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WITLTL.IAM BTHttCE. 
 
 as lie appeared at die Baa* , 
 takrax in. Court . 
 
 Published by Thomas Ireland JunT Edinburgh- 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS; 
 
 OR AN 
 
 AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT OP THE ATROCIOUS MURDERS 
 COMMITTED BY 
 
 BURKE AND HIS ASSOCIATES; 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 A FULL ACCOUNT OF ALL THE EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES 
 CONNECTED WITH THEM. 
 
 ALSO, 
 
 A REPORT OF THE TRIAL 
 
 OF 
 
 BURKE AND M'DOUGAL. 
 
 i 
 
 WITH 
 
 A DESCRIPTION OF THE EXECUTION OF BURKE, 
 
 HIS CONFESSIONS, AND MEMOIRS OF HIS ACCOMPLICES, 
 IXCLUDIXft 
 
 THE PROCEEDINGS AGAINST HARE, &c. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY PORTRAITS AND VIEWS. 
 
 " O horror ! horror ! horror ! tongue nor heart 
 Cannot conceive nor name thce !" 
 
 Maclr.th, 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 PUBLISHED BY THOMAS IRELAND, JUNIOR, 
 
 57, SOUTH BRIDGE STREET. 
 
 1829. 
 
GIFT 
 fe 
 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 PRINTED BY A, BALFOUR AND CO. HIGH STREET. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 INTRODUCTION . . . . .1 
 
 Narrative of the Officer who apprehended the Murderers, note . 4 
 
 ..Trial of Burke and M'Dougal .... 9 
 
 Indictment . . . . ; 12 
 
 hist of Witnesses .... .15 
 
 List of Jury .... . 36 
 
 Witnesses Examined 
 
 James Braidvvood 36 
 
 Mary Stewart ... .36 
 
 Charles M'Lauchlan 37 
 
 William Noble ... .38 
 
 Anne Black or Connaway . .3D 
 
 Janet Lawrie (or Law) . . . 42 
 
 Hugh Alston . -. . . . 44 
 
 Elizabeth Paterson . . . 4.5 
 
 David Paterson ... . . 45 
 
 John Broggan . . 47 
 
 Ann M'Dougal or Gray . 47 
 
 James Gray . , 50 
 
 George M'Culloch . . pi 
 
 John Fisher ... ,52 
 
 William Hare (or Haire) . A . 53 
 
 Margaret Hare (or Haire) . 62 
 
 Dr. Black . . . . 65 
 
 Dr. Christison . 66 
 
 Declaration of Burke, emitted 3d November . 67 
 
 Do. do. 10th November . . . 71 
 
 Do. do. 19th November . . 7i 
 
 Declaration of M'Dougal, 3d November . . 75 
 
 Do. do. 10th November . 78 
 
 Verdict . ... .92 
 
 Sentence ...... 95 
 
 List of Counsel . . . . . 96 
 
 Remarks . . . .97 
 
 Behaviour of Pannels during Trfai . . . 101 
 
 Popular Excitement . . . . 105. 
 
 ivr81 KflftR 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Conduct of Burke in Lock-up-house , . 108 
 
 Liberation of M'Dougal . . . HO 
 
 /'iBurke's Conduct in Jail . ; 113 
 
 LHare's Behaviour . . . . U6 
 
 Burke's and Hare's Houses . . . 120 
 
 Remarks on their Characters "> , . . 123 
 
 Murder of Mary Paterson " qf r .~ ' . . 124 
 
 Janet Brown's Statement relative to the Murder of Paterson . 125 
 
 Murder of Daft Jamie . . . . 132 
 
 Curious Rencontre between Daft Jamie and Bobby Auld . 133 
 Legal Discussions relative to the Trial of Hare and the Socii Criminum 137 
 Memoirs of Burke, with particulars of all the Murders communicated by 
 
 Himself . ... 170 
 
 List of Murders committed by. Burke and Hare . . . 201 
 
 Town Council Proceedings . . . 212 
 
 Confessions x)f Burke from the Caledonian Mercury . 216 
 
 Preparations for Burke's Execution . . . . . 221 
 
 Removal to.the Lock-up-house .... . 223 
 
 Occurrences on the Street previous to the Execution . 227 
 
 The Execution . . . . 234 
 
 Character of Burke . . . . . . 247 
 
 Occurrences after the Execution .... . 251 
 
 Description of the Body . . . . , . 252 
 
 Riot at the College . ... . 254 
 
 Phrenological Development of Burke . . 259 
 
 Observations on the Head of William Burke , . 262 
 
 Remarks on do. . . . . . . . . 267 
 
 Proceedings against Hare . ... . . ?72 
 
 Memoirs of Hare . . 306 
 
 Hare's Reception in Dumfries . . . . . 312 
 
 Hare's Appearance . ... 325 
 
 Letter from the Sheriff to the Right Hon. the Lord Provost . 329 
 
 Official Confessions of Burke , . . 331 
 
 Confessions of Burke from the Edinburgh Evening Courant . 340 
 
 Account of Helen M'Dougal . . . 353 
 
 , . Mrs. Hare. . . . . 355 
 
 Popular Tumult . ... 361 
 
 LIST OF PLATES, 
 
 Portrait of Burke, to face, title 
 
 Ground Plan of Burke's House . . .36 
 
 Portrait of Helen M'Dougal ... % . )T 
 
 Burke's House from the Back Court . . 120 
 
 View of Burke's Execution , . . . 237 
 
 Portrait of Hare . . . ... 272 
 
 Fac-simile of Burke's Hand-writing; , . 352 
 
 Portrait of Mrs. Hare . . 35* 
 
THE WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 have heard a great deal of late concerning " the march 
 of intellect" for which the present age is supposed to be dis- 
 tinguished ; and the phrase has been rung in our ears till it 
 has nauseated us by its repetition, and become almost a pro- 
 verbial expression of derision. But we fear that, with all its 
 pretended illumination, the present age must be characterized 
 by some deeper and fouler blots than have attached to any 
 that preceded it ; and that if it has brighter spots, it has also 
 darker shades arid more appalling obscurations. It has, in 
 fact, nooks and corners where every thing that is evil seems 
 to be concentrated and condensed ; (lens and holes to which 
 the Genius of Iniquity has fled, and become envenomed with 
 newer and more malignant inspirations. Thus the march 
 of crime has far outstripped u the march of intellect," and 
 attained a monstrous, a colossal development. The know- 
 ledge of good and evil would seem to have imparted a fearful 
 impulse to the latter principle ; to have quickened, vivified, 
 and expanded it into an awful and unprecedented magnitude. 
 Hence old crimes have become new by being attended with 
 unknown and unheard-of concomitants ; and atrocities never 
 dreamt of or imagined before have sprung up amongst us to 
 cover us with confusion and dismay. No one who reads the fol- 
 lowing report of the regular system of murder, which seems to 
 have been organised in Edinburgh, can doubt that it is 
 almost wholly without example in any age or country. Mur- 
 der is no novel crime ; it has been done in the olden time 
 as well as now ; but murder perpetrated in such a man- 
 ner, upon such a system, with such an object or intent, and 
 accompanied by such accessory circumstances, was never, we 
 believe, heard of before, and, taken altogether, utterly tran- 
 scends and beggars every thing in the shape of tragedy to be 
 found in poetry or romance. Even Mrs. Radcliffe, with all 
 
- WEST POUT MUKDERS. 
 
 her talent for imagining and depicting the horrible, has not been 
 able to invent or pourtray scenes at all to be compared, in 
 point of deep tragical interest, with the dreadful realities of 
 the den in the West Port. To show this, we shall endeavour 
 to exhibit a faint sketch of the more prominent circumstances 
 attending the murder of the. woman Campbell or Docherty, as 
 proved in evidence at the trial. 
 
 In the morning of a certain day in October last (the 31st) 
 Burke chances to enter the shop of a grocer, called Rymer ; 
 and there he sees a poor beggar woman asking charity. He ac- 
 costs her, and the brogue instantly reveals their common 
 country. The poor old woman's heart warms to her country- 
 man, and she tells him that her name is Docherty, and that 
 she has come from Ireland in search of her son. Burke, on the 
 other hand, improves the acquaintance, by pretending that his 
 ^mother's name was also Docherty, and that he has a wondrous 
 affection for all who bear tlie same euphonous and revered 
 name. The old woman is perfectly charmed with her good 
 fortune in meeting such a friend in such a countryman, and her 
 heart perfectly overflows with delight. Burke, again, seeing 
 that he has so far gained his object, follows up his professions 
 of regard by inviting Mrs. Docherty to go with him to his 
 house, at the same time offering her an asylum there. The 
 poor beggar woman accepts the fatal invitation, and accom- 
 panies Burke to that dreadful den, the scene of many previous 
 murders, whence she is destined never to return. Here the 
 ineffable ruffian treats her to her breakfast, and as her grati- 
 tude rises, his apparent attention and kindness increase. This 
 done, however, he gees in search of his associate and accom- 
 plice Hare, whom he informs that he has " got a shot in the 
 house," and invites to come over at a certain time and hour 
 specified " to see it done." Betwixt eleven and twelve o'clock 
 at night is fixed upon by these execrable miscreants for destroy- 
 ing the unhappy victim whom Burke had previously seduced 
 into the den of murder and death ; and then Burke proceeds 
 to make the necessary arrangements for the commission of the 
 crime. Gray and his wife, lodgers in Burke's house, and 
 whom the murderers did not think it proper or safe to entrust 
 with the secret, are removed for that night alone : another 
 bed is procured for them, and paid for, or offered to be paid 
 for, by Burke. By and by the murderers congregate, and 
 fern ales, cognisant of their past deeds, as well as of the crime 
 which was to be perpetrated, mingle with them in this horrid 
 meeting. Spirituous liquor is procured and administered to 
 the intended victim ; they all drink more or less deeply ; 
 sounds of mirth and revelry are heard echoing from this mi- 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 niature pandaemonium ; and a dance, in which they all, includ- 
 ing the beggar woman, join, completes these infernal orgies. 
 This is kept up for a considerable while, and is the immediate 
 precursor of a deed which blurs .the eye cf day, and throws a 
 deeper and darker shade around the dusky brow of night. 
 
 At length the time for " doing it" arrives. Burke and 
 Hare got up a sham fight, to produce a noise of brawling 
 and quarrelling, common enough in their horrid abode ; and 
 when this has been continued long enough as they think, Burke 
 suddenly springs like a hungry tiger on his victim, whom ciie 
 of his accomplices had, as if by accident, thrown down, flings 
 the whole weight of his body upon her breast, grapples her 
 by the throat, and strangles her outright. Ten minutes or a 
 quarter of an hour elapse while this murderous operation is go- 
 ing on, and ere it is completed ; during the whole of which time 
 Hare, by his own confession in the witness-box, sat upon the 
 front of the bed, a cool spectator of the murder, without rais- 
 ing a cry or stretching out a hand to help the unhappy wretch 
 thus hurried into eternity by his associate fiend Burke. As 
 to the women (Helen M'Dougal, Burke^s helpmate, and the 
 wife of the miscreant Hare) they seem to have retreated into 
 a passage closed in by an outer door, " when they saw him 
 (Burke) on the top of her" (Docherty), and to have remained 
 there while he was perpetrating the murder ; without, how- 
 ever, uttering a single sound or doing a single act, calculated 
 to interrupt the murderer in his work of blood, or to procure 
 assistance to the dying victim. These she-devils were familiar 
 with the work of death ; and one of them, the wife of Hare, 
 confessed it in the witness-box. She had seen, she said, such 
 " tricks'* be-fore. 
 
 No language can add to the impression which these facts 
 are calculated to produce. The succeeding events, however, 
 are not less picturesquely horrifying. The murder was com- 
 mitted at eleven o'clock, and in an hour after, or at twelve. 
 Burke fetches Paterson, the assistant or servant of a teacher of 
 Anatomy in Edinburgh, to whom he was in the habit of selling 
 the bodies of his victims, to the spot the murdered body being 
 by this time stalled under the bed and covered with straw ; 
 and, pointing to that truly dreadful place, teils him that he 
 has got a subject for him there, which will be ready for him 
 in the morning. The demons then appear to have recreated 
 themselves with fresh dozes of liquor ; and about four or five 
 in the morning, the two women already mentioned, with a fel- 
 low of the name of Broggan who had joined the party, after 
 the deed was done. laid down in the bed, beneath which the 
 zaurdered body of Docherty, not yet cold in death, had been 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 crammed, and went to sleep, some of them at least, as coolly 
 as if nothing of the kind had occurred. When daylight re- 
 turned, the tea-box, so often mentioned in the course of the 
 trial, was procured, and the slaughtered body crammed into it, 
 and sent off by the porter M'Cullocli, to Surgeons 7 Square ; 
 after which Burke and his accomplice Hare set off for Newing- 
 ton to obtain the whole or part of the price of the subject they 
 had procured by murder, and actually got Jive pounds, being 
 one-half of the price agreed upon.* 
 
 * The following- narration has been taken down from the lips of the 
 officer who apprehended Burke and his accomplices : 
 
 " On Friday, the 31st of October, a little elderly woman was seen 
 begging about the West Port: she entered the shop of Mr. Rymer, 
 adjacent to Biirke's house, for this purpose, when Burke was there 
 purchasing whisky. He seems to have immediately iixed upon her 
 as a fit subject for his atrocious purposes, and endeavoured to decoy 
 her into his power. He asked her name, and what part of Ireland 
 she came from; and upon receiving her answers, replied that he was 
 from the same place, and that she must be a relation of his mother, whose 
 name was Docherty. He then promised to give her breakfast, and they 
 left the shop together, and were seen to enter Biirke's house. She was 
 afterwards seen in the house at different times during the day ; and two 
 lodgers, Gray and his wife, Avere sent to Hare's house to make room for 
 her, under the pretence that she was a friend from Ireland. They were 
 afterwards seen making merry, drinking and dancing- in company with 
 Hare and his wife, lirst in the house of Ann Connaway, and afterwards 
 in Burke's. During the night, a great noise of quarrelling and cries of 
 murder were heawl in Burke's house ; but the neighbours, knowing that 
 two men and three women were in the house, and having frequently 
 heard similar uproars, did not think much of it, nor interfere. One of 
 them, however, had the curiosity to look through the key-hole, when he 
 saw M'Dougal holding a bottle to the mouth of Campbell, swearing at 
 her for not drinking, and pouring the whisky into her mouth. Then all 
 was quiet for a little. Shortly after, the noise again commenced, which 
 was again succeeded by silence. At this time, that is, between 11 and 12 
 o'clock, it is presumed the horrid deed was perpetrated. 
 
 " In the morning, M'Dougal, who passed for Burke's wife, accounted 
 for the .absence of Campbell, or * the little old woman' as they called her, 
 as well as for the noise, by saying that she had, during the night, made 
 too free with her husband, Burke, and that she had kicked her out of 
 the house : ;iud this seems to have allayed any suspicions. In the morn- 
 ing, the lodgers Gray and his wife returned to Burke's; but upon 
 Mrs. Gray attempting to search about the bed, and the straw under it 
 for some "articles she had left, she was ordered by Burke with an oath, 
 * to keep out from them.' Burke afterwards left the house, desiring 
 Broggan a carter who was there to sit on a chair close to the straw until 
 lie returned. Broggan, however, followed him in a short time, and Mac- 
 Dougal who appeared to be in liquor, started up from the bed asking for 
 her husband, and afterwards quitted the house, leaving Gray and his wife 
 sitting in it. Mrs. Gray then commenced searching for her child's stock- 
 iaf;> cT.:d cleaning the house, and from the suspicions which had been excit- 
 ed by Burke's conduct, she examined the straw and found the murdered 
 1 ody, which her husband pulled out, and which they immediately recog- 
 nised to be that of Campbell. On going up the stair, they were met by 
 M'Dougal, whom Gray informed of the body being found. She at- 
 
WEST POUT MURDEUS. * 
 
 Such is an imperfect and feeble outline of the facts of this 
 case, in the course of which was disclosed the horrid and ap- 
 palling fact, that, in certain holes and dens, both in the heart 
 and in the outskirts of this city, murder had been reduced in- 
 to a system, with the view of obtaining money for the bodies 
 murdered ; and that it was perpetrated in the manner least likely 
 to leave impressed upon the body any evident or decisive marks 
 of violence, being invariably committed by means of suffoca- 
 tion or strangling, during partial or total intoxication. The 
 public is therefore to consider the present as only one out of 
 many instances of a similar nature which have occurred. 
 
 footed to pass it off as if the woman had died hi consequence of a 
 drunken frolic, and attempted to bribe them into silence by offering 
 them the ominous sum of ten pounds. She invited Gray and his wife to 
 take a dram in a neighbouring public-house, .where she, along with Hare's 
 wife, hurriedly left them, and upon their return to the house, in two 
 or three minutes, they called the people next door to come in, as they 
 wished to show them something 1 ; but upon examination the body was 
 gone. They immediately lodged information at the police office, and a 
 party of policemen were so lit, but notwithstanding the most diligent 
 search that could be made, the body could not be found, nor the parties 
 implicated. At this time a servant girl who lived near informed 
 them that she had seen Burke and his Avife, Hare and his wife, and the 
 porter M'Culloch, going up the stair, the porter currying a tea-box with 
 the top stuffed with straw; and that she laid her hand upon it and found 
 it soft. Upon the return of the policemen, sometime afterwards, Burke 
 came in, it is supposed to get some things previous to escaping. He 
 was pointed out by Gray, and immediately seized. He seemed to wish 
 to laugh it off, under the pretence that ii was the lodgers who wished 
 to do him an ill turn, saying that he defied all Scotland to charge him 
 with any thing- wrong. Mrs. Burke then came in, crying that she heard 
 the police were after her husband about the old woman, but that it was 
 ail a drunken >pree, and used a great many capers and dry laughs. She 
 was also immediately taken into custody, and both were conveyed to the 
 police office. 
 
 ^ '' There was still no tidings of the body, Avhen it was suggested that the 
 dissecting rooms should be searched; and Lieutenant Paterson and Ser- 
 jeant-major Fisher Aventon Sunday morning for that purpose. They were 
 informed by Pa-terson, Dr. Knox's man, that they had only received one 
 body, which was shown them, but from their not having seen Campbell 
 they could not identify it. Gray and his \vife \vere sent for, Avho soon 
 recognised it, and after procuring a warrant it was corn-eyed to the police 
 office. 
 
 " Early on Sabbath morning instructions were received to apprehend 
 Hare and his Avife,and a party proceeded to his house about eight o'clock, 
 and were informed that they were both in the house and in bed. Upon 
 informing them that Captain Stewart wished to speak with them upon the 
 subject of the body that had been found in Burke's, Mrs. Hare, laughing, 
 said, that the Captain and the police had surely A r ery little to do UOAV to look 
 after a drunken spree like this, repeatedly jeering and laughing. Hare 
 then said to her that he vras at Burke's and had a dram or two, and likely 
 they might l;e attaching some blame to them, but he did not care for 
 Captain Stewart, and they had better rise and see Avhat he had to say. 
 They were both conveyed to the police office, and immediately lodged in 
 separate cells." 
 
