always gave false names: unless they were too well-known to the police who arrested them, they invariably did this.
For the photographs, from which the illustrations of the house at Crail are taken, the writer is indebted to the kindness of Prof. Chiene, of Edinburgh.