apparently decided that discretion was the
better part of valour and decamped.

Another victim was a Mrs. Hostler, who
had come to do some washing at Broggan’s
house. After making her very drunk, the
two scoundrels placed the body in a cellar
pending removal to Dr. Knox’s establish-
ment. They collected £8 for Mrs. Hostler.

A Mrs. Mary Haldane (the “Mrs.” was
merely a courtesy) had several “daughters,”
one of whom, Peggy, followed her
“mother’s” dubious profession. Mrs. Hal-
dane met Burke and Hare and, after a short
conversation, was invited to their place for
refreshment.

After being plied with liquor, she was
taken to Hare’s stable and put to sleep on
the straw. On the following day she was
taken to Dr. Knox as another “subject.”
Then Peggy came to look for her alleged
mother, and, having been directed by a shop-
keeper to the Hare establishment, she asked
for Mary Haldane. The women, McDougal
and Hare, remonstrated with her for sug’
gesting that a person of Mary Haldane’s
character would be admitted to their
premises. However, Hare interrupted the
tirade and invited the girl into the back
room, where they discussed the matter of
her mother’s whereabouts. Hare admitted
that Mrs. Haldane had been there but had
gone, he said, to another town for a visit.
As usual, liquor was consumed and the two
were soon joined by Burke. Life’s door
soon closed on the unfortunate girl and she
joined Mrs. Haldane in death. From the
Knox establishment a further £8 reimbursed
Burke and Hare.

Ipiot Boy A VicTIM

Another of the foul crimes committed
by this unholy pair was the slaying of James
Wilson, known popularly and sympathetic
ally through “Auld Reekie’ as “Daft
Jamie.” This unfortunate was 18 years of
age when he met his death at the hands of
Burke and Hare. For a number of years
the youth (he had the mentality of a small
boy) had wandered the streets of Edin-
burgh living on the charity of good Scottish
folk who looked kindly upon one of “God's
innocents.” He slept wherever he could,
but he wouldn't stay with his mother and
sister, for the former had once punished him
rather severely in early childhood.

Although he was big and strong, Daft
Jamie had no combative instinct and would
run from small boys who taunted him.
Although not addicted to drink he liked to
be given the odd “dram.” One day in
October, 1828, Hare met the lad in the
Grassmarket, at the foot of the Castle rock.
Jamie was looking for his mother. Burke
told the lad he knew where she was and
enticed Jamie to his house. He got Jamie
to drink some whiskey but the boy wouldn’t
drink enough to produce the required in-
sensibility. However, in a short time he
curled up on the floor and went to sleep.
Burke wanted to attack him immediately
but Hare restrained his impetuous confeder-
ate by saying that Jamie was still too strong
for two of them to handle. This was the.
first full-grown man with the strength of
youth that the pair had tackled. Burke,
however, would not be deterred and leaped

Page Six

on Jamie as he slept. Jamie awoke and,
springing to. his feet, attacked Burke with
a fury born of desperation. Burke yelled
to Hare to help him and threatened to use
a knife on Jamie. As knife wounds would
have made the corpse difficult of disposal,
Hare tripped Jamie from behind and, be-
tween them, the two murderers effected
their purpose. But Jamie left his mark
upon his assailants despite the odds against
him.

Another version of Jamie’s death is the
allegation that Jamie was enticed into the
rear room and lay on the bed. Hare had
then lain behind him near the wall. Mrs.
Hare, who was in the room with the three
men had then discreetly left locking the
door behind her and thrusting the key
underneath. When Jamie fell asleep Hare
commenced to suffocate him and, in the
struggle, rolled to the floor. Then Burke
added his weight to the attack until Jamie’s
struggles ceased. These two stories vary,
probably due to the attempt of each criminal
to place the blame upon the other.

Jamie’s clothing was given to the Con-

-stantine Burke children while the murderers

retained a snuff box and spoon which they
took off the body.

All these articles were recovered later
by the police.

The body was sold on the same day to
Dr. Knox for £10, and one or two of the
students recognized it as the body of Daft
Jamie. Dr. Knox, however, assured them
that it was not the body of the well-known
half-wit. It was strange, however, that as
soon as word got around that the boy was
missing from his usual haunts, Dr. Knox
ordered immediate dissection of the body.