6 WEST POUT MURDERS. 
 
 Hare's wife admitted that she had witnessed many " tricks" of 
 the same kind; and Hare himself, when undergoing the 
 searching cross-examination of Mr. Cockburn a cross-exami- 
 nation such as was never before exemplified in any Court of 
 Justice durst not deny that he had been concerned in other 
 murders besides that of Docherty ; -that a murder had been 
 committed in his own house in the month of October last ; 
 that he himself was a murderer, and his hands steeped in 
 blood and slaughter : we say he durst not deny it, and only 
 took refuge in " declining to answer' 1 the questions put to 
 him ; which the Court of course apprised him he was entitled 
 to do in regard to questions that went to criminate himself so 
 deeply, and but for which caution we have little doubt that he 
 would have confessed not merely accession, but a principal 
 share in several murders. In fact, this " squalid wretch," as 
 Mr. Cockburn so picturesquely called him, from the hue and 
 look of the carrion-crow in the witness-box, was disposed to be 
 extremely communicative, and apparently had no idea that any 
 thing he had stated was at all remarkable or extraordinary. 
 Daft Jamie was murdered in this miscreant's house, and he 
 has mentioned some circumstances connected with the destruc- 
 tion of this poor innocent, calculated to form a suitable pendant 
 to the description we have already given of the murder of 
 Docherty. Jamie was enticed into Hare's house by Burke, 
 the usual decoy-duck in this traffic of blood (the appearance 
 of Hare himself being so inexpressibly hideous that it would 
 have scared even this moping idiot,) and he was plied with li- 
 quor for a considerable time. At first he refused to imbibe 
 a single drop ; but by dint of coaxing and perseverance, they 
 at last induced him to take a little ; and after he once took 
 a little, they found almost no difficulty in inducing him to 
 take more. At length, however, he became overpowered, and 
 laying himself down on the floor, fell asleep. Burke, who 
 was anxiously watching his opportunity, then said to Hare, 
 " Shall I do it now ?" to which Hare replied, " He is 
 too strong for you yet ; you had better let him alone a 
 while." Both the ruffians seem to have been afraid of the 
 physical strength which they knew the poor creature possess- 
 ed, and of the use he would make of it, if prematurely reused. 
 Burke, accordingly, waited a little, but getting impatient to 
 accomplish his object, he suddenly threw himself upon Jamie, 
 and attempted to strangle him. This roused the poor" crea- 
 ture, and, muddled as he was with liquor and sleep, he threw 
 Burke oft' and got to his feet, when a desperate struggle 
 ensued. Jamie fought with the united frenzy of madness and 
 despair, and Burke was about to be overpowered, when he 
 
WEST POUT MURDEHS. / 
 
 called out furiously to Hare to assist him. This Hare did 
 by tripping up Jamie's heels; after which both the ruffians 
 got upon him, and, at length, though not even then without 
 the greatest difficulty, succeeded in strangling him. 
 
 And all this has happened and has been carried on in a 
 Christian country, and in the Metropolis of Scotland, without a 
 breath of suspicion having been excited. as to the existence of 
 such hellish atrocities, till Gray lodged information at the Po- 
 lice Office of the murder of the woman Campbell orDocherty. 
 It was said at the trial, that the public mind had been excited 
 and inflamed on the subject to a degree wholly unprecedented; 
 but how is it conceivable or possible that even the lightest whis- 
 per of such infernal deeds of an organised system of murder 
 could find its way to the public, without producing this ex- 
 citement, without kindling up every feeling of horror and in- 
 dignation which the darkest and most unheard of atrocities 
 could possibly rouse in virtuous and untainted minds ? This 
 was a natural result of a great and unparalleled crime, or 
 rather system of crimes ; it was a result which no power or in- 
 fluence could prevent ; it was a result which, even if it had 
 been possible, ought not to have been prevented. But as 
 this excitement existed as it had more or less pervaded every 
 mind and as it might eventually, if not controlled, have 
 interfered with and affected the administration of stern 
 justice, it was right, nay it was necessary, both for the sake of 
 public justice and also for the satisfaction of the country, 
 that the prisoners should be ably and powerfully defend- 
 ed. Under this conviction, the head of the Bar of Scot- 
 land, in conjunction with some other of its brightest orna- 
 ments, came forward to offer their gratuitous services on the 
 occasion ; and certainly never was there a defence in any 
 case conducted with more consummate ability never per- 
 haps was there a trial in which higher talent, greater expe- 
 rience, or more splendid and overmastering eloquence were 
 displayed. And we rejoice that such has been the case. 
 Conduct like this reflects eternal honour on the Bar ; because 
 there are instances in which it may throw a shield around 
 innocence ; while, in every" case, it is calculated to pre- 
 serve the course of justice pure and un defiled, as well to 
 give additional satisfaction to the country, to create addition- 
 al confidence in the purity of the law, and to beget a strong- 
 er feeling of security in the protection which it affords. The 
 most atrocious crimes are precisely those which ought to be 
 most cautiously and fully investigated ; where prejudice of 
 all sorts ought to be most anxiously excluded or counteracted ; 
 where every facility in the power of the Court to give, ought 
 
WEST POUT Mt'KDERS. 
 
 to be afforded to the prisoner, both in preparing for his defence 
 and on his trial ; where the rules of evidence ought to be most 
 strictly adhered to, in so far as regards either the admissibility 
 or credibility of testimony ; where the accused should have the 
 fullest benefit of every presumption in his favour ; and where 
 his defence, ought if possible, to be conducted with the great- 
 est legal ability. Now Burke had all these advantages. The 
 Court, in the exercise of the discretion with which it is entrust- 
 ed, adjudged the trial of the prisoner to proceed upon only one 
 of three separate acts of murder charged against him in the 
 indictment ; while the splendid array of Counsel, who vo- 
 luntarily and gratuitously undertook the conduct of his de- 
 fence, exerted their whole skill, talents, and eloquence, in 
 his behalf. And we repeat that we rejoice at this ; for, as 
 was well observed by the Lord Advocate in addressing the 
 Jury for the Crown upon the evidence which had been led, 
 if the prisoner had any cod defence, it was thus sure to 
 have ample justice done to it ; and if a conviction was ob- 
 tained, it would be more satisfactory to the country, and in- 
 finitely more important to the purity and efficacy of the law. 
 
 In these circumstances, however, a conviction has been 
 obtained against the panne! Burke the prime murderer 
 the immediate and direct agent by whom the crime 
 charged was committed the agent also, we firmly believe, 
 by whom not three but thirteen persons were slaughtered, 
 with the intent of excambing their murdered bodies for 
 gold; this monster, we say, has been convicted, and ad- 
 judged to suffer the highest punishment of the law : and, 
 with a sort of poetical justice, he who made subjects of 
 others, is to be made a subject himself, and he now knows 
 that his vile carcass, when the hangman is done with it, 
 will be subjected to the same process with the bodies of his 
 murdered victims. The idea of hanging him in chains would 
 have been out of all keeping with his crime ; and hence, 
 though once entertained, it was most properly and judiciously 
 abandoned. But the conviction of Burke alone will not satisfy 
 either the law or the country. The unanimous voice of so- 
 ciety in regard to Haje is, Delendus est ; that is to say, if 
 there be evidence to S&nvict him, as we should hope there is. 
 He has been an accessory before or after the fact in nearly 
 all of these murders ; in the case of poor Jamie he was un- 
 questionably a principal ; and his evidence on Wednesday 
 only protects him from being called to account for the murder 
 of Docherty. We trust, therefore, that the Lord Advocate, 
 who has so ably and zealously performed his duty to the 
 country upon this occasion, will bring the " squalid wretch" 
 
TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE AND HELEN M C DOUCAL. 9 
 
 to trial, and take every other means in his power to hare 
 these atrocities probed and sifted to the bottom. 
 
 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE AND HELEN M'Dou-GAL. 
 
 No trial in the memory of any man living has excited so deep, 
 universal, and, we may almost add, appalling an interest as 
 that of WILLIAM BURKE and his female associate, HELEN 
 M'DouGAL, which took place on Wednesday, 24th December, 
 1828. By the statements which from time to time appeared 
 in the newspapers, public feeling had been worked up to the 
 highest pitch of excitement, and the case, in so far as the 
 miserable pannels were concerned, to a certain extent preju- 
 diced by the natural abhorrence which the account of a new 
 and unparalleled crime was calculated to excite. This, how- 
 ever, is an evil inseparable from the freedom, activity, and 
 enterprise of the press, which is necessarily compelled to 
 lay hold of the events of the passing hour, more especially 
 when these are of an extraordinary or unprecedented kind : 
 But it was more than atoned for by many countervailing advan- 
 tages of the greatest moment to the interests of the community; 
 and, besides, w<e are satisfied that' any prejudice or preposses- 
 sion thus created, was anxiously and effectually excluded from 
 the minds of the jury, by whom this singular case was tried, and 
 that they were swayed by no consideration except a stern re- 
 gard to the sanction of their oaths, the purity of justice, and 
 the import of the evidence laid before them. At the same 
 time, it was not so much to the accounts published in the news- 
 papers, which merely embodied and gave greater currency to 
 the statements circulating in society, as to the extraordinary, 
 nay, unparalleled circumstances of the case, that the strong 
 excitement of the public mind ought to be ascribed. These were 
 without any precedent in the records of our criminal practice, 
 and, in fact, amounted to the realization of a nursery tale. The 
 recent deplorable increase of crime has made us familiar with 
 several new atrocities. Poisoning is now, it seems, rendered 
 subsidiary to the commission of theft : stabbings, and attempts 
 at assassination, are matters of alraosWevery day occurrence : 
 and murder has grown so familiar to us, that it has almost 
 ceased to be viewed with that instinctive and inexpressible 
 dread which the commission of the greatest crime against the 
 laws of God and society used to excite. But the present was 
 the first instance of murder alleged to have been perpetrated 
 with the aforethought purpose and intent of selling the mur- 
 dered body as a subject for dissection to anatomists : it was a 
 new species of assassination, or murder for hire ; and as such, 
 
10 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BUKKE 
 
 no less than from the general horror felt by the people of this 
 country at the process, from ministering to which the mur- 
 derers expected their reward, it was- certainly calculated to 
 make a deep impression on the public mind, and to awaken 
 feelings of strong and appalling interest in the issue of the trial. 
 Of the extent of the impression thus produced, and the 
 feelings thus awakened, it was easy to judge from what was 
 every where observable on Monday and Tuesday. The ap- 
 proaching trial formed the universal topic of conversation, 
 and all sorts of speculations and conjectures were afloat as to 
 the circumstances likely to be disclosed in the course of it, and 
 the various results to which it would eventually lead. As the 
 day drew near, the interest deepened ; and 'it was easy to see 
 that the common people shared strongly in the general excite- 
 ment. The coming trial, they expected, was to disclose some- 
 thing which they had often dreamed of, or imagined, or heard 
 recounted around an evening's fire, like a tale of horror, or a 
 raw-head-and-bloody-bones story, but which they never, in their 
 sober judgment, either feared or believed to be possible ; and 
 hence, they looked forward to it with corresponding but inde- 
 scribable emotions. In short, all classes participated more or 
 less in a common feeling respecting the case of this unhappy 
 man and his associate ; all expected fearful disclosures ; none, 
 we are convinced, wished for any thing but justice. 
 
 As it was morally certain that a vast crowd would be as- 
 sembled early on Wednesday, arrangements were made on 
 Tuesday, under the immediate superintendence of Mr. She- 
 riff Duff, for the admission of jurymen by the door which con- 
 nects the Signet Library with the Outer House, and also for 
 the accommodation of the individuals connected with the pub- 
 lic press. One half of the Court, the narrow dimensions of 
 which have been often complained of, and in fact were never 
 more seriously felt, was, as usual on such occasions, reserved 
 for the members of the Faculty and the Writers to the Signet 
 in their gowns. 
 
 So early as seven o'clock in the morning of Wednesday, a 
 considerable crowd had assembled in the Parliament Square, 
 and around the doors of the Court ; and numerous applications 
 for admission were made to the different subordinate function- 
 aries, but in vain. The regulations previously agreed upon 
 were most rigorously observed ; while a large body of police, 
 which was in attendance, maintained the utmost order, and 
 kept the avenues to the Court unobstructed. The individuals 
 connected with the press were conducted to the seats provided 
 for them a little before eight o'clock ; the members of the Fa- 
 culty and of the Society of Writers to the Signet were ad- 
 
AKD fU LEN il'JJOUCJAL. 11 
 
 mitted precisely at nine ; and thus, with the jurymen impun- 
 iielled, and a few individuals who had obtained the entree in 
 virtue of orders from the Judges, the Court became at once 
 crowded in every part. 
 
 About twenty minutes before ten o'clock, the prisoners, 
 William Burke and Helen M'Dougal, were placed at the bar. 
 The male prisoner, as his name indicates, is a native of Ire- 
 land. He is a man rather below the middle size, but stoutly 
 made, and of a determined, though not peculiarly sinister ex- 
 pression of countenance. The contour of his countenance, as 
 well as his features, are decidedly Milesian. His face is round, 
 with high cheek bones, grey eyes, a good deal sunk in the 
 head, a short snubbish nose, and a round chin, but altogether 
 of a small cast. His hair and whiskers, which are of a light 
 sandy colour, comport well with the make of the head, and 
 with the complexion which is nearly of the same hue. He 
 was dressed in a shabby blue surtout, buttoned close to the 
 throat, a striped cotton waistcoat, and dark-coloured small 
 clothes, and had, $|>on the whole, what is called in this country 
 a waugh rather than a ferocious appearance ; though there is 
 a hardness about -the features, mixed with an expression in 
 the geey twinkling eyes, far from inviting. The female pri- 
 soner/ls fully of -the middle size, but thin and spare made, 
 though evidently of large bone. Her features are long, and 
 by no means disagreeable, a pair of large, full, black eyes, 
 imparting to them even something of interest and expressive- 
 ness ; but the upper half of her face is out of propor- 
 tion to the lower. She was miserably dressed in a small stone- 
 coloured silk bonnet, very much the worse for the wear, a printed 
 cotton shawl, and a cotton gown. She stoops considerably in 
 her gait, and has nothing peculiar in her appearance, except 
 the ordinary look of extreme penury and misery, common to 
 unfortunate females of the same degraded class. Both pri- 
 soners, especially Burke, entered the Court without any visible 
 signs of perturbation, and both seemed to attend very closely 
 to the proceedings which soon after commenced. 
 
 The Court met at precisely a quarter past ten o'clock. The 
 Judges present were, the Right Honourable the Lord Justice 
 Clerk, and Lords Pitmilly, Meadowbank, and Mackenzie. 
 Their Lordships having taken their seats, and the instance 
 having been called, 
 
 The Lord Justice Clerk said William Burke, and Helen 
 M'Dougal, pay attention to the indictment that is now to be 
 read against you. 
 
 Mr. Patrick Robertson. I object to the reading of the in- 
 dictment. It contains charges which I hope to be able to show 
 
12 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 your Lordships are incompetent, and the reading of the whole 
 of the libel must tend materially to prejudice the prisoners 
 at the bar. 
 
 The Lord Justice Clerk. I am unaccustomed to this mode 
 of procedure. It depends upon the Court whether the in- 
 dictment shall be read or not. 
 
 Mr. Patrick Robertson. Certainly, my Lord ; but I under- 
 stand it is not necessary to read the indictment ; and we object 
 to its being done on the present occasion. 
 
 Lord Justice Clerk. We have found but little advantage to 
 result from the practice recently introduced of not reading the 
 indictment. It has rendered constant explanations neces- 
 sary, and consumes more time the one way than the other. 
 
 Mr.,Cockburn. We object to the indictment being read, 
 because it is calculated to prejudice the prisoner. Our state- 
 ment is, that it contains charges, the reading of which cannot 
 fail to operate against him, and that these charges make no 
 legal part of the libel. 
 
 Lord Meadowbank. I am against novelties ; I am against 
 interfering with the discretion of the Court. 
 
 The indictment was then read as follows : 
 
 William Burke and Helen M'Dougal, both present prison- 
 ers in the tolbooth of Edinburgh, you are indicted and accus- 
 ed at the instance of Sir WILLIAM RAE of St. Catharine's, Bart, 
 his Majesty's Advocate for his Majesty's interest : That al- 
 beit, by the laws of this and of every other well governed 
 realm, MURDER, is a crime of an heinous nature and severely 
 punishable : Yet true it is and of verity, that you the said 
 William Burke and Helen M'Dougal are both and each, or one 
 or other of you, guilty of the said crime, actor or actors, or art 
 and part : In so far as, on one or other of the days between the 
 7th and 16th days of April 1828, or on one or other of the days 
 of that month, or of March immediately preceding, or of May 
 immediately following, within the house in Gibb's Close, Canon- 
 gate, Edinburgh, then and now or lately in the occupation of 
 Constantine Burke, then and now or lately scavenger in the 
 employment of the Edinburgh Police Establishment, you the 
 said William Burke did, wickedly and feloniously, place or lay 
 your body or person, or part thereof, over or upon the breast 
 or person and face of Mary Paterson or Mitchell, then or re- 
 cently before that time, or formerly preceding, with Isabella 
 Burnet or Worthington, then and now or lately residing in 
 Leith Street, in or near Edinburgh, when she, the said Mary 
 Paterson or Mitchell was lying in the said house, in a state of 
 intoxication, did ? by the pressure thereof, and by covering her 
 
AND HELEN Al'DOUGAL. 13 
 
 mouth and nose with your body or person, and forcibly com- 
 pressing her throat with your hands, and forcibly keeping her 
 down, notwithstanding her resistance, or in some other way 
 to the Prosecutor unknown, preventing her from breathing, 
 suffocate or strangle her ; and the said Mary Paterson or 
 Mitchell was thus, by the said means or part thereof, or 
 by some other means or violence, the particulars of which 
 are to the Prosecutor unknown, wickedly bereaved of life 
 by you the said William Burke ; and this you did with the 
 wicked aforethought intent of disposing of, or selling the 
 body of the said Mary Paterson or Mitchell, when so mur- 
 dered, to a physician or surgeon, or some person in the em- 
 ployment of a physician or surgeon, as a subject for dissec- 
 tion, or with some other wicked and felonious intent to the 
 Prosecutor unknown. (2.) Further, on one or other of the 
 days, between the 5th and 26th days of October 1828, or on 
 one or other of the days of that month, or of September im- 
 mediately preceding, or of November immediately follow- 
 ing, within the house situated in Tanner's Close, Ports- 
 burgh, or Wester Portsburgh, in or near Edinburgh, then 
 and now or lately in the occupation of William Haire or 
 Hare, then and now or lately labourer, you the said William 
 Burke did wickedly and feloniously attack and assault James 
 Wilson, commonly called or known by the name of Daft 
 Jamie, then or lately residing in the house of James Dow- 
 nie, then and now or lately porter, and then and now or 
 lately residing in Stevenlaw's Close, High Street, Edin- 
 burgh, and did leap and throw yourself upon him, when the 
 said James Wilson was lying in the said house, and he hav- 
 ing sprung up, you did struggle with him, and did bring him 
 to the ground, and you did place or lay your body or person, 
 or part thereof, over or upon the person or body and face of 
 the said James Wilson, and did by the pressure thereof, and 
 by covering his mouth and nose with your person or body, 
 and forcibly keeping him down, and compressing his mouth, 
 nose, and throat, notwithstanding every resistance on his 
 part, and thereby, or in some other manner to the Prosecu- 
 tor unknown, preventing him from breathing, suffocate or 
 strangle him ; and the said James Wilson was thus, by the 
 said means, or part of them, or by some other means or vio- 
 lence, the particulars of which are to the Prosecutor un- 
 known, wickedly bereaved of life and murdered by you the 
 said William Burke ; and this you did with the wicked afore- 
 thought and intent of disposing of or selling the body of the 
 said James Wilson, when so nvurdered, to a physician or sur- 
 geon, or to some person in the employment of a physician or 
 
14? TRIAL OF WILLIAM JBURKE 
 
 surgeon, as a subject for dissection, or with some other wicked 
 and felonious intent or purpose, to the Prosecutor unknown. 
 (3.) Further, on Friday the 31st day of October 1828, or on 
 one or other of the days of that month, or of September imme- 
 diately preceding, or of November immediately following, 
 within the house then or lately occupied by you the said 
 William Burke, situated in that street of Portsburgh, or West- 
 er Portsburgh, in or near Edinburgh, which runs from the 
 Grassmarket of Edinburgh to Main Point, in or near Edin- 
 burgh, and on the north side of the said street, and having 
 an access thereto by a trance or passage, entering from the 
 street last above libelled, and having also an entrance 
 from a court or back court on the north thereof, the name 
 of which is to the Prosecutor unknown, you the said William 
 Burke and Helen M'Dougal, did both and each, or one 
 or other of you, wickedly and feloniously place or lay your 
 bodies or persons, or part thereof, on the body or person or 
 part thereof of one or other of you, over or upon the per- 
 son or body and face of Madgy or Margery or Mary M'Go- 
 iiegal, or Duffie, or Campbell, or Docherty, then or late- 
 ly residing in the house of Roderick Stewart or Stuart, then 
 and now or lately labourer, and then and now or lately re- 
 siding in the Pleasance, in or near Edinburgh ; when she, 
 the said Madgy or Margery, or Mary M'Gonegal, or Duffie, 
 or Campbell, or Docherty, was lying on the ground, and did, 
 by the pressure thereof, and by covering her mouth and the 
 rest of her face with your bodies or persons, or the body or 
 person of one or other of you, and by grasping her by the 
 throat, and keeping her mouth and nostrils shut, with your 
 hands, and thereby, or in some other way to the Prosecutor 
 unknown, preventing her from breathing, suffocate or strangle 
 her; and the said Madgy or Margery, or Mary M'Gonegal, or 
 Duffie, or Campbell, or Docherty, was thus, by the said means, or 
 part thereof, or by some other means or violence, the particulars 
 of which are to the Prosecutor unknown, wickedly bereaved of 
 life, and murdered by you the said William Burke, and you 
 the said Helen M'Dougal, or one or other of you ; and thus 
 you, both and each, or one or other of you, did, with the 
 wicked aforethought intent of disposing of or selling the body 
 of the said Madgy or Margery or Mary M'Gonegal, or Duffie, 
 or Campbell, or Docherty, when so murdered, to a physician 
 or surgeon, or to some person in the employment of a physi- 
 cian or surgeon, as a subject for dissection, or with some other 
 wicked and felonious intent or purpose to the Prosecutor un- 
 known : And you, the said William Burke, having been taken 
 before George Tait, Esq. sheriff-substitute of the shire of 
 
AND HELEN M C DOUGAL. 15 
 
 Edinburgh, you did in his presence, at Edinburgh, emit and 
 subscribe five several declarations of the dates respectively 
 following, viz. : The 3d, 10th, 19th, and 29th days of No- 
 vember, and 4th day of December 1828: And you, the said 
 Helen M'Dougal, having been taken before the said sheriff- 
 substitute, you did in his presence, at Edinburgh, emit two 
 several declarations, one upon the 3d and another upon the 
 18th days of November 1828, which declarations were each 
 of them respectively subscribed in your presence by the said 
 sheriff-substitute, you having declared you could not write : 
 which declarations being to be used in evidence against each 
 of you by whom the same were respectively emitted ; as also 
 the skirt of a gown ; as also a petticoat ; as also a brass 
 snuff-box, and a snuff-spoon, a black coat, a black waistcoat, a 
 pair of moleskin trowsers, and a cotton handkerchief or neck- 
 cloth, to all of which sealed labels are now attached, being to 
 be used in evidence against you, the said William Burke ; as 
 also a coarse linen sheet, a coarse pillow-case, a dark printed 
 cotton gown, a red-stripped cotton bed-gown, to which a seal- 
 ed label is now attached ; as also a wooden box ; as also a 
 plan, entitled " Plan of Houses in Wester Portsburgh and 
 places adjacent," and bearing to be dated Edinburgh, 20th 
 November 1828, and to be signed by James Braidwood, 22, 
 Society, being all to be used in evidence agains.t both and 
 each of you, the said William Burke and Helen M'Dougal, 
 at your trial, will for that purpose be in due time lodged in 
 the hands of the clerk of the High Court of Justiciary, be- 
 fore which you are about to be tried, that you may have an 
 opportunity of seeing the same. All which, or part thereof, 
 being found proven by the verdict of an assize, or admitted 
 by the respective judicial confessions of you the said William 
 Burke and Helen M'Dougal, before the Lord Justice-General, 
 the Lord Justice-Clerk, and the Lords Commissioners of Jus- 
 ticiary, you, the said William Burke and Helen M'Dougal, 
 ought to be punished with the pains of law, to deter others 
 from committing the like crimes in all time coming. 
 
 A. WOOD, A.D. 
 
 LIST OF WITNESSES. 
 
 1 George Tait, Esquire, sheriff-substitute of the shire of E- 
 
 dinburgh. 
 
 2 Archibald Scott, procurator-fiscal of said shire. 
 
 3 Richard John Moxey, now or lately clerk in the sheriff- 
 
 clerk's office, Edinburgh. 
 
TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 4 Archibald M 'Lucas, now or lately clerk in the sheriff- 
 
 clerk's office, Edinburgh. 
 
 5 Janet Brown, now or lately servant to, and residing with, 
 
 Isabella Burnet or Worthington, now or lately residing 
 in Leith Street, in or near Edinburgh. 
 
 6 The foresaid Isabella Burnet or Worthington. 
 
 7 Elizabeth Graham or Burke, wife of Constantine Burke, 
 
 now or lately scavenger in the employment of the Edin- 
 burgh police, and now or lately residing in Gibb's close, 
 Canongate, Edinburgh. 
 
 8 The foresaid Constantine Burke. 
 
 9 Jean Anderson or Sutherland, wife of George Sutherland, 
 
 now or lately silversmith, and now or lately residing in 
 Middleton's Entry, Potter-row, Edinburgh. 
 
 10 William Haire or Hare, present prisoner in the tolbooth 
 
 of Edinburgh. 
 
 11 Margaret Laird or Haire or Hare, wife of the foresaid 
 
 William Haire or Hare, and present prisoner in the 
 tolbooth of Edinburgh. 
 
 12 Jean M'Donald or Coghill, wife of Daniel Coghill, now or 
 
 lately shoemaker, and now or lately residing in South 
 St. James's street, in or near Edinburgh. 
 
 13 Margaret M'Gregor, now or lately servant to, and resid- 
 
 ing with, John Clark, now or lately baker, and now or 
 lately residing in Rose street, in or near Edinburgh. 
 
 14 Richard Burke, son of, and now or lately residing with, 
 
 the foresaid Constantine Burke. 
 
 15 William Burke, son of, and now or lately residing with, 
 
 the foresaid Constantine Burke. 
 
 16 Janet Wilson or Downie, wife of James Downie, now or 
 
 lately porter, and now or lately residing in Stevenlaw's 
 close, High street, Edinburgh. 
 
 17 Mary Downie, daughter of, and now or lately residing 
 
 with, the foresaid James Downie. 
 
 18 William Cunningham, now or lately scavenger in the em- 
 
 ployment of the Edinburgh police, and now or lately re- 
 siding in Fairley's Entry, Cowgate, Edinburgh. 
 
 19 George Barclay, now or lately tobacconist in North Col- 
 
 lege street, in or near Edinburgh. 
 
 20 David Dalziell, now or lately copperplate printer, and now 
 
 or lately residing with his father, George Dalziell, now 
 or lately painter, and now or lately residing in North 
 FowKV close, High street, Edinburgh. 
 
 21 Margaret Newbigging or Dalziell, wife of the foresaid Da- 
 
 vid Dalziell. 
 
AND HELEN M'DOUGAL. 17 
 
 22 Joseph M'Lean, now or lately tinsmith, and now or lately 
 
 residing in CouFs close, Canongate, Edinburgh. 
 
 23 Andrew Farquharson, now or lately sheriff-officer in Edin- 
 
 burgh. 
 
 24 George M'Farlane, now or lately porter, and now or lately 
 
 residing in Paterson's court, Lawnmarket, Edinburgh. 
 
 25 John Brogan, now or lately in the employment of John 
 
 Vallence, now or lately carter, and now or lately resid- 
 ing in Semple street, near Edinburgh. 
 
 26 Janet Lawrie or Law, wife of Robert Law, now or lately 
 
 currier, and now or lately residing in Portsburgh or 
 Wester Portsburgh, in or near Edinburgh. 
 
 27 Ann Black, or Connaway, or Conway, wife of John Con- 
 
 naway or Conway, now or lately labourer, and now or 
 lately residing in Portsburgh or Wester Portsburgh 
 aforesaid. 
 
 28 The foresaid John Connaway or Conway. 
 
 29 William Noble, now or lately apprentice to David Rymer, 
 
 now or lately grocer and spirit-dealer in Portsburgh or 
 Wester Portsburgh aforesaid. 
 
 30 James Gray, now or lately labourer, and now or lately re- 
 
 siding with Henry M 'Donald, now or lately dealer in 
 coals, and now or lately residing in the Grassmarket, 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 31 Ann M'Dougall or Gray, wife of the foresaid James Gray. 
 
 32 Hugh Alston, now or lately grocer, and now or lately 
 
 residing in Portsburgh or Wester Portsburgh aforesaid. 
 
 33 Elizabeth Paterson, daughter of, and now or lately resid- 
 
 ing with, Isabella Smith or Paterson, now or lately re- 
 siding in Portsburgh or Wester Portsburgh aforesaid. 
 
 34 The foresaid Isabella Smith or Paterson. 
 
 35 John M'Culloch, now or lately porter, and now or lately 
 
 residing in Alison's close, Cowgate, Edinburgh. 
 
 36 John Fisher, now or lately one of the criminal officers of 
 
 the Edinburgh police establishment. 
 
 37 John Findlay, now or lately one of the patrole of the 
 
 Edinburgh police establishment. 
 
 38 James Paterson, now or lately lieutenant of the Edin- 
 
 burgh police establishment. 
 
 39 James M'Nicoll, now or lately one of the Serjeants of the 
 
 Edinburgh police establishment. 
 
 40 Mary Stewart or Stuart, wife of Roderick Stewart or Stu- 
 
 art, now or lately labourer, and now or lately residing in 
 the Pleasance, near Edinburgh. 
 
 41 The foresaid Roderick Stewart or Stuart. 
 
 42 Charles M'Lauchlan, now or lately shoemaker, and now 
 
 D 
 
18 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BUIIKE 
 
 or lately residing with the foresaid Roderick Stewart or 
 Stuart. 
 
 43 Elizabeth Main, now or lately servant to the foresaid Wil- 
 
 liam Haire or Hare. 
 
 44 Robert Knox, M. D. lecturer on Anatomy, now or lately 
 
 residing in Newington place, near Edinburgh. 
 
 45 David Paterson, now or lately keeper of the Museum be- 
 
 longing to the foresaid Dr. Robert Knox, and now or 
 lately residing in Portsburgh, or Wester Portsburgh 
 aforesaid, with his mother, the foresaid Isabella Smith or 
 Paterson. 
 
 46 Thomas Wharton Jones, now or lately surgeon, and now 
 
 or lately residing in West Circus place, in or near Edin- 
 burgh, with his mother, Margaret Cockburn or Jones. 
 
 47 William Ferguson, now or lately surgeon, and now or 
 
 lately residing in Charles street, in or near Edinburgh, 
 with his brother, John Ferguson, now or lately writer. 
 
 48 Alexander Miller, now or lately surgeon, and now or lately 
 
 residing in the lodgings of Elizabeth Anderson or Mont- 
 gomery, now or lately residing in Clerk street, in or near 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 49 Robert Christison, M. D. now or lately Professor of Medi- 
 
 cal Jurisprudence in the University of Edinburgh. 
 
 50 William Pulteny Alison, M. D. now or lately Professor of 
 
 the Theory of Physic in the University of Edinburgh. 
 
 51 William Newbigging, now or lately surgeon, and now or 
 
 lately residing in St. Andrew's square, Edinburgh. 
 
 52 Alexander Black, now or lately surgeon to the Edinburgh 
 
 police establishment. 
 
 53 James Braidwood, now or lately builder, and master of 
 
 fire-engines on the Edinburgh police establishment. 
 
 54 Alexander M'Lean, now or lately sheriff-officer in Edin- 
 
 burgh. 
 
 55 James Evans, student of medicine, now or lately residing 
 
 with Mr. James Moir, surgeon, residing in Tiviot-row, 
 in or near Edinburgh. 
 
 A. WOOD, A. D. 
 
 DEAN OF FACULTY. We have given in separate defences, 
 which may as well be read now, beginning with the defences 
 for the male prisoner. 
 
 The defences for Burke was then read as follows : 
 The pannel submits that he is not bound to plead to, or to 
 be tried upon a libel, which not only charges him with three 
 unconnected murders, committed each at a different time. 
 
AND HELEN MDOUGAL. 19 
 
 and at a different place, but also combines his trial with that 
 of another pannel, who is not even alleged to have had any 
 concern with two of the offences of which he is accused. 
 Such an accumulation of offences and pannels is contrary to 
 the general and the better practice of the Court ; it is in- 
 consistent with right principle, and indeed, so far as the 
 pannel can discover, is altogether unprecedented ; it is to- 
 tally unnecessary for the ends of public justice, and greatly 
 distracts and prejudices the accused in their defence. It is 
 therefore submitted that the libel is completely vitiated by 
 this accumulation, and cannot be maintained as containing 
 a proper criminal charge. On the merits of the case, the 
 pannel has only to state that he is not guilty, and that he 
 rests his defence on a denial of the facts set forth in the 
 libel. 
 
 The defences for Helen M'Dougal were next read as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 If it shall be decided that the prisoner is obliged to answer 
 to this indictment at all, her answer to it is, that she is not 
 guilty, and that the Prosecutor cannot prove the facts on 
 which his charge rests. But she humbly submits that she is 
 not bound to plead to it. She is accused of one murder com- 
 mitted in October 1828, in a house in Portsburgh, and of no 
 other offence. Yet she is placed in an indictment along with 
 a different person, who is accused of other two murders, each of 
 them committed at a different time, and at a different place, 
 it not being alleged that she had any connection with either of 
 these crimes. This accumulation of pannels and of offences 
 is not necessary for public justice, and exposes the accused to 
 intolerable prejudice, and is f not warranted, so far as can be 
 ascertained, even by a single precedent. 
 
 Mr. PATRICK ROBERTSON then addressed the Court in sup- 
 port of the defences. In this indictment there were two 
 prisoners named, but these two prisoners did not appear on 
 the face of it to have any connection with each other. The 
 major proposition contained a simple charge of murder, 
 without specifying any aggravation. In the minor proposi- 
 tion, however, there were three distinct and totally unconnected 
 charges of murder. The first was against Burke alone, and 
 was charged as having been committed in April last, in a house 
 in the Canongate. But it was not stated thai he had any ac- 
 complices. He was the sole person charged with that offence. 
 It appeared, indeed, from the description of the crime, that 
 he was charged " with the wicked, aforethought purpose and 
 intent, of disposing of and selling the body, when murdered, 
 as a subject for dissection, or with some other wicked and fe- 
 
20 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 lonious purpose and intent to the Prosecutor unknown." But, 
 while, on the one hand, there was no aggravation laid in the 
 major proposition ; yet on the other the Prosecutor did not con- 
 fine himself to one species of intent, but libelled two the intent 
 to sell the body to the surgeons, and some other sort of vague 
 undefined species of intent to the Prosecutor himself unknown. 
 The second article in the indictment charged another mur- 
 der, alleged to have been committed in the month of Octo- 
 ber, in a place called Tanner's Close, in Wester Portsburgh. 
 In this charge also William Burke is the only person ac- 
 cused of that offence, and the intent laid is the same as in the 
 former instance. Then there was a charge of a third mur- 
 der, committed at a different place and time, viz. at a house 
 in Portsburgh on the 31st October; in which charge both 
 William Burke and Helen M'Dougal were included : and, 
 after describing the offence, the intent libelled is the same 
 as in the two former cases. Thus we had three murders 
 charged against the prisoners ; two against Burke alone, and 
 one against Burke in conjunction with M'Dougal ; all of which 
 were committed at different times and in different places, with- 
 out any connection whatever between them : and these charges 
 were laid without any aggravation. Then five different declara- 
 tions by Burke, and two by M'Dougal, were also libelled on, 
 together with eight articles to be adduced as evidence against, 
 the former, and six against both; and in addition to all this, they 
 were served with a list of fifty-five witnesses by whom these dif- 
 ferent and totally unconnected charges were to be proved. 
 Now the question was, whether this charge, involving such an 
 accumulation of unconnected offences, was consistent with our 
 practice, with the humane principles of our law, and with that 
 sound and proper discretion which the Court was not only en- 
 titled, but bound to exercise. But the first and most materi- 
 al point was, whether the prisoners would suffer prejudice by 
 the mode in which the libel had been framed ; for if that could 
 be made out, it would justify their Lordships in the exercise of 
 the discretion with which they were entrusted, in separating 
 the different charges, or in selecting one prisoner, and postpon- 
 ing another, according to the circumstances of the case. The 
 question then was, whether the prisoners would suffer prejudice 
 in going to trial with the libel as it now stood. And, in con- 
 sidering this, it would be observed that it was not charged that 
 there was any natural connection between the crimes com- 
 mitted. There was certainly none in law ; and with the 
 exception of the mode of the murder and the intent, there 
 was not the slightest pretence for saying there was any con- 
 nection between them. But the intent was not laid abso- 
 