GRUESOME BusINESs EXTENDED

The cut-throat pair now decided to
branch into other sources of supply and
formulated the plan of securing bodies in
Glasgow and possibly in Ireland. The
intention was to have Burke and another
unknown character do the field work and
send the bodies to Hare for disposal. This
plan was entertained tentatively due to an
offer by Dr. Knox to pay £10 for each body
supplied in the winter time and £8 in sum-
mer. He was willing to accept all the
subjects they could deliver.

However, the end was approaching, and
the final murder which was to reveal the
path of horror trodden by these murderers
for the past nine months, was about to be
staged.

On October 31st, 1828, Burke was drink-
ing in Rymer’s shop, when an old woman
named Docherty entered to beg. She told
Burke that she was Irish and was in Edin-
burgh looking for her son. During the
conversation Burke claimed some form of
kinship with her and offered her hospitality
in hishome. The old woman was overjoyed
and, on arrival at Burke’s, McDougal
received her with simulated pleasure. Soon
they were preparing breakfast while Burke
went to look for Hare. As soon as the
latter was located, Burke told him that he
had another “shot” (meaning another vic-
tim), and arranged a Hallowe'en party.
The ever necessary liquor was purchased
and neighbours were invited. Now it so
happened that a veteran soldier named Gray

and his wife and children were lodging in
the same room with Burke and McDougal,
sleeping on a pile of straw in one corner,
As the room was none too big, arrangements
were made for the Grays to spend the night:
at Hare’s lodging house, to which they were
taken.
GHOULS’ FINAL CRIME

The party was a great success, neighbours
coming in for a drink and a song, till around
11 p.m., when everyone went home except
the two men and their women and the old
lady. The revels continued, but a little later
the neighbours were surprised to hear
sounds of a scuffle, and someone calling
“murder.” Then followed a choking sound.
However, as the noise subsided, nothing
further was thought of the incident.

The Gray family returned the following
morning and, on enquiries being made for
the old Irishwoman, McDougal hinted that
she had been too friendly with Burke, and
had been thrown out. After breakfast, Mrs.
Gray went to the pile of straw seeking some
article of her children’s clothing, but was
surprised when Burke curtly ordered her
away. Later she again came close to the
pile of straw, and again Burke ordered her
away. As she was smoking a pipe, Burke
said it might ignite the straw. This strange
conduct of Burke’s made Mrs. Gray all the
more determined to investigate the straw
p:le at the first opportunity. Then Burke
did another curious thing; he commenced
to sprinkle whiskey on the walls, the ceiling
and even on himself. He made the excuse
that he wished to empty the bottle so that
it could be refilled.

Later in the afternoon, Burke went out—
probably to make arrangements for the sale
of Mrs. Docherty’s body. He left Mrs.
McDougal and a lad named Broggan (son
of the former tenant) on guard. Both
proved faithless to the trust and went out.
This was the moment that Mrs. Gray had
waited for. Hurrying into the room she
looked under the pile of straw, and was
horror-struck to find the nude body of old
Mrs. Docherty. In great haste Mr. and
Mrs. Gray gathered their few belongings
and made their departure. Just as they left
they met Mrs. McDougal returning to the
house. A few words were sufficient to
show this witch that the quartette had made
their final play. She exhorted the Grays
to keep silent, and even offered them £10
a week to keep quiet. The Grays, to their
great credit, refused to temporize and
spurned the offer of financial assistance.
Mrs. Hare then arrived and added her pleas
to those of McDougal, but to no avail.

The Grays hastened to the nearest watch- }
house or police station and there they told
their story of murder and sudden death.
The police took immediate action and a
police officer accompanied Gray to the
murder house. The premises were searched
but the body was gone. There was, how-
ever, some blood and saliva under the straw
pile and this, coupled with the discrepancy
between the stories of Burke and Mrs.
McDougal was sufficient to justify their
detention. They were escorted to the police
station, and a later search of the premises
revealed other pieces of evidence.

On Sunday, November 2nd, 1828, officers

THE SHOULDER STRAP