AN T L> HELEN M'DOUGAL. 21 
 
 lately and peremptorily. It was conditional : " Either you 
 committed these acts with the wicked, aforethought purpose 
 and intent of selling the bodies to the surgeons for dissection, 
 or with some other purpose or intent to the Prosecutor un- 
 known." This indeed would compel the Prosecutor to prove that 
 the murder was committed for the purpose of handing over the 
 bodies to dissection ; but he might also bring in under it a very 
 different purpose or object, as, for example, that it was done 
 for the purpose of robbery, or to gratify private revenge. In 
 the major proposition, however, there was no aggravation ; and 
 it was not said that there had been any conspiracy, that these 
 murders were part of a system ; they were laid as three 
 unconnected offences, committed at different times and at 
 different places. Now he prayed their Lordships to keep 
 in mind that murder was not like any of the other offences 
 which usually occurred in the practice of the Supreme Crimi- 
 nal Court ; it was one which, in every case, when brought 
 home to a pannel, was visited with the highest punishment 
 of the law ; and therefore it differed from all the offences 
 to which it was sometimes likened, and required greater caution 
 on the part of those by whom it was to be tried. As applicable 
 to the case of Burke, however, three murders were charged; and 
 this charge was calculated in the most serious degree to preju- 
 dice him. Each specific offence, it might be said, would require 
 to be supported by its own specific evidence : but it was im- 
 possible to find any jury so dispassionate as not to borrow 
 some light from the one to enable them to decide on the 
 other; it was impossible for the jury to separate the evi- 
 dence in one case from that in another ; it was impossible 
 that one murder not proved could be separated from any light 
 thrown upon it by another not proved ; nay, though neither 
 the one nor the other might be proved, it might still be held, that 
 upon the whole, from the massing or blending of unconnected 
 acts, enough was made out to warrant a conviction. And all 
 this was aggravated by the prejudice arising from the manner 
 in which the alleged murders were said to have been committed, 
 and in regard to which so strong a degree of excitement ex- 
 isted in the public mind. Then observe the oppression in 
 the preparation of the trial ; observe the situation in which 
 the pannels were placed. Three murders were charged, with 
 a list of fifty-five witnesses ; besides seven declarations, five by 
 the one, and two by the other. One set, it might be said, 
 was against one prisoner, and the other against the other ; 
 but it was impossible so to separate, or to analyse the evi- 
 dence as not to admit against the one evidence which was 
 calculated to affect the other ; and by thus mixing up and 
 
22 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 massing together the whole into an unnecessary accumula- 
 tion of crime, to come to the same conclusion in regard to 
 both. Look to the case of Helen M'Dougal, and it will be 
 seen the prejudice must operate still more strongly against 
 her. She is accused of only one crime, and it is not said that 
 she had any connection with the others. But this charge of 
 murder, committed in the latter end of October, is brought to 
 trial, combined with two others committed, one in April, six 
 months previously, and the other in the beginning of October. 
 Where is this to stop ? If the Prosecutor is allowed to proceed 
 in this way, may he not on the same principle combine ten 
 murders against ten prisoners, accused of ten different offences, 
 committed in as many different counties ? He submitted that 
 there must be some limitation ; and the question was, whether 
 the Court could sustain the present charge by which one indi- 
 vidual, accused of one offence, is mixed up with another, ac- 
 cused of two, with which she is not alleged to have had any con- 
 cern. Imagine this case. At the end of the indictment, eight 
 articles were specified against Burke, and six more against 
 Burke and M'Dougal conjointly. Take the first the skirt 
 of a gown and suppose it proved against Burke alone. It 
 could not be adduced as evidence against Helen M'Dougal. But 
 suppose it was traced into her possession, and that a witness was 
 called to prove that it belonged to Mary Paterson or Mitchell. 
 This would be conclusive as to M'DougaFs connection with 
 Burke. But it might be said that the Judge would tell the 
 Jury to strike this out of their notes. That was an easy opera- 
 tion ; but could they strike it out of their minds as easily as 
 out of their notes ? Then in what circumstances would Helen 
 M'Dougal be placed ? An article not libelled against her would 
 be checkmate to her defence. She would be taken by surprise, 
 she would be thrown off her guard ; and although the gown 
 had come fairly and honestly into her possession she could pro- 
 duce no evidence to instruct the fact. He put this as an il- 
 lustration. So far as the female prisoner was concerned it 
 would be fatal. 
 
 But was this a legal proceeding ? If there be a prejudice ex- 
 isting, the prisoner is entitled to the fairest possible defence. 
 The more atrocious the offence, the more guarded and cau- 
 tious ought to be the modes of procedure. So far, however, 
 as they could discover from the records of the Court, this was 
 the first case in which it had been attempted to charge three 
 murders in the same indictment. There had been several in- 
 stances of three persons slain at the same time, as in the Aber- 
 deen riots, by a discharge of musketry, and in the case where 
 a whole family was poisoned : these, however, as Mr. Hume 
 
AND HKI.KN M'DOUGAL. 23 
 
 observed, were all parts of the same foul and atrocious offence. 
 But there was no example, in the history of the Court, of 
 combining three unconnected offences against one person ; far 
 less of combining three against one person who was not alleg- 
 ed to have any connection with two of them, and was only 
 implicated in a third, which had no manner of connection 
 with those which preceded it. Sir George Mackenzie, who 
 would not be suspected of any partiality to the prisoner, laid 
 down theprinciple most clearly, that different parties ought not to 
 be thus combined in an indictment. " A person accused," says 
 he, " was not obliged to answer of old but for one crime in 
 " one day, except where there were several pursuers, Quoniam 
 " Attachiamentd) cap. 65. by which, accumulation of crimes was 
 " expressly unlawful, sed hodie aliter obtinet, for now there is 
 " nothing more ordinar nor to see five or six persons in one 
 '' summonds or indictment; and to see one accuser pursue seve- 
 " ral summondses; and yet seeing crimes are of so great conse- 
 " quence to the defender, and are of so great intricacy, it ap- 
 ic pears most unreasonable that a defender should be burthened 
 " with more than one defence at once ; and it appears that ac- 
 " cumulation of crimes is intended, either to laese the fame of 
 " the defender, or to distract him in his defence." Title 19, 
 7- Here the principle was brought out in the clearest manner 
 that salutary principle which says that no man ought to be 
 called upon to answer to more than one crime in one libel ; 
 since the accumulation of crimes was calculated " either to laese 
 " the fame of the prisoner, or to distract him in his defence." The 
 learned Counsel then referred to the work of Mr. Baron Hume. 
 That learned author treats of the accumulation of crimes under 
 different heads: first, of thosewhich are of onename and species, 
 and of one class and general description ; secondly, of those 
 criminal acts, though of different kinds and appellations, 
 have a natural relation and dependence ; and, thirdly, of that 
 sort of cumulatio actionum, which consists in the charging of 
 several persons in the same libel with separate and uncon- 
 nected crimes. The first of these, he argued, had no relation 
 to the present case, because it did not include murder. AH 
 the cases referred to were cases of housebreaking and theft ; and 
 though the former was a capital offence, yet it was a very dif- 
 ferent one from murder. No case of the latter was indeed 
 quoted. The author treated merely of connected crimes, 
 as robbery and murder. But no injury was done by such ac- 
 cumulation. They were parts of the same foul and atrocious 
 proceeding, and they had a natural and necessary depend- 
 ence. But in the present case there was no natural depend- 
 ence, and not even an allegation that the prisoners were con- 
 nected. 
 
24! TIIIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 He then proceeded to the consideration of heterogenous 
 charges, as of murder and of theft. Some of these, he said, 
 were not cases to be followed at the present day : and he in- 
 stanced that of Walter Buchanan, who was accused of ten dif- 
 ferent crimes in one libel ; namely, fire-raising, attempts at fire- 
 raising, attempts to poison, theft, reset of theft, the harbouring, 
 out-hounding, and maintaining of thieves and robbers, sorning 
 and levying black mail, and killing and eating of other people's 
 sheep. Here, however, the Lords restricted the trial to the more 
 special charges. He now came to the principle, and mentioned 
 a case in 1784, when the Lord Advocate did depart from se- 
 veral of the charges. In regard to accumulation of parties, 
 Mr. Hume put a case of several persons being called to an- 
 swer in one libel for the same fact ; but then, observe the re- 
 medy. " On any occasion when they see cause, especially if 
 " it appear that the Prosecutor meant to lay the pannels under 
 " this disadvantage (he begged to disclaim any insinuation that 
 " such was the intention of the Prosecutor in the present in- 
 " stance,) the Court may and will separate the trials of the se- 
 " veral culprits, and send those to an assize, in the first place, 
 " by themselves, who are meant to be called as witnesses for 
 " the others," vol. ii. p. 170. The learned Counsel then 
 proceeded to the third sort of cumulatio actionum, that 
 of charging several persons in the same libel with separate 
 and unconnected offences, and contended very ably that the 
 case before the Court fell under this description. 
 
 In conclusion, he referred to the English practice as illus- 
 trative of the principle for which he had been contending, and 
 referred to a decision of Lord Ellenborough, as reported in 
 Campbell, vol. ii. p. 131, and also to the authority of Chitty, 
 vol. i. p. 252. By the law of England, two felonies may be 
 combined in one charge against two separate prisoners ; but it 
 is usual for the Judge, in his discretion, to call upon the prose- 
 cutor to make his election, and to proceed with a specific 
 charge against one individual. In point of law they may be 
 combined, but the judges in their discretion separate them ; 
 and for this reason among others, that the combination would 
 prejudice prisoners in their challenge of the jury. 
 
 The LOUD ADVOCATE replied at some length. After compli- 
 menting the learned counsel who had just concluded, on the 
 able manner in which he had opened the objections submitted 
 to the consideration of the Court, he stated that he thought 
 them ill-founded. His learned friend mixed up two objections al- 
 together different. His first objection was to bringing two pri- 
 soners to trial in the same indictment, and his second to charging 
 three different crimes in that indictment. He would deal very 
 
 3 
 
AND HELEN M'DOUGAL. 25 
 
 iliortly with the first. The woman was charged as having 
 been concerned with the man in one of the three murders. 
 And this was sanctioned by the law of the land. He put 
 her in the indictment that she might not be prejudiced. If 
 she had been put into a separate indictment, the public would 
 have known the whole evidence before she had been put upon 
 her trial, and the prisoner would have had the best possible 
 reason to complain. This would have been the case had he 
 first brought the man to trial, and afterwards the woman, ad- 
 ducing against her the same, or nearly the same evidence, 
 which had previously been adduced against the man. It was 
 to obviate this, and to prevent her from being prejudiced, that 
 he had put her in the same indictment. " God forbid," said his 
 Lordship, " that any person holding the situation I do, should 
 do any thing to prejudice a prisoner on his trial." The very 
 contrary motive had guided him ; but if he proceeded not 
 against the woman to day, he would ten days hence, when 
 she could not insist on that which she now says will prejudice 
 her. Nor, in a case of this sort, would he be restrained from 
 doing his duty to the country by any consideration founded 
 upon what were called the interests of science. It was enough 
 for him that a great crime had been committed ; a crime vn- 
 heard of before in any civilized country : that the public 
 mind had in consequence become strongly agitated ; and that 
 the duty he owed to the country left him no alternative. He 
 was determined therefore to probe and sift the whole matter to 
 the bottom ; nothing should deter him from doing so ; and he 
 repeated, that if he was compelled to desert the diet against 
 this woman now, he would infallibly bring "her to trial ten days 
 hence. Then she would find whether she had been prejudiced 
 by the whole evidence in this case having gone abroad to the 
 world. 
 
 The libel charged three separate acts ; and in the major 
 proposition the crime specified was murder without any ag- 
 gravation. These murders were detached, as having taken 
 place within the last six months ; but they were all committed 
 in Edinburgh, and ail were charged as having been perpetrated 
 with the same intent, which however is no aggravation. Mur- 
 der, indeed, could scarcely admit of aggravation. When a 
 prosecutor libels a positive intent, he is tied down to that, and 
 there is no alternative. These cases were all of the same descrip- 
 tion all murders, and all committed with the same intent. He 
 admitted, that looking to the proceedings of the Criminal Court, 
 it might be impossible to find a case of three murders combin- 
 ed in one indictment ; but the present was a case unprecedent- 
 ed in the annals of this or of any other civilized coun- 
 
-O TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 try. There were numerous examples, however, where dif- 
 ferent charges were combined in the same libel. The pass- 
 age quoted from Sir George Mackenzie did not apply to 
 the case before the Court. It referred to a case of a na- 
 ture totally different. He then quoted Hume II. 166, arid 
 maintained, upon his authority, that the crimes charged be- 
 ing all of the same name and species, might properly be in- 
 cluded in the same indictment. It would indeed be dread- 
 ful if a prisoner, after having committed three murders, 
 could only be tried for one of them. Mr. Hume referred 
 to the case of James Inglis, tried upon three charges of 
 horse-stealing, each of which, if proved, involved a capital 
 punishment. Now, would not every argument which had 
 been employed against the present libel apply to such a charge? 
 Again, two acts of highway robbery were charged in the same 
 indictment, any one of which would have been sufficient, if 
 proved, to lead to a capital conviction. ' The whole tenor of our 
 practice, indeed, confirmed this mode of procedure, and, if the 
 contrary obtained if charges of the same nature and description 
 were put in separate indictments, prisoners would be exposed 
 to the intolerable hardship of undergoing trial day after day ; 
 a hardship which he conceived would be incomparably greater 
 than any that could possibly arise from the practice now com- 
 plained of. He then referred to the case of Nairne and Ogil- 
 vie. Here it had been objected that there was a cumulatio 
 actionum, but the objection had been repelled. His Lordship 
 then cited the case of James Morton tried at the Glasgow Cir- 
 cuit in 1823 on four separate acts; of Donaldson Buchanan also 
 tried there for stoutlirief, housebreaking and theft (all separate 
 acts) ; of Beaumont, tried at Aberdeen in 1826, where six acts 
 of housebreaking were charged ; and of Gillespie, tried at Aber- 
 deen in 1827, upon no less than nine separate acts of forgery. 
 His Lordship then quoted the' case of Surridge and Dempster, 
 indicted for two separate acts of murder, committed indeed at 
 the short interval of an hour, but still in all respects com- 
 pletely separate acts. Upon the strength of these consecutive 
 authorities, all of which went to support the principle for 
 which he contended, his Lordship submitted that the objection 
 ought to be repelled. 
 
 The DEAN OF FACULTY, in 'reply to the Lord Advocate, 
 argued powerfully in support of the views which had been 
 opened by Mr. Robertson. His Right Honourable and Learned 
 Friend (the Lord Advocate) might rely upon it that, on the part 
 of the prisoner's Counsel, no doubt whatever was entertained 
 of the perfect propriety of the motive by which his Lordship 
 had been actuated in framing the present indictment ; they 
 
AND HELEN M'l)OUGAL. 27 
 
 were convinced that he had prepared and brought forward the 
 case in the manner which he conceived least likely to preju- 
 dice the prisoners or to distract them in their defence. But, 
 on the other hand, he could with equal truth and sincerity as- 
 sure his Lordship, that the objection now raised had been 
 taken from a firm conviction that the sustaining of it was ne- 
 cessary for the safety of the law, and indispensable to the ends of 
 justice. It had been said that the decisions of the Court ought 
 to be adhered to, that its practice ought not to be infringed 
 upon ; and yet it was admitted that the present was the first 
 case which had ever occurred of three separate acts of murder 
 being combined in the same indictment. In this situation, 
 then, were they not justified in submitting to the Court the 
 objection which had been taken upon the ground of this un- 
 precedented combination ? The Learned Lord had intimated 
 an intention to desert the diet pro loco et tern/pore against the 
 pannel M'Dougal. But the question still remained whether 
 the interests of the male prisoner would not be dreadfully pre- 
 judiced in his defence, if put upon his trial for three separate 
 acts of murder, committed at different times, and in different 
 places. Now he contended that the present form of the in- 
 dictment was adopted to effect an illegitimate object : it was 
 calculated to lead to great injustice to the prisoner. What 
 the* Prosecutor insisted on passing to a Jury was an indict- 
 ment charging three distinct murders : he averred that there 
 were separate and unconnected acts of this crime ; and he as- 
 sumed that there was sufficient proof to bring them home to 
 the prisoner. But every man, whatever the number of 
 charges against him might be, was to be held and presumed 
 to be innocent till the contrary was proved, and a conviction 
 obtained against himself. There might, or there might not 
 be sufficient proof to convict him; but he contended for the 
 benefit of the ordinary presumption. " Give us," said 
 the Learned Counsel, " the benefit of this presumption, 
 to which we are entitled, and then let us see how the case 
 will stand." In the indictment before their Lordships three 
 murders were charged ; murders committed at different times; 
 murders of different persons, totally unconnected and living in 
 different places ; and the last of these was stated to have been 
 done in conjunction with a third person who had no connec- 
 tion with the other two. But if the Public Prosecutor were 
 in a situation to prove one of these murders, it would infer the 
 death of the pannel. Then for what end or purpose of public 
 justiee were three murders crammed into one indictment ? If 
 the Prosecutor was unable to prove any one of them, there was 
 no necessity surely for putting it into this indictment. Sup- 
 
TRIAL OF WILLIAM BU11KE 
 
 pose evidence were brought to prove the first, but totally fail- 
 ed, and the second, but also failed, or at least left them in such 
 doubt that a verdict of not guilty or not proven would have 
 been returned if they had been tried separately ; nobody would 
 maintain that a false or improbable charge might not become 
 a make-weight in the evidence to prove a separate and distinct 
 murder. The prisoner might take his trial on a combi- 
 nation of such charges, but unless your Lordship interfered 
 ex 'parte judicis, the result would be what he described. The 
 prejudice arose from this tolls quails accession, not proved, but 
 assumed ; and from the prejudice thus credited the prisoner 
 might be convicted. They could not lay the present indictment 
 before a Jury without necessarily prejudicing that Jury ; and 
 yet the Lord Advocate came forward and alleged that he 
 thought the whole objection frivolous and untenable, saying 
 that it was an attempt to smother the indictment altogether ; 
 that is, he called an objection to an indictment, which did 
 not contain a specific allegation of a specific crime, but a 
 congeries of offences huddled together and charged in cum- 
 ulo, an attempt to smother it ! How smothered ? If the 
 indictment was improperly framed, if two or three charges 
 were crammed into it instead of one, the prisoner was 
 entitled to have it smothered. He was entitled to a fair 
 trial, and if the libel was so constructed that this could not be 
 afforded him, he had a right to have it smothered. Every 
 thing relative to a specific charge their Lordships would re- 
 ceive, if brought forward in a competent form ; but the point 
 previously adverted to still returned Were they to receive 
 evidence in regard to two charges which might not be proved, 
 and which yet might affect the minds of the Jury in regard to 
 the third and lead to a conviction ? The Learned Lord indeed 
 wiid, that there was only one sort of evidence, and that the crime 
 had been committed in the same place. But the place was not 
 the same ; in fact, the loci were as distinct as if the one crime.had 
 been committed in the Canongate of Edinburgh and the other 
 in the remotest corner of Scotland. In popular language and 
 popular conceptions, they might be held and represented as 
 the same, but this would never do in matters of law. They 
 must have the locus strictly libelled. Nor was the time the 
 same. The first was committed at the distance of six 
 months from the second : the first took place in April, another 
 took place in the beginning of October, and a third occurred 
 in the end of October. Now, might not the prisoner prove an 
 alibi in regard to one of these crimes though not in regard to 
 the other? But, further, the acts were different. It was in 
 vain to say that all the murders were of the aame genus, for 
 
AX HELEN M'DOUGAL. 29 
 
 this might be said of all the murders that ever had been 
 or ever would be committed ; and on the face of the indict- 
 ment they were all different. In the major proposition no ag-, 
 gravation was libelled, but it was said that all these murders 
 had been committed with the intent of disposing of the dead 
 bodies to the Surgeons, or with some other purpose or intent 
 to the Prosecutor unknown. Did the Learned Lord mean to 
 say that he would fail if he did not prove this intent ? But 
 that purpose was a separate crime, as was sufficiently manifest 
 from the late case (among others) of Bradwell at Glasgow. 
 It could not, therefore, be maintained that he would fail by 
 not proving the intent by not proving a diffeient crime from 
 that libelled. It was perfectly plain that it was competent 
 to prove the intent, but the not proving it could not in the 
 least degree affect the libel. The crime consisted in the wil- 
 ful murder ; and unless the motive amounted to a justification, 
 or an alleviation which reduced it to culpable homicide, the 
 intent would be inferred from the fact, and the highest pu- 
 nishment of the law would follow a conviction. The evil of 
 an indictment so framed as the present was to produce an il- 
 legitimate effect by this combination of intention or motive 
 with the crime charged. The intent charged might have been 
 laid as a separate offence ; but had this been done we should 
 now have been on a different objection, namely the compe- 
 tency of such a charge. To these principles in the abstract, 
 no exception could be taken. Now, the Court would consi- 
 der the situation in which the pannel was placed. He had 
 been put upon his defence fifteen days after his examination ; 
 five declarations emitted by him were libelled on ; and 
 most manifestly there did exist great prejudice against him. 
 He did not say that this would be a sufficient reason for post- 
 poning the trial, but it was a sufficient reason for the Court 
 taking care that he suffered no injury in his defence. Another 
 matter in which the prisoner was prejudiced, by lumping to- 
 gether separate charges in the same indictment, was in his chal- 
 lenges of the Jurymen. It was evident that the prisoner had 
 an interest that way. He did not know who the Jurymen 
 were to be, and of course could not mean to say that there 
 was any danger of an improper person being balloted ; but he 
 had a clear right in the abstract a right of which he ought 
 not to be deprived. If he had been tried on separate indict- 
 ments he would have had fifteen challenges, whereas by the 
 combination of the charges in the same indictment he had only 
 five. Now there might be Jurymen liable to challenge in one 
 case and not in another, just as one witness might be perfect- 
 ly unexceptionable in one case and liable to the most serious 
 
 l 
 
30 TllIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 and fatal objections in another. He contended, therefore, that 
 in every view the principle was in their favour, as well as the 
 justice and imperious necessity of the case. 
 
 The Learned Gentleman then referred to the authorities. 
 He began by commenting on the passage which had been 
 quoted from Sir George Mackenzie ; which, he contended, the 
 Lord Advocate had misunderstood, as it was quite evident, 
 that George Mackenzie used the word " summonds" as syno- 
 nymous with " indictment," since an "accumulation of crimes," 
 the subject treated of, could not be predicated of a summons 
 in the common acceptation of that term. And the doctrine 
 laid down by this author was that an " accumulation of crimes 
 is intended, either to loese the fame of the defender, or to dis- 
 tract him in his defence." Now what did the Lord Advocate 
 say in answer to this ? He referred to a passage in Mr. Ba- 
 ron Hume's work where that learned person says, that " the 
 competency has never been disputed of charging in one libel 
 any number of criminal acts, if they are all of one nature and 
 species, or even of one class and general description." But it 
 was evident that the offences of which Mr. Hume spoke were 
 of a different description from murder ; for he expressly added 
 the qualification, " so as to adhere in this point of view, and 
 stamp a character on the parinel as one who is an habitual and 
 irreclaimable offender in this sort," (vol. ii. p. 166.) And ac- 
 cordingly the instances which he gave were of the crimes of 
 theft and house-breaking ; crimes which were susceptible of 
 being aggravated by habit and repute; and of which the pu- 
 nishment might be restricted. But murder % admitted of no such 
 aggravation, and never was restricted. Hear, however, what 
 Mr. Hume said in reference to those cases : " The Court, 
 whenever they find that the immediate trial of such mani- 
 fold changes is likely to prove oppressive, either to the wit- 
 nesses, the Jury, or themselves ; and still more, if they see 
 cause to believe that it may embarrass the pannel in his 
 defence, or beget prejudices against him in the minds of 
 the Jury ; in any of these cases, they have it certainly in 
 their power to divide or parcel out the libel, and proceed in 
 the first instance to the trial of as many of the articles as may 
 fitly be dispatched in a single diet, &c." (vol. ii. p. 168.) The 
 cases which occurred in 1696 might, however, be referred to 
 in support of a contrary doctrine ; but " if they are, I answer" 
 said the Learned Counsel " Are your Lordships prepared to 
 do what was done in those cases ? Are they to rule your 
 Lordships' decision in a case without any precedent whatso- 
 ever ?" But even these did not bear on the present case ; and 
 none adverse to the principle had occurred since the year 1784. 
 
AND HELKN M<DOUGAL. 31 
 
 Even the case of 1784 itself was not opposed to the principle. 
 There, there was connection. The case of Surridge and 
 Dempster was mentioned as a case of two murders, as a 
 case where more than one murder was charged in the indict- 
 ment ; but these were clearly paries ejusdem negotii ; they 
 were committed in immediate sequence and in furtherance of 
 the same " foul and atrocious design." It was quite plain, 
 therefore, that the cases quoted did not apply ; that they had 
 no bearing whatever on the present case, where three different 
 and unconnected murders were charged against the same indivi- 
 dual, and where another party was mixed up with him in one of 
 the alleged crimes. Were they not entitled, then, to ask their 
 Lordships, in the exercise of a sound discretion, (which it was 
 not denied the Court possessed) " to divide and parcel out" 
 the charges in this indictment, and to find it incompetent to 
 go to trial upon it as it presently stood ? The Learned Counsel 
 then adverted to the state of the law of England on this sub- - 
 ject, commenting on the passage quoted by Mr. Robertson from 
 the work of Chitty, and concluded by observing that this was in 
 all respects a most serious case, and deserved the utmost at- 
 tention of the Court. No instance of three murders charged 
 in one indictment had happened in his time ; many instances 
 had indeed occurred in former times ; yet it had never been 
 the practice to try the charges in cumulo. But the more 
 anomalous and unprecedented the case, the more necessary 
 was it to the ends of justice, and the more important to the 
 law, that it should be proceeded in with the utmost caution. 
 
 Their Lordships then delivered their opinions on the ob- 
 jection which had been raised and so ably argued by the pri- 
 soner's Counsel. 
 
 LOUD PJTMILLY. The Court were peculiarly circum- 
 stanced in being called upon to give an opinion on an 
 indictment in a case, part of which must unquestionably go 
 to trial. He was quite clear that one of the charges must 
 undergo an investigation ; that the trial to that extent must 
 proceed. But Counsel were by no means precluded from 
 stating the objection they had brought forward, and which, 
 appearing to them in the light it did, it became their duty 
 to press upon the attention of the Court. This accordingly 
 they had done with equal zeal and ability, in a manner 
 which did honour to themselves, and reflected credit on the 
 Bar of Scotland. But it was the duty of the Court to be 
 calm and guarded; to express their opinions in a dignified 
 and dispassionate manner ; and to avoid any thing which was 
 either calculated to unsettle the established principles of that 
 
32 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 law or to form a bad precedent for the future. He agreed 
 that there were two different questions before the Court ; 
 the first of which was, whether Helen M'Dougal ought to 
 have been included in the indictment. And on that point 
 he had no doubt of the Prosecutor's right so to include her. 
 He approved of what the Lord Advocate had done, and he 
 had no hesitation in saying, that the trial should now pro- 
 ceed. The other question was of a very different nature ; 
 namely, whether it was competent, and also whether it was 
 proper and fitting, that Burke should now go to trial 
 upon an indictment, charging three murders, or should be 
 tried on one or other of these charges. Of the compe- 
 tency he had no doubt whatever. His Lordship was much 
 struck with the indictment when he first saw it, and he felt 
 it to be his duty, as it is always the duty of the Court on 
 such occasions, to inform his mind in regard to the princi- 
 ple on which it had been framed. He went to the authori- 
 ties on the subject, and after a careful examination of them 
 he had no doubt of the competency. When he looked at 
 the cases of Beaumont and Gillespie, particularly the latter, 
 where nine separate acts of forgery were charged, he 
 could not have the smallest doubt as to the competency 
 of including these several charges in the same indictment. 
 Our practice on this point was too firmly fixed to admit of 
 any question, that one individual may be charged with se- 
 veral crimes of the same nature, and committed at different 
 times. The English cases referred to he put altogether out 
 of view, because this was not a new point, now raised for 
 the first time, and to be settled by a reference to principle 
 or analogy, but a matter fixed by our own practice, and not 
 again to be brought into dispute. He was therefore quite 
 clear as to the competency. But where it was a question of 
 discretion merely, and where that discretion, as in the present 
 case, was strongly appealed to, the Court would interfere, be- 
 cause it was their bounden and sacred duty to prevent a pri- 
 soner from suffering prejudice in his defence. The present 
 prisoners, by their highly respectable Counsel, declared that 
 they would suffer prejudice if they were put upon their trial 
 on all the charges, and it was not for the Court to say whether 
 that might or might not be the case. Three consecutive trials 
 might or might not be beneficial to the prisoner. In his opi- 
 nion they were more advantageous to the Prosecutor. By 
 this means he learned how to conduct his case ; and if he saw 
 a link awanting in one trial, he might endeavour, by means of 
 additional evidence, to supply it in the next. It did appear 
 to him, therefore, that what the pannels asked for by the 
 
AND HELEN M<DOUGAL. 33 
 
 mouths of their counsel, was calculated to do them more pre- 
 judice than submitting to go to trial upon the indictment as 
 it now stood. But they had doubtless been well and judici- 
 ously advised, and were prepared to take the consequences. 
 He held, however, that the Prosecutor had done right in in- 
 cluding both of them in the same indictment ; and that by 
 doing so he had taken the only and most effectual means in 
 his power not to prejudice them eitfier in preparing for their 
 defence or on their trial. He well remembered a case in which 
 the danger, disadvantage, and odium attending consecutive 
 trials were strikingly exemplified. It happened in conse- 
 quence of the Aberdeen riots, and the parties were brought to 
 trial at the instance of a private prosecutor. His Lordship 
 was counsel for the pannels, and they were acquitted. Not 
 satisfied with this, however, the private prosecutor reared up 
 a new indictment upon new grounds. And he could never 
 forget the feeling which was excited, by this attempt to bring 
 the parties acquitted to a second trial, in the Court, the Bar, 
 and the country at large ; there was one general cry of indig- 
 nation against a proceeding so shameless and oppressive ; the 
 consequence of which was, that the private prosecutor became 
 alarmed, and the attempt was quashed. This was the natu- 
 ral course of things. And, in general, it was lenity, and huma- 
 nity, and justice, to include all such cases in the same indict- 
 ment. In the present instance, no result such as that which 
 took place in Aberdeen was to be feared. But the Court 
 being clearly vested with a discretion, and the pannels having 
 strongly appealed to that discretion, it was his opinion that the 
 cases should be tried separately. 
 
 LORD MEADOWBANK entirely concurred in the views of 
 Lord Pitmilly. The nature of this case and the impression 
 it had produced upon the public were such, that it required 
 the most careful and anxious consideration ; but he was con- 
 fident that the more thoroughly their Lordships were con- 
 vinced of the existing state of excitement in the public mind 
 concerning it, the greater would be their anxiety that the pri- 
 soners suffered no prejudice on their trial or in their defence. 
 The question here was one of very great and general import- 
 ance. But if it had been entertained on the question of com- 
 petency, it would have shaken the whole system of our crimi- 
 minal procedure. Our practice of accumulating a number of 
 charges in the same indictment had been steady and uniform. 
 With respect to the earlier cases referred to, particularly that 
 in 1696, he must say that he could not for his soul compre- 
 hend upon what grounds the counsel for the prisoner had at- 
 
34 TRIAL OP WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 tempted to invalidate their authority. The particular case 
 referred to occurred after the Revolution, when the Judges 
 were as great and eminent lawyers as ever sat in that Court. 
 But in order to show the uniformity of the practice, he needed 
 not go farther back than the case of Murdiston and Miller, 
 where several acts, committed by different individuals in dif- 
 ferent counties, were put into the same indictment ; yet not 
 one iota of an objection was urged against the proceeding si- 
 milar to what they had heard to-day. Our own practice, in 
 cases of forgery, which was a capital crime, left no doubt up- 
 on the matter. Several acts of this description of crime were 
 constantly charged in the same indictment. In cases of rob- 
 bery, it was not competent to libel aggravation. The Prosecu- 
 tor was not admitted to libel habit and repute. That was now 
 settled law. It had not been so formerly ; and accordingly, 
 when he had the honour to fill the same situation, which his 
 learned friend (the Lord Advocate) now held, he had directed 
 an indictment to be raised to try the point, and the law was 
 now settled. But it was competent to accumulate several acts 
 in the same indictment, and to have it tried by the same evi- 
 dence and before the same Jury. It was competent where 
 there was several acts of robbery charged against different in- 
 dividuals ; and there was one case of a father and a daughter, 
 where the daughter was charged with two acts, and the father 
 with all the three libelled. He was therefore of opinion that 
 the Lord Advocate had done right in proceeding as he did. 
 But the Court had a discretion ; and to that discretion the 
 prisoners had appealed. But having stated his opinion of 
 that discretion, he deemed it right to say, that the Court was 
 not answerable for the consequences. The prisoners had ex- 
 ercised their discretion, and he warned them to consider well 
 the step they had taken. As to the Court they were bound 
 to sit there and try the cases one after another. 
 
 LORD MACKENZIE also agreed with his learned brothers as 
 to the competency. In so far as discretion was concerned he 
 likewise concurred, upon the statement made by the pannel 
 and his counsel that he would suffer prejudice. He saw that 
 the pannel was well and ably advised ; and he could not take 
 it upon him to allege that there was any thing absurd or un- 
 reasonable in the request which had been made 
 
 LORD JUSTICE CLERK. The only question here was as to 
 the competency of the charge against Burke : for the Lord 
 Advocate had intimated his intention not to proceed at present 
 against the woman. After listening attentively to all that had 
 been said, after considering the authorities, and recollecting some- 
 
AND HELEN M*DOUGAL. 36 
 
 thing of the practice of this Court, he thought the indictment 
 framed in a legal and proper manner. Burke was not accused 
 of one crime, but of three different acts of the same crime ; 
 and, therefore, he did not come within the reach of those cases 
 referred to by Mr. Hume. If this indictment was a bad one, 
 the Court had been guilty of a great dereliction of its duty in 
 sustaining many indictments framed upon precisely the same 
 principle. He recollected a case of several acts of robbery, a 
 capital crime, and one of the four pleas of the Crown, included 
 in the same indictment ; and how could they distinguish be- 
 tween such a charge and that of murder, which was another of 
 the pleas of the Crown ? In fact, it was not now in the power 
 of the Court to depart from the practice which had been so 
 firmly established and so steadily followed. The Court, how- 
 ever, had a discretion, and where it was appealed to they would 
 exercise it. The Court had even found an indictment irrele- 
 vant where it was strongly alleged by the pannel that he would 
 suffer prejudice were he tried upon it in its actual shape. 
 Upon the responsibility of the respectable Counsel, who had 
 stated that the present prisoners would suffer prejudice if they 
 were tried upon the indictment before them as it now stood, 
 he was of opinion that the Court should interpose in virtue of 
 its discretion. But they ought to do so upon principle. They 
 ought to find the libel relevant, and also to find it competent 
 to proceed to the trial of the charges seriatim, leaving it to 
 the option of the Prosecutor to say which of them he might 
 choose to begin with. 
 
 This accordingly became the judgment of the Court. The 
 objection was repelled, but in respect of the allegation that the 
 pannel would suffer prejudice were he tried upon the indict- 
 ment as it stood, find it competent to proceed with only one of 
 the charges at a time, leaving it to the Lord Advocate to say 
 which of them he thinks proper to begin with. 
 
 The LORD ADVOCATE. In consequence of the opinion of 
 the Court I shall proceed with the last charge, which includes 
 both the man and the woman. The objection in regard to the 
 latter has now been completely removed. 
 
 The DEAN of FACULTY. I beg to remind the learned 
 Lord of his former statement, that he would desert the diet 
 against the woman. 
 
 The LORD ADVOCATE. The case is now completely 
 changed. My former statement was made upon the supposi- 
 tion that the trial as to Burke was to proceed upon all the 
 three charges at once. 
 
36 
 
 TRIAL OP WILLIAM BURKK 
 
 The Prisoners on being asked by the Lord Justice Clerk, if 
 they were guilty or not guilty of the crimes charged in the third 
 article of the indictment, each answered " Not guilty." The 
 following Jury were then chosen. 
 
 Nichol Allan, Manager of the Hercules Insurance Company, 
 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 John Paton, Builder, do. 
 James Trench, Builder, do. 
 Peter M'Gregor, Merchant, do. 
 William Bonar, Banker, do. 
 James Banks, Agent, Leith Walk. 
 James TVfelliss, Merchant, Edinburgh. 
 John M'Fie, Merchant, Leith. 
 Thomas Barker, Brewer, do. 
 Henry Fenwick, Grocer, Dunbar. 
 David Brash, Grocer, Leith. 
 David Hunter, Ironmonger, Edinburgh. 
 Robert Jeffrey, Engraver, do. 
 William Bell, Grocer, Dunbar. 
 William Robertson, Cooper, Edinburgh. 
 
 First Witness called for the prosecution, was JAMES BRAID- 
 WOOD, of the Fire Office Establishment, who being duly sworn. 
 
 Question. Was that plan made by you ? A. It was 
 
 Q. What plan is it? A. It is a plan of some houses in the 
 West Port, to which I was conducted by an officer. 
 
 Q. Is the plan a correct one of the under ground houses ? A. 
 It is. 
 
 MARY STEWART Examined. 
 
 Q. Do you remember a person of the name of Campbell, coming 
 to live at your house during last harvest? A. Yes, Sir, Michael 
 Campbell. 
 
 Q. How long is it since he left your house ? A. On the Mon- 
 day before the fast day. 
 
 Q. Do you remember a woman coming to your house to en- 
 quire after him ? A. Yes, Sir. 
 
 Q. By what name did she call herself? A. She called herself- 
 Madgy Campbell, and also Duftie, which she said was the name of 
 her former husband. 
 
 Q. She came from Glasgow ? A. Yes, Sir. 
 
 Q. Did she state she came in search of her son ? A. Yes. 
 
GROTmn 
 
 RIEES ifilflOTCTSB. 
 
 as I*rodxwedin Court . 
 
 F. I. 
 
 7 
 

AND HELEN M C DOUCAL. 37 
 
 Q. What time did she leave your house ? A. I came out of the 
 Infirmary on Thursday, and she left me on Friday, the 3 1st 
 October. 
 
 Q. Did she toll you where she was going ? A. She said she 
 was going to search for her son. 
 
 Q. Do you know a person of the name of Charles M'Lauehlan ? 
 
 A. Yes, Sir; he slept with the woman's son. 
 
 Q. Have you ever seen that woman since ? A. Not till 1 saw 
 her at the Police Office. 
 
 Q. What hour did she leave your house? A. I think between 
 7 and 8 o'clock in the morning. 
 
 Q. Do you remember when you saw the woman's body at the 
 Police Office ? A. Yes, sir; it was on Sunday, two days after. 
 
 Q. Could you recognize the body ? A. Yes, Sir. 
 
 Q. What dress did she leave your house in ? A. In an old 
 dark printed gown, much patched, short sleeves, open before, sew- 
 ed with white thread in the back ; black bombazet petticoat, and 
 red striped short gown. 
 
 Q. Would you know these things ? A. Yes, Sir. 
 
 [These articles were shown to witness, and she identified the 
 old printed gown, and short dress.] 
 
 By the Court. Q. Do you know what her age might be ? 
 
 A. Between forty and fifty. 
 
 By Counsel. : Q. What size was she ? A. She was a little 
 broad set woman/ 
 
 By the Court. Q. When she stopt in your house, was she in 
 good health ? A. Yes, my Lord. 
 
 Q. Did you ever see her drunk ? A. No, my Lord. 
 
 CHARLES M'LAUCHLAN Examined. 
 
 Q. In the month of October last, did you reside in the house of 
 Mrs Stewart in the Pleasance ? A. Yes, Sir; along- with ono 
 Michael Campbell. 
 
 Q." What time did he leave that house ? A. About the end of 
 October. 
 
 Q. Do you remember a woman coming to the house in 
 October ? 'A. Yes, Sir. 
 
 Q. When she came did Michael Campbell |Nljtftt the house ? 
 
 Q. What name did the ; woman go by ? * l-Mrs Campbell's 
 name was Marjory M'Gdnegal ; J)uffie.wa^^Htecond husband's 
 name. 
 
 Q. "Had you ever seen her before "?;A. Yes, S;V'at home, ia the 
 County Donegal |n Ireland. . ^ 
 
 Q. Did she *ia&m some dayi at Sl%art't ? A. Yes, Sir. 
 +. 
 
88 TttlAL OF WILLIAM BUEKK 
 
 Q. What time did she leave ? A. She went away on Friday 
 the 31st October, between the hours of nine and ten in the mor- 
 ning. 
 
 Q. Did you go with her ? A. Yes, Sir, as far as my own shop 
 door at the foot of St Mary's Wynd, where she shook hands with 
 me. I asked her where she was going, and she told me she was 
 leaving town. 
 
 Q. Did she appear in good health and sober? A. Yes, Sir, she 
 appeared to be of sober habits. 
 
 Q. Did she come in search of her son ? A. Yes, Sir. 
 
 Q. Do you know if she had any money ? A. No. 
 
 Q. Did she complain of having none ? A, I never heard her. 
 
 Q. Did she pay any thing for her lodgings at Stewart's? A. Her 
 son paid for them. 
 
 Q. Did she breakfast at Stewart's that morning? A. No, Sir. 
 
 Q. Did you ever see her again in life ? A. No, Sir. 
 
 Q. When did you see the body ? A. I saw it at the Police 
 office, on Sunday the 2d November. 
 
 Q. You knew it to be that of the woman Campbell ? 
 
 A. Yes, Sir. 
 
 Q. Did she ever call herself Docherty ? A. No, Sir. 
 
 WILLIAM NOBLE Examined. 
 
 Q. You are a shop-boy at Mr Rymer's, at Portsburgh ? 
 
 A. Yes, Sir. 
 
 Q. Do you know the prisoner Burke by sight ? A. Yes, Sir. 
 
 Q. Do you know a man of the name of Hare ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. What do you sell ? A. Groceries. 
 
 Q. Do you recollect a body found in the West Port? A. I re- 
 collect a woman came to the door, and asked charity, on Friday 3 1st 
 October. Q. Was Burke in the shop at the time ? A. He was. 
 
 Q. Tell us what passed between Burke and the woman who 
 asked charity ? A. He asked her name, and she said it was 
 Docherty. 
 
 Q. What did he say to that ? A. He said she was a relation 
 of his mother's. 
 
 Q. Did Burke say what his mother's name was ? A. No. 
 
 Q. Did Burke and the woman seem acquainted? A. Don't re- 
 collect Q. What happened after that ? A. Burke took her away 
 with him, and said, he would give her her breakfast. This was on 
 the Friday morning. 
 
 Q. When did you see Burke after? A. He came back on Sa- 
 turday, and bought a box. 
 
 Q. What sort of a box was it ? A. A tea-box 
 
AND HELEN M'DOUGAL. 89 
 
 He was shewn a tea chest, and asked, if that was it ? A. Could 
 not say. It was like it. 
 
 Q. Have your tea boxes any particular mark ? A. No. 
 
 Q. Did Burke pay for the box ? A. No, it is not paid for 
 yet. 
 
 Q. Whom did he send for it ? A. Mrs Hare came for it about 
 half an hour after Burke left our shop, and got it away. 
 
 ANNE BLACK or CONNAWAY Examined. 
 
 Q. You live in Wester Portsburgh ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. What does your house consist of? A. One room. 
 
 Q. You go down a stair to it ? A. Yes, Sir. 
 
 Q. And going down the stair you come to a passage? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Is there another door in the same side of the passage, a little 
 farther in ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Does that door lead into a room or a passage first? A. First 
 into a passage. 
 
 Q. And at the end of that passage there is a room? A. Yes, Sir. 
 
 Q. Who lived in that room in October last ? A. It was Burke ; 
 he occupied it in the last week of October. 
 
 Q. Look at the female prisoner. Did she live with Burke in 
 the last week of October ? A. Yes, Sir. 
 
 On the other side of the passage there is another house in which 
 lived Mrs Law. 
 
 Q. Did you ever see a person of the name of Hare coming to 
 Burke ? A. Yes, Sir. 
 
 Q. Were there any lodgers lived with the Burkes in October ? 
 A. Yes, a man of the name of Gray. 
 
 Q. Did you, on the 31st of October, see Burke ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. What time of the day ? A. I made no remarks. 
 
 Q. Did you, see any one with him ? A. About midday I saw 
 him with a woman ; I was sitting by the fire, and they both passed 
 my door. 
 
 Q. Was it the prisoner? A. No. 
 
 Q. Were they going in ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Was she a stranger ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Was there any one in the house with you at the time ? 
 
 A. Yes, Mrs Law. 
 
 Q. Did you in the course of the day go into Burke's ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did you go in alone ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did you find any one there ? A. Yes, the said woman was 
 sitting by the fire. 
 
 Q. Was she doing any thing? A. Supping porridge and milk 
 
40 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE. 
 
 Q. How was she dressed? A. She had no gown on, she said 
 berthings were washing. I saw nothing but her shift, and something 
 tied on her head. 
 
 Q. Did you see any stranger there ? A. No. 
 
 Q. Was Burke's wife there ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Was Burke ? A. I dont know. You have got a stranger, I 
 said. Yes, said M'Dougal, we have got a friend of ray husband's 
 here, a Highland woman. 
 
 Q. Was the strange woman sober? A. I dont know. 
 
 Q. Did you hear her speak at that time? A. No. I then 
 went back in the dark. 
 
 Q. What happened after you went into your own house? 
 
 A. Burke's wife came and asked me to take care of her door 
 until she returned, as she was going out ; my husband was sitting 
 by the fire, and after she went away, he said he thought he saw 
 some person going into Burke's house. We took a light and went 
 to see, but saw nobody, save the stranger. 
 
 Q. What did you do after this ? A. I said, I thought some 
 one had come in. She rose and followed after me, and appeared 
 the worse of drink at the time. She said she was going to St 
 Mary's Wynd to see a boy, to hear about her son, and she want- 
 ed the name of the land of houses, that she might return, as she 
 said she had no money to pay for her bed. I told her she need not 
 go for she would not find her way back again. She said Burke, 
 whom she called Docherty, had promised her supper and a bed that 
 night. I told her if she went out the Policemen would take her 
 cs she was bad in drink. 
 
 Q. Did she go out ? A. No, she did not, she came into our 
 house and spoke a good while with my husband about Ireland and 
 the army, in which he had been. 
 
 Q. Did you ask how Burke and she had become acquainted ? 
 
 A. No, but she said she intended to stop for a fortnight. I told 
 her, her landlord's name was Burke and not Docherty, but she in- 
 sisted it was Docherty, for that was the name he gave himself to her. 
 
 Q. What name did she call herself to you? A. She called her- 
 self Docherty in her own name, and Campbell as her husband's. 
 
 Q. Did any other persons come to your house shortly after? 
 
 A. Yes, Hare and his wife ; Hare's wife had a bottle with her, 
 and he insisted they should have a dram. The prisoner M'Dougal 
 came in also and had a share. 
 
 Q. Did you drink any? A. Yes, arid my husband treated 
 them. 
 
 Q. Did the stranger get any drink ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Were they merry in your house. A. Yes, Hare was dan- 
 
AND HELEN M C DOUGAL. 41 
 
 cing on the floor, so were Mrs. Campbell and Mrs. Burke ; 
 Campbell was barefooted, and got a scratch on the foot with 
 the nails in Hare's shoes, of which she complained, but she was 
 otherwise very well. 
 
 Q. Did they leave your house together? A. No, Mrs. 
 Campbell said she would not go till Docherty, meaning Burke, 
 came in. I insisted on her going, but she bade me not be 
 cruel to a stranger. Shortly after, I told her there was Doch- 
 erty now, and she rose and followed him. 
 
 Q. At what hour was this ? A. I think it was between 10 
 and 11 at night. She went towards Burke's house. 
 
 Q. Did you sleep that night ? A. No, what disturbed me, 
 was Burke and Hare quarrelling. They appeared to be fighting. 
 
 Q. At what hour did you get up in the morning ? A. I 
 got up between three and four, but went to bed again, and got 
 up altogether about eight o'clock. 
 
 Q. Whom did you see first ? A. I heard Hare's wife in 
 the passage calling to Mrs. Law, who was then in our house, 
 but she did not answer. 
 
 Q. Did any other person come to your door ? A. Yes, a 
 girl afterwards came inquiring for John, who witness under- 
 stood was Burke ; it was between eight and nine. 
 
 Q. Did you direct her to Burke ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did you see Mrs. M'Dougal ? A. Yes, shortly after she 
 came and told me William (Burke) was wanting me. I went to 
 Burke's and found Mrs. Law, M'Dougal, and a lad named 
 Broggan. Burke had a bottle of spirits and gave me a glass, 
 he then threw the spirits up towards the roof of the house, 
 and upon -the bed at. his back. I asked him why he wasted it, 
 and he laughed and said, he wanted it finished to get another 
 bottle. I then asked Mrs. M'Dougal what was become of the 
 old woman. She said she kicked her out of the house, as she 
 saw Burke and her too friendly. 
 
 Q. Did Burke say anything at this time ? A. No. 
 
 Q. Did you ask him what the noise was about ? A. Yes, 
 he said it was a fit of drink, but they were all well then. 
 
 Q. Did you do anything more ? A. No, Sir. 
 
 Q. Did you see any straw lying near the bed ? A. Yes, 
 there was a bundle of straw near the bed, which had lain there 
 almost all the summer. 
 
 Q. When you got up at the first time in the morning, be- 
 tween three and four, was all quiet in Burke's house ? A. Yes, 
 while I made my husband's breakfast at that hour, I heard no 
 noise. 
 
 -Q. Did any other thing particular happen in Burke's that 
 morning ? A. Yes, his wife sung a song. 
 
42 TRIAL OP WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 Q. At what hour did you return to your own house ? A. It 
 would be the forenoon. 
 
 Q. Did you go again to Burke's on Saturday night ? 
 
 A. Yes, at eight o'clock, Gray's wife told me of something 
 in Burke's house, and I went with her to see. 
 
 Q. What did you see ? A. I saw nothing, I was so fright- 
 ened that I came out. 
 
 Q. Did you see the prisoner, M'Dougal? A. Before this 
 M'Dougal came to me, and said the woman Gray had stolen 
 some things out of her house, and asked me to watch her door, 
 as it did not lock. This was about six o'clock. 
 
 Q. What happened after ? A. When I was making my 
 husband's supper, Hare came to my door. He was going to 
 Burke's, but I told him there was nobody there ; and he came 
 into my house, but soon went back into the passage. I after- 
 wards went to Burke's door, and found it fastened. 
 
 Q. After you went to Burke's door, did you see any one ? 
 A. Yes, Hare came out of Burke's after that. 
 
 Q. Did you see M'Dougal ? A. Yes, and Burke a good 
 bit on in the night. 
 
 Q. Did any thing else happen ? A. Yes, some one said to 
 Burke and M'Dougal, that they were very much disturbed the 
 night they murdered the woman. M'Dougal laughed, and 
 Burke said, he would defy all Scotland, as he never did any 
 wrong. The police came just after that and apprehended 
 Burke. 
 
 Cross-Examined by Sir J. W. Moncrieff, Dean of Faculty. 
 
 Q. Did Burke, before he was apprehended, say anything of 
 the person who accused him of the murder ? 
 
 A. Yes, he said he would go and seek the man, and he met 
 him in the passage along with the policeman, and they took 
 him into his own house. 
 
 By a Juryman. 
 
 Q. What was the cause of your fear, when you went into 
 Burke's house ? 
 
 A. From having heard of the murder from Mrs. Gray. 
 
 JANET LAWRIE (or Law) Examined. 
 
 Q. You lived in the same passage with the prisoners in Oc- 
 tober last ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Do you remember being at Connaway's house on the 
 31st October, about two in the afternoon ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Do you recollect seeing the prisoner Burke in the pas- 
 sage ? A. Yes. 
 

 AND HELEN M C DODGAL. 43 
 
 Q. Was he alone ? A. A little woman was following him, 
 they went into Burke's house. 
 
 Q. Did you see Hare that evening ? A. Yes. 
 Q. Did he go into Burke's house ? A. Yes. 
 Q. Did you go in there ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Whom did you see ? A. I saw Hare and his wife and 
 Burke, and the little woman. 
 
 Q. At that time were they merry ? A. Yes. 
 Q. You were not long there ? A. About twenty minutes. 
 Q. Did you get any spirits ? A. Yes. 
 Q. At what hour did you go to bed ? A. About half past 
 nine ; sometime after I heard a noise of dancing and merriment. 
 Q. Did you hear any singing ? A. No, Sir. 
 Q. Fighting and scuffling ? A. There was a great noise. 
 Q. Did you distinguish any particular voice ? : A. No. 
 Q. Did the noise last long ? A. Yes. The next morning 
 Mrs. Burke came into my house to borrow a pair of bellows, 
 and asked me if I heard Burke and Hare fighting in the night 
 time. 
 
 Q. Any more about the fighting ? A. I asked her then 
 what she had done with the little woman ? She said, she kick- 
 ed her out of the door, because she had been using too much 
 freedom with William, (meaning Burke.) 
 
 Q. Did she go after that ? A. Yes, that was about eight. 
 She afterwards returned about nine to borrow a dram glass, 
 and asked me to come into her house. 
 
 Q. Did you go ? A. Yes, and saw Hare there and Burke 
 and M'Dougal ; and a man of the name of Broggan. 
 Q. Did Gray and his wife come in before you left ? 
 A. Yes, and Mrs. Connaway. 
 
 Q. Did you remark any thing particular ? A. Yes, Burke 
 took a bottle of spirits, and sprinkled it about the bed and 
 room ; he said, because none of them would drink it. 
 
 Q. Was there a good deal of straw lying at the foot of the 
 bed ? A. Yes. This took place on the Saturday morning, 
 and Burke was apprehended that night. 
 
 Q. Did you see Mrs. Connaway at Burke's house ? A. Yes. 
 Q. Did you go to the Police Office on Sunday ? A. Yes, 
 and was shown the body of the little woman I saw at Burke's 
 on Friday night. 
 
 Cross-Examined. 
 
 Q. Was the straw that was near the bed there before ? 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Was it in use ? A. Yes, it had been used for some 
 time as a bed for Gray and his wife. 
 
44 TKIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 HUGH ALSTON Examined. 
 
 Q. Do you live in the same land with Burke ? A. Yes. I 
 live in the flat above the shop, and he lives in the flat below 
 the shop. 
 
 A. Did you hear any noise on the night of the 31st October 
 when going home ? A. Yes, I heard some going along the 
 passage between eleven and twelve that night. 
 
 Q. Tell us what you heard ? A. I heard two men quarrell- 
 ing ; but what particularly attracted my attention was, the cry 
 of murder from a woman. I went down a part of the stair to- 
 wards Burke's house. 
 
 Q. Do you know Connaway's door ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did you go so far as that ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Now tell us distinctly as far as you can what you heard ? 
 A. I heard two men quarrelling, and a woman crying murder, 
 but not in such a way as would lead me to think she was in 
 danger. She continued to do so for a few minutes ; then some- 
 thing gave three cries as if it was strangled. 
 
 Q. Did it resemble the sound of a person or animal that was 
 strangled? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. What did you hear after this ? A. I heard no noise on 
 the floor, only speaking loud. After these remarkable sounds, 
 I heard the female voice who cried murder, strike her hand as 
 if against the door and call for the police, they were murdering 
 her. I went immediately for the police, and could not get 
 one. I returned and went down the stair a little way. 
 
 Q. Did you hear any thing after? A. Nothing but the 
 voices of the two men which appeared at a great distance. 
 
 Q. While you were listening, did you hear feet moving on 
 the floor ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. How far might you be from Burke's door when you 
 heard those remarkable sounds ? A. About three yards, or 
 ten or fifteen feet. 
 
 Q. Was the outer door shut ? A. I think it was, and that 
 on the same door the woman struck her hands. 
 
 Q. When did you hear a body had been found ? A. On 
 Saturday evening, and that fixed my recollection of what I 
 heard before. 
 
 Cross-Examined. 
 
 Q. You said you went in search of the Police ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. How far did you go ? A. Only to the mouth of the 
 passage. * \Vhen I returned I did not consider it necessary to 
 interfere farther. 
 
 Q. Was the voice you heard of murder the same you heard 
 when you first went down ? 
 
AND HELEN M S DOLGAL. 45 
 
 A. Yes, it was like the voice that said, for God's sake go 
 for the police, there is murder here. I since sent a person to 
 strike on the inner door to see if it sounded the same as I 
 heard before, and I think it did not. 
 
 Re-examined. 
 
 Q. Was the last cry for the Police ? A. Yes, and that 
 there was murder there. 
 
 By the Jury. 
 
 Q. Have you any doubts the cry of murder you heard in 
 the passage came from Burke's house ? A. I have no doubt 
 of it. 
 
 ELIZABETH PATERSON Examined. 
 
 Q. Look at the prisoner, do you know him by sight ? 
 
 A. Yes, I do. 
 
 Q. Did you see him on Friday, 31st October ? A. Yes, he 
 came to my mother's house on Friday night to ask for my 
 brother David, and I said he was out. He then went away. 
 
 Q. Did you go on the next morning to Burke's house ? 
 
 A. Yes, my brother sent me for Burke, and I went and 
 inquired for his house at Mrs. Law's. 
 
 DAVID PATERSON Examined. 
 
 Q. Where do you live? A. At No. 26, West Port. 
 
 Q. What is your occupation? A. I am keeper of the r.ir- 
 seum of Doctor Knox. 
 
 Q. Do you know the prisoner ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. At what hour did you go home on the 31st October ? 
 
 A. About twelve. 
 
 Q. Did you find any person at your door ? A. Yes, the 
 prisoner ; he told me he wanted me to go to his house. 
 
 Q. Did you go ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did you find people there ? A. I found Burke and an- 
 other man and two women. 
 
 Q. After you went in, what passed ? A. The prisoner told 
 me he had procured something for the Doctor, pointing to the 
 head of the bed, where there was some straw ; he said it in an 
 under voice. I was near him at the time. 
 
 Q. Was any thing shewn to you at that time? A. Nothing. 
 
 Q. ^ What did you understand he meant ? A. I understood 
 him to mean a dead body, a subject. 
 
 Q. What were his exact words ? A. His words were 
 " There is something for the doctor (pointing to the straw) 
 which will be ready to-morrow morning/ 1 
 
46 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 Q. Was there sufficient straw to cover the body ? 
 
 A. There was. 
 
 Q. Was that woman, the prisoner at the bar, there, (point- 
 ing to Mrs. M'Dougal ?) A. She was. 
 
 Q. Would you know the other two persons who were pre- 
 sent? A. Yes. 
 
 Hare and his wife being brought in, 
 
 Q. Do you know these people ? A. I know them by the 
 name of Hare, they are the other persons that were at Burke's 
 house that night. 
 
 Q. Had you any further conversation with Burke while you 
 remained there ? A. No, but I sent my sister for him in the 
 morning, and he came alone about nine o'clock. 
 
 Q. What did you say to him when he called on you ? 
 
 A. I told him if he had any thing for Dr. Knox, to go to 
 himself, and agree with him personally. I afterwards saw the 
 prisoner Burke and Hare in Dr. Knox's Rooms in Surgeons' 
 Square, along with Doctor Jones, one of Dr. Knox's assist- 
 ants. This was between twelve and two. 
 
 Q. Did any thing pass there ? A. Either Burke or Hare 
 told Dr. Knox they had a dead body for him, which they 
 would deliver there that night ; and I had orders from Dr. 
 Knox to be in the way to receive it, or any parcel that might 
 come. I was there about seven, when Burke and Hare, and 
 a porter named M'Culloch, brought a tea chest. They car- 
 ried it in, and it was put in a cellar (Mr. Jones was present,) 
 and when it was locked up, I went to Newington to Dr. Knox, 
 and told him the parcel was delivered. Hare, Burke and the 
 porter had either gone before or followed. I saw them when 
 I came out of Dr. Knox's house. He gave me five pounds 
 to give the men, with orders to divide it between them ; and 
 in order to do so, I took them to a public house, and got 
 change, and gave each two pounds ten shillings. They left 
 something for the porter. It was understood they were to re- 
 turn on Monday, by which time, if Dr. Knox approved of 
 the subject, they would get the remainder of the price, which 
 I believe, was eight pounds. 
 
 Q. Did you hear the prisoner say any thing about women ? 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did you see any women loitering about ? A. No. 
 
 Q. What happened after ? A. The next morning, Sun- 
 day, Lieutenant Paterson and Sergeant Fisher of the Po- 
 lice came to me, and I went to Dr. Knox's cellar along with 
 them, and gave them the package which was left there the 
 night before. 
 
 Q. Was it still roped ? A. Yes ; as it had been received. 
 
AND HELEN M'DOUGAL. 
 
 Q. Did you assist at the opening of it ? A. Yes, and found 
 it to contain the body of an elderly female apparently fresh and 
 never interred. The body was doubled up in the box, all the 
 extremities doubled on the chest or thorax for want of room. 
 
 Q. Describe the state when it came out of the box ? A. I 
 examined all the body externally, stretched on a table. The 
 face. had a very livid colour, there was blood flowing from the 
 mouth. The appearance indicated evident marks of strangula- 
 tion, or suffocation from pressure. I found no external marks 
 on the body that might have caused death. 
 
 By the Court. Q. Did the eyes project ? A. No. 
 
 Q. Was the tongue hanging out ? A. No. 
 
 Q. Was there any marks about the throat ? A. No. 
 
 Q. Was there any injury about the lips and nose ? A. Yes, 
 they were dark-coloured, and marked with blood. 
 
 JOHN BROGGAN Examined. 
 
 Was at Burke's the morning after the murder. Saw Burke 
 spill spirits about the room, and detailed several indecent 
 speeches of Mrs. Burke, about the way she got a shot of the old 
 woman. He was desired by Burke to remain, but did not. 
 
 MRS. GRAY Examined. 
 
 Q. Do you know the prisoners Burke and M'Dougal? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. You lodged in their house at the end of October ? A* Yes. 
 
 Q. You saw a strange woman there ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. What had she on ? A. A dark printed gown, and a pink 
 bedgown over it. 
 
 [Witness was shown the clothes and identified them.] 
 
 Q. You saw the little woman there once or twice on Friday ? 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did Burke say how he met her ? A. He said he met her 
 in a shop at nine or ten that morning. 
 
 Q. Did you remain at Burke's house that night ? A. No ; 
 Burke told me I should leave the house for that night, as my 
 husband and I were quarrelling ; and if I would go he would 
 pay my lodgings, and he said I was to go to William Harems. 
 I went away with Hare's own wife, and returned about nine 
 o'clock for some things of my child's. Hare and Burke were 
 dancing and Mrs. Docherty was singing to them. In the course 
 of the day Mrs. Docherty wanted to go out, but Mrs. Burke 
 
 would not let her. 
 
 8 
 
48 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 Q. At what time did you return to Hare's ? A. Almost im- 
 mediately. 
 
 Q. Did Hare and his wife come home ? A. Yes ; and Mrs. 
 Burke came to supper ; after that they all went out together, 
 and the Hares did not return that night. The first thing in 
 the morning that occurred, was Burke coming to my husband to 
 give him a dram. Then went to Burke 's house and saw there a 
 number of people, but not the old woman. I asked where she 
 was, and was told Mrs. Burke had turned her out as she was 
 drunk. 
 
 Q. When you went to the house did you go back for any 
 thing? A. Yes, for a pair of my child's stockings. When 
 looking for them, Burke told me " to keep out from there ;" 
 that is, from the straw. There was whisky then used. Burke 
 threw it about, and said he wanted to get quit of it to get more. 
 Burke then ordered me to put on some potatoes ; and I went 
 to reach under the bed for some, when Burke told me to come 
 out of that, I might set the bed a-fire with my pipe. 
 
 Q. Was Broggan there? A. Yes, during the day, and Burke 
 desired he would sit there, on the chair next the straw, until 
 he, Burke, came back again. 
 
 Q. Did Broggan remain ? A. No ; he only stopped a few 
 minutes. 
 
 Q. Did Burke bid you clean the house ? A. No ; but I said 
 it would be better to wash the floor, and put a little sand on it. 
 
 Q. What did you do after Broggan went out ? A. I went 
 to look for Burke, but I could not find him. I went out again 
 and met him at the West Bow, he went to take a dram. 
 
 Q. Did you discover a dead body in that house after Brog- 
 gan went out ? A. Yes, 
 
 Q. Where did you find it ? A. Under the straw at the foot 
 of the bed. 
 
 Q. Why did you go back ? A. Because my suspicions were 
 raised at seeing Burke throw the spirits about, and I was de- 
 termined to see what it meant. The first thing I seized hold 
 of, was the woman's right arm. My husband took her up by 
 the hair of the head, the body was naked, and there was blood 
 on the nose and rnouth. My husband went away before me ; 
 he met Mrs. Burke on the stair and told her what he had seen, 
 and asked her about the body. She told him to hold his 
 tongue, and it might be worth ten pounds a-week to him. 
 
 Q, Did you say any thing to Mrs. Burke? A. Yes; I spoke to 
 her about the body, and tcld her, that was the woman who was 
 well, singing on the floor ; and she bade me hold my tongue, and 
 she would give me five or six shillings. She repeated the words 
 again, and said, if my husband would be quiet, it would be worth 
 
AND HELEN M'DOUGAL. 49 
 
 Ten Pounds a week to him. I said that I would not wish to 
 be worth money got for dead people. 
 
 Q. Did your husband give information after that to the 
 police ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. You saw the body there ? A. Yes. 
 . Q. Was it the same ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did you return with Mrs. Connaway to Burke's ? A. No, 
 I sent her in, but did not go myself. 
 
 Cross-Examined by Sir James Moncrieff. 
 
 Q. Did you sleep in Burke's house on Thursday night ? 
 
 A. Yes, on the bed of straw. 
 
 Q. Did you continue there all the forenoon of Friday ? 
 
 A. Yc.'-, I never went out but for a stoup-full of water. 
 
 Q. What time did you go to Hare's ? A. About dark. 
 
 Q. Did any one ask you to come back to Burke's that 
 night? A. No, I thought as it was Halloween night they 
 did not wish to have me amongst them. 
 
 Q. Who went with you to Burke's at the time you say you 
 went for your child's clothes ? A. My husband. It was about 
 nine o'clock, we did not stop many minutes. 
 
 Q. Were they all making merry ? A. Yes, they were 
 dancing and singing. 
 
 Q. Do you remember was Mrs. Connaway there ? A. No. 
 
 Q. You went away in a few minutes ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. You say that Hare afterwards came home, with Mrs. 
 Hare and M'Dougal ? A. It was before I went back for the 
 clothes and not after. 
 
 Q. Did they ask you to come and have some sport with 
 them ? A. No ; next morning Burke came, and went out to 
 give my husband a dram, and he told us to come down to 
 breakfast, and we did. 
 
 Q. When you went down to breakfast, did you see Hare 
 or his wife then ? A. No. 
 
 Q. Are you sure ? A. Quite sure, she came home before 
 I went to breakfast. I did not get up until eight o'clock. 
 
 Q. Did M'Dougal say any thing to your husband or your- 
 self about the body when it was found ? Did she say, My 
 God I cannot help it ? A. Yes, I recollect now, she did. 
 
 Q. Did these words follow her offer of the ten pounds a 
 week ? A. Yes. 
 
TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 By the COURT. 
 
 Am I to understand she said, " My God, I cannot help it," 
 after you said you did not wish to make money by dead people ? 
 A. Yes. [Here she recapitulated her evidence in a very dis- 
 tinct manner.] 
 
 Q. Did the woman make no reply, when you said the woman 
 was dead, whom you saw well and singing the nigh tbefore? A. No. 
 
 Q. What did you say after ? A. I said, if she could not 
 help it, she ought not to remain in the house. 
 
 Q. Were these words, " My God, I cannot help it," used 
 after M'Dougal had spoken to your husband of ten pounds a 
 week, and he had refused to be silent ? A. Yes, it was after 
 the offer of money ; and I said, did she mean to bring a family 
 to disgrace, that prisoner replied, "My God, how can I help it." 
 
 JAMES GRAY, Labourer, Husband of the foregoing Wit- 
 ness, Examined. 
 
 Q. You lodged at the prisoner's house ? A. Yes, for a few 
 nights at the end of last October. 
 
 Q. Do you remember Burke having any conversation with 
 you about sleeping out of his house on the 31st of that month ? 
 
 A. Yes, Burke said we must go out that night, that he had 
 provided a place for us, and that we might come back in the 
 morning to breakfast. 
 
 Q. Did he give any reason for desiring you to leave his 
 house fchat night ? A. No, not that I recollect. He took us 
 to Hare's, and pitched on a bed he used to occupy himself. 
 
 Q. Did you know that Burke brought in a strange woman 
 that morning before, and ordered breakfast for her? A. Yes. 
 He said, he suspected she was some relation of his mother's, 
 as she had the same name, and was from near the same place. 
 
 Q, Did you return the night you left Burke^s ? A. Yes, 
 about nine, with my wife, where we saw a good number of 
 people at Burl-re's ; we stopped a few minutes. Next morn- 
 ing Burke came, and my wife and I went down to breakfast. 
 
 Q. In the course of that Saturday, was you present when 
 your wife found a dead body ? A. Yes, it was covered with 
 straw, and lying near the head of the bed. 
 
 Q. Was it the woman you saw there the night before ? A. 
 Yes. I then packed up my things that were there, and was 
 
AND HELEN M'DOUGAL. 1 
 
 on the point of taking them to a house opposite, when I me 
 Mrs. Burke, I asked her, what was the meaning of that thing 
 I saw in her room. She asked what ; I said, 1 suppose you 
 know, the body. She then fell upon her knees and supplicated 
 me, offered me five or six shillings, and said, if 1 held my 
 tongue, it might be worth ten pounds a week to me. I said, 
 my conscience would not allow it. 
 
 Q. Did she say the same thing to your wife ? A. Very near. 
 
 Q. Did she say she could not help it ? A. She did. 
 
 Q. After this conversation, did your wife and you leave it ? 
 
 A. Yes. Mrs. Burke followed us up to the street. We 
 met Mrs. Hare ; she asked us what we were quarrelling about, 
 and desired us to go into a house and settle our dispute. We 
 did go, and shortly after I went straight to the Police. 
 
 By the COUKT. 
 
 Q. When you saw the body, did you know it to be the wo- 
 man who was there the night before ? A. Yes ; it was quite 
 naked. There was blood upon the mouth. 
 
 Cross-Examined. 
 
 Q. What hour was it when you left Burke's house first, on 
 the evening of the 31st ? A. About five in the evening. 
 
 Q. What hour did Burke come for you in the morning ? 
 A. I think about seven. 
 
 Q. Was Burke in Hare's at supper ? A. No ; but Mrs. 
 Burke was. The Hares had left before Burke came. 
 
 GEORGE M'CULLOCH Examined. 
 
 Q. You are a porter ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did the prisoner Burke come to you to carry a parcel 
 for him at the end of October last ? A. Yes. Q. Where did 
 you go first ? A. To Burke's house. We went into his 
 room, where we got a box like a tea-box ; he took something 
 in a sheet, and put it into the box. Q. Was it like the 
 shape of a human body ? A. I think it was. Q. Had you 
 no doubt it was a body ? A. No. Q. Did you assist ? A. 
 No ; but when the body was putting in there was some hair 
 which I pushed in. Q. When the body was putting in the 
 box was there violence used ? A. Yes. Was there another 
 man there ? A. Yes, of the name of Hare. 
 
TRIAL OF WILLIAM BUJIKE 
 
 Q. What became of the sheet ? A. It was left where the 
 body was carried to. (The witness was shown a box.) 
 
 Q. Was that the box ? A. The very box. 
 
 Q- Was the hair long ? A. No. 
 
 Q. Did you carry the box ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did the prisoner follow you ? A. Yes. He told me 
 to go towards the High School Wynd. 
 
 Q. Did you go ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did any person join you ? A. Yes, the prisoner and 
 his wife, and Hare and his wife. 
 
 Q. Then you went to Surgeons' Square ? A. Yes, and 
 took the box off my back. Q. What hour was it ? A. It 
 was half-past six. 
 
 Q. Where did you go after ? A. To Newington. 
 
 Q. Who went with you? A. The prisoner, Hare, and 
 their wives. 
 
 Q. Did they separate from their husbands ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. You saw a person of the name of Paterson ? 
 
 A. Yes. We went into a public-house, and he shared the 
 money between the prisoner and Hare, and gave me five shil- 
 lings for my trouble. When we came out the women were 
 gone. 
 
 JOHN FISHER, Examined. 
 
 Q. You are a police officer ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Do you remember a person coming to the office ? A. 
 Yes. 
 
 Q. Where did you go with him ? A. To William Burke's. 
 
 Q. What did you go there for ? A. To make inquiries, as 
 I heard the body was removed ; I met Burke and M'Dougal 
 on the stair, I bade them come down, I wished to speak with 
 them. I asked Burke what had become of his lodgers ? He 
 said, There is one (pointing to Gray) and that he turned them 
 out for their bad conduct. I then asked what became of the little 
 woman that was there on Friday ? he said she left at seven 
 in the morning. I asked him if any person saw her go away ? 
 he said, William Hare. I asked if any one else saw her go ? 
 he then looked insolent, and said, Many saw her go. I saw 
 marks of blood on the bed, and asked how they came there. 
 M'Dougal said a woman had lain in there a fortnight ago. 
 She said she knew where to find the little woman, she lived in 
 the Pleasance. She saw her that night at the Vennel, and she 
 apologized for her bad conduct. I asked her what time she 
 left, and she said at seven o'clock at night. I then decided 
 
AND HELEN M S DOUGAL. 53 
 
 on taking them to the office, which I did, on a pretext that 
 it was all a matter of spite against them, and if they would 
 come to the police office, it would be all cleared up. 
 
 Q. Did you return to Burke's house that night ? A. Yes, 
 with the Superintendant and Dr. Black. 
 
 Q. Did you examine the house ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. You found a striped bed-gown on the bed. A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Was that it? (The bed-gown was exhibited.) A. 
 Yes. 
 
 Q. Did you find any blood ? A. Yes, amongst the straw. 
 
 Q. Did it appear to have been long there ? A. No. 
 
 Q. Next morning you went to Dr. Knox's with Paterson ? 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. And what did you find ? 
 
 A. The body of an old woman quite naked. We sent for 
 Gray to see if he knew the body, and he identified it. We 
 afterwards returned in the day and removed the body to the 
 police-office. 
 
 Q. Was the body shown to the prisoners ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. They denied all knowledge of having seen it, dead or 
 alive? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did you go to Burke^s house again? A. Yes, and 
 found an old gown and a bag ? 
 
 Q. Were these the articles ? ( They were exhibited.) A. 
 Yes. 
 
 Q. Was the body after examined ? A. Yes, by Dr. 
 Black, Dr. Christison, and Dr. Newbigging. 
 
 Cross-Examin ed. 
 
 Q. Did Hare deny all knowledge of the bodies? A. 
 Yes. 
 
 Q. And his wife ? A. Yes. 
 
 WILLIAM HARE (or HAIRE) Examined. 
 
 WILLIAM HARE (or HAIRE) a socius criminis, 
 was now brought forward, and his entrance into the witness's 
 box produced a great sensation in the Court. He was first 
 sworn according to the form used in Scotland, and warned in 
 the most pointed manner to speak the truth, for if he was 
 found to deviate the least from it, the most condign punish- 
 ment would await him. 
 
 Q. You are a Roman Catholic ? A. Yes. 
 
 6 
 
54- TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 Q. Would you wish to be sworn in any other way ? A. I 
 never took an oath before, I believe it is all one way. 
 
 (He was then sworn upon a New Testament, with his 
 right hand on the Cross.) 
 
 Q. How long have you been in this country ? A. Ten years. 
 
 Q. How long have you been acquainted with the prisoners ? 
 A. About twelve months. 
 
 Q. Is your house near Burke^s ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. You remember last Halloween ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Were you drinking in a public-house with Burke ? 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. What did he say ? A. He asked me to go down to his 
 house to see what a shot he had got for the Doctors. He said 
 he got an old woman off the street, and she would make a 
 good shot for the Doctors. He told me to go down to the 
 house and see if they were drinking, for he did not like to go. 
 
 Q. What did you understand by a shot for the Doctors ? 
 
 A. That he was going to murder her. 
 
 Q. Did you go down ? A. Yes, I found a man and a 
 woman and Nelly M'Dougal, and the old woman washing 
 her short-gown. 
 
 Q. Was the strange man's name Gray ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. What colour was the short-gown ? A. Reddish striped. 
 
 Q. Is that it ? ( The gown ivas exhibited.) A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did you remain long there ? A. Five minutes, and 
 then went home. 
 
 Q. Was you in Connaway^s after that ? A. Yes, between 
 eight and nine o'clock. 
 
 Q. Who was at Connaway's ? A. There was William Burke 
 and Broggan, and another chap I did not know, and my wife, 
 John Connaway, and Nelly M'Dougal. The little old 
 woman was left at Connaway's, where they had some drink. 
 
 Q. Had you some ? A. Yes, we then went to Burke's, 
 and Burke and his wife and the old woman came in ; we were 
 all hearty. 
 
 Q. Did you then expect the old woman was to be murder- 
 ed? A. No. 
 
 Q. You had a quarrel with Burke ? A. Yes, he struck 
 me on the mouth, and I struck him again, the woman came 
 between us. he pushed me on the bed twice and I remained 
 on the bed ; the old woman got up and wished Burke to sit 
 down, as he treated her well ; she said she did not wish to see 
 him ill used ; she run out before this to the passage and cried 
 out either murder or police. 
 

 MELKN M'DOUGAL. 55 
 
 Q. How was she brought back again ? A. It was Nelly 
 M'Dougal that brought her back both times. 
 
 Q. When you were struggling, did you knock the old 
 woman down ? A. Yes, and she lay on her back, so drunk 
 she could not get up, she cried to Burke to quit. 
 Q. Did he quit you ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. What did he do then? A. He got on the old 
 woman with his breast on her head, and kept in her breath, 
 she gave a kind of cry and moaned a little after the first cry. 
 Q. How did he apply his hands to her? A. He put one 
 hand on her nose and the other under her chin, and stopped 
 her breath, he continued' tins for ten or fifteen minutes. 
 Q. Did he say any thing while this was going on ? 
 A. No, he then got up and put his hand across her mouth 
 and kept it there three or four minutes ; she appeared quite 
 dead then. 
 
 Q. Was you looking on all this while ? A. I was sitting 
 on the chair. 
 
 Q. Did he strip the body ? A. Yes, and put the clothes 
 under the bed, he then doubled up the body, and put the 
 straw on top of her near the head of the bed. 
 
 Q. While you were sitting on the chair and he was mur- 
 dering, where was your wife and M'Dougal ? A. When 
 they heard the first screech they leaped out of bed and run 
 into the passage, and did not come in until the body was put 
 away. 
 
 Q. Where were you ? A. I was sitting at the head of the 
 bed when they both lay down and covered themselves with 
 the quilt. 
 
 Q. Did you see any blood at that time? A. No.* 
 Q. Did any body come to the door when the woman cried 
 in the passage ? A. No. 
 
 Q. Before the women sprung up was Burke long on the 
 woman ? A. A minute or two. 
 
 Q. Did any one go to Burke to try and save the woman ? 
 A. No one. 
 Q. Who went out first ? A. My wife. 
 Q. And M'Dougal followed after? A. Yes. 
 Q. Could any one have prevented Burke without your seeing 
 them ? A. No. 
 
 Q. Did the women make any inquiries when they came into 
 the room ? A. No, they both went to bed. Then Burke 
 went out after the woman was laid aside, and stopped out ten 
 minutes. 
 
OU TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 Q. Did any body come back with him ? A. Yes, the 
 Doctor's man, Paterson. 
 
 Q. Did Burke say any thing to the Doctor's man? 
 A. Yes, he wanted him to look at the body. Paterson said 
 it would do very well, to put it in a box ; he would not look at 
 it. I don't know when Paterson went away, I fell asleep. 
 Q. Were you tipsy ? A. I knew what I was about. 
 Q. What time did you awake ? A. Between six and seven 
 in the morning. I was sleeping on the chair, with my head 
 on tha bed ; the two women and John Broggan were hi bed ; 
 he lay next his aunt, Nelly M'Dougal. Burke was sitting at 
 the fire. After this I went home, and found Gray and his 
 wife at my house ; they had had a bed there that night. 
 U. Did Burke come to your house the next morning ? 
 A. He did. We went to get our morning ; he asked me 
 to go to Surgeons' Square to get a box. 
 
 Q. Did you get a box there ? A No. Burke then said 
 he had one bespoke from Mr. Rymer's shop boy. We got a 
 box, and the porter brought it in. Burke was not in then. 
 We left the box, and stopped at the back door until Burke 
 came. When he came he asked me what I was doing, that 
 I did not get it into the box. He then went in, and drew the 
 body from under the bed, and the porter helped to put it in ; 
 there was some hair hanging out, and the porter put it in, 
 and said, it was bad to let it hang out. The porter then car- 
 ried it away to Surgeons' Square. It was roped. (That box 
 in Court is it, or like it.) I went with the porter, and Burke 
 went for the Doctor's man. They came to Surgeons' Square, 
 and we went in with the box. We put the box in a cellar, and 
 then we went; to Newington to the Doctor. Mr. Paterson 
 went in, and he afterwards came out and asked if we would go 
 to a public-house, he had money for us. We saw our wives 
 following us, but they did not come into the house. Paterson 
 gave the porter 5s. and each of us L.2, 7 s - @d. We were to 
 have five pounds more on Monday. I saw nothing very par- 
 ticular until I was taken up. 
 
 Cross-examined by Mr. COCKBFRN. 
 
 Q. You say you have been ten years in Edinburgh ? A. 
 Yes. 
 
 Q. How have you been engaged ? 
 
 A. I have been a labourer, and sometimes employed in sell- 
 ing fish with a cart and horse. 
 
 Q. Have you been engaged in supplying bodies to the Doc- 
 tors ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Have you been concerned in supplying the Doctors with 
 subjects on other occasions than that you have mentioned ? 
 
AND HELEN M<DOUGAL. i> 
 
 The Lord Advocate objected to the question. 
 Mr. COCKBURN. I hold that I am entitled to test this 
 Gentleman's credibility with the Jury, and with that view 
 I shall endeavour to make him confess such acts as will make 
 his evidence go for nothing. I purpose to ask him if he was 
 concerned in any other murder except this one. 
 
 LORD ADVOCATE thought the Dean of Faculty had agreed 
 to confine himself to this case. 
 
 LORD MEADOWBANK thought that such a line of conduct 
 could not be pursued. The question was neither a fit nor 
 proper one. 
 
 Mr. COCKBURN. In general, evidence is adduced because 
 it is entitled or presumed to be entitled to credit. Now, it is 
 monstrous to suppose that I should not be allowed to shake 
 the credit of a human being in respect to his evidence. (He 
 then quoted a case lately tried in England, where a witness in 
 a similar circumstance was examined and acknowledged that 
 he had been guilty of the most atrocious crimes ; in conse- 
 quence of which his evidence was totally discredited.) 
 
 MR. ALISON replied, the law of England was in no point more 
 opposed to the law of Scotland than in regard to evidence. A 
 witness here could not be called on to answer for his whole life 
 and conversation. The utmost license was allowed in Eng- 
 land in cross-examination, but it is contrary to the uniform 
 and fundamental law of Scotland. 
 
 DEAN OF FACULTY. I completely agree with my Learned 
 Friend. Our object is to discredit, not to disqualify the witness. 
 We wish to propose a question to try the veracity of thu wit- 
 ness. The witness was warned that he was standing on his 
 oath, being peculiarly situated, but it may happen in most 
 cases that he will answer it, and answer falsely. If he an- 
 swers truly, it will be for his credit ; if falsely, it will then 
 be for the benefit of my client. 
 
 LORD MEADOWBANK. I regret having -stated the impres- 
 sion made upon my mind by the bare announcement of the 
 question proposed to be put to the witness, because I should 
 most assuredly have rather, in a matter of this vast import- 
 ance, have desired to obtain every light that could have 
 been thrown upon it before I ventured to deliver my judg- 
 ment regarding it. But perhaps my having done so had 
 only the effect of my attention being more anxiously called 
 to every word that dropt from my brethren at the bar, 
 and if 1 were satisfied that if any thing that was suggested 
 by them had the effect of shaking the opinion which oc- 
 curred to me at first, nothing that I stated before could have 
 prevented my honestly and frankly avowi.ig it. I have, 
 
58 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 however, been confirmed in that opinion by finding that 
 notwithstanding all the ingenuity of my learned brethren, 
 they have said so little on the subject, and that they have been 
 unable to show one single precedent in favour of their argu- 
 ment, except that which has been obtained from the law of 
 England. Now, I for one throw the law of England altoge- 
 ther out of the question. It is, I believe, in matters of this 
 kind diametrically opposite to ours. That law holds, that a 
 witness has no protection from having been examined by 
 the Public Prosecutor, on a criminal trial. We hold, that 
 he has. It is quite absurd, therefore, to dream of drawing a 
 precedent, which is to guide your Lordships, from the law 
 of England. But even our law goes no farther than to 
 protect witnesses from being subject to prosecution on ac- 
 count of matter immediately connected with the subject of the 
 trial in the course of which they are examined. I understand 
 it, therefore, to be admitted that, if the question proposed 
 were admitted by your Lordships, the witness must be told 
 that he is not bound to answer it, because it is beyond the 
 competency of this Court to afford protection against being 
 afterwards questioned for the perpetration of crimes which 
 do not form the proper subject of inquiry in the pre- 
 sent investigation. But I have always understood that the 
 law of Scotland has gone a great deal further that it allows 
 no question to be put which a witness may not competently 
 answer, and which, if answered, must not be sent to the Jury 
 as a matter of evidence. Now, in the first place, I admit 
 that i: is quite competent for the prisoner to put any ques- 
 tion relative to the matters at issue by which he apprehends 
 that the credibility of the witnesses for the Crown, may, if 
 answered, by possibility be shaken. The oath taken by the 
 witness, binds him to speak the truth, and the whole truth ; 
 but that obligation goes no further than it refers to the mat- 
 ter before the Court. It neither does, nor has it ever been 
 held, to bind him to speak to matters relative to which he 
 has not been called legally to give evidence. I apprehend, 
 therefore, that even the oath which has been imposed upon 
 the witness, is not obligatory upon him to speak to matters 
 not immediately connected with the subject of this trial and, 
 in fact, such was the opinion of the Counsel for the prison- 
 ers ; for, upon their application, the witness was particular- 
 ly warned that he was only required to speak the truth, and 
 the whole truth, relative to the third charge in this indict- 
 ment. I have always understood, however, that no ques- 
 tion could be put, upon cross-examination, to a witness in 
 this country, which would, if answered, have the effect of rcn- 
 
AND HELEN M*DOUGAL. 59 
 
 dering him in truth inadmissible. All questions having that 
 effect must be put as preliminary, and after the questions 
 put to all witnesses by your Lordships before the examina- 
 tion commences. In that respect, very likely, we differ 
 from the law of England ; but, for the reasons assigned by 
 Mr. Hume in the passages read by Mr. Alison, I am not in- 
 clined to think that the rules of our law are inferior, or 
 less effectual for the administration of justice. The object 
 of our law has always been to get at the truth, and I sus- 
 pect that is best to be obtained by preventing witnesses be- 
 ing harassed in the way that would result from such ques- 
 tions as the present being held to be admissible. But further 
 still, suppose, in the second place, that the witness answers 
 the question that has been put in the affirmative, and de- 
 pones that he has been present at more murders than the 
 one in question, what is to be the result ? Is the Lord Ad- 
 vocate upon the re-examination to ask him at what murders 
 he has been present, and who was concerned in those mur- 
 ders ; or to go into an examination of all the matters con- 
 nected with those cases ? If he is, we may be involved in 
 an inquiry into the circumstances connected with the other 
 murders in this indictment, which are not now the subject 
 of trial, and which your Lordships, by your interlocutor, 
 have precluded from being the subject of trial. I cannot 
 think that such can be your Lordships 1 intention : yet the 
 Court must be prepared either to go this length or not, be- 
 fore allowing a question to be put which must open up 
 such a field of inquiry , for if the prisoner is entitled to put 
 the one question, it must follow that the prosecutor is entit- 
 led to put the other, and if you do permit such an inquiry, 
 you must be prepared to send the answers so given, and the 
 evidence so arising, to the jury for their consideration. And 
 what would be the consequence ? By the evidence thence 
 arising, and the suspicions thence created, the prisoners might 
 be convicted upon matters not at issue in this indictment. 
 Nor is it enough to say that this has been occasioned by the 
 prisoner himself; for the law of this country interposes to 
 protect a prisoner from his own mistakes it lays down rules 
 by which, in all cases, protection shall be afforded against ei- 
 ther accident or error ; and as I conceive it would be highly 
 erroneous to send such matters to a jury, and yet that we are 
 entitled to permit no questions to be put, the answers to which 
 must not be sent to the jury, I think, this question cannot be 
 admitted. But I set out with saying, that I do not think any 
 question can be sustained by your Lordships, which, if an- 
 swered in the affirmative, would disqualify a witness. Thus, 
 
60 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 suppose that the question put were, Have you committed ten 
 acts of perjury and the answer were in the affirmative, what 
 is to be the result ? Your Lordship must tell the jury either 
 that the witness's answer is true, or that it is false. If true, 
 must it not also be added that he cannot be believed upon his 
 oath ; and if it appears not to be true, then he is equally 
 incredible. By admitting such questions, therefore, the ne- 
 cessary result is that you put it in the power of the witness to 
 disqualify himself; and that, I have invariably understood, I 
 can solemnly assure your Lordships, to have been a principle 
 reprobated by the law of this country. 
 
 The LORD JUSTICE CLERK thought that the question 
 might be put, but that the witness should be cautioned that he 
 was not bound to criminate himself, for if he answered the 
 question the Court could riot protect him. 
 
 LORD MACKENZIE thought the question might be put. 
 The witness being warned that he is not bound to criminate 
 himself, and told that he has no protection from the Court, 
 but for the crime now before it. The admission of his hav- 
 ing been guilty of a secret crime could not disqualify him. He 
 had yet seen no sufficient authorities to shake that opinion. 
 
 The LORD JUSTICE CLERK agreed with Lord Mackenzie, 
 although he thought with Lord Meadowbank that it was the 
 u most extraordinary question he ever heard ;" but the case 
 being an extraordinary one, allowance must be made. 
 
 The LORD ADVOCATE wished to know in what situation he 
 was placed. Was he allowed to ask him, if" he confessed "Of 
 what murders were you guilty ?" 
 
 Mr. COCKBURN. We put that question, and the Lord Ad- 
 vocate is entitled to put what other he chooses. I cannot 
 state the thing more generally. We intend to object to no 
 question the Lord Advocate may chocoe to ask. 
 
 Hare recalled. 
 
 Q. You mentioned when you was last here, that you assist- 
 ed in taking the bodies to Surgeons' Square ? 
 
 A. I never was concerned in furnishing none, but I saw 
 them do it. 
 
 LORD JUSTICE CLERK. You are not bound to answer the 
 question about to be put. 
 
 Mr. COCKBURN. I am going to put some questions to you, 
 and you need not answer them if you don't choose. 
 
 Q. How often have you carried dead bodies ? A. I won't 
 answer it. 
 
 Q. Have you ever been concerned in any other murder ? 
 
 A. I won't answer that. 
 
AND HELEN & X DOUGAL. 6l 
 
 Q. Was there a murder committed in your house on the 
 8th October last ? A. I won't answer that. 
 
 Q. When Burke said he had got a shot for the Doctors, 
 how did you know what he meant by a shot ? 
 
 A. I heard it often before. 
 
 Q. Did you know it meant murder, then ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. How did you know it ? 
 
 A. He told me he would murder her. 
 
 Q. Had you any notion that mischief would happen that 
 night you were dancing ? A. I could not say. 
 
 Q. When did you suspect there was going to be mischief? 
 
 A. When I saw him on the top of her. 
 
 Q. Did you see the body of the woman at the Police Office ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did you deny there ever having seen the body before ? 
 
 A. I denied it. 
 
 Q. How soon was it after her death you saw her at the Po- 
 lice Office ? A.I saw a body there on Saturday or Sunday. 
 
 Q. You have been acquainted with Burke long ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Have you received any money before from Dr. Knox ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Did you ever receive any from his assistants ? 
 
 A. Burke did, and he gave it me. 
 
 Q. Did you ever receive any ? A. No. 
 
 Q. Who received the money ? A. Burke. 
 
 Q. Are you positive that it was five pounds that was to be 
 received on Monday ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Who was it paid the man ? A. I believe Burke did. 
 
 Q. Burke paid you ? A. Yes, he threw two pounds to me, 
 and seven shillings in silver. Paterson put two pounds in 
 one parcel, and two in another, and halved the silver and 
 Burke shoved it over to me. 
 
 Q. Had you ever any quarrel with Burke about money ? 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. You told us that the old woman went out into the pas- 
 sage and cried, Police and Murder ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. You say you shoved her down over a stool ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. And she lay on her back ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. At the time that Burke was on the top of the woman, 
 did you hear her screech ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. It could be heard a good bit off ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. You say that Broggan was in bed in the morning, did 
 you see him come in ? A. No. 
 
 Q. Did you srt in that chair and see Burke for ten minutes 
 killing the woman, and offer her no assistance ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. You sat by calmly and saw the murder done ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did you give any information the next day ? A. No. 
 
62 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 Q. But you went to dispose of the body, and received 
 money for it ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. And the next day you denied all knowledge of the body ? 
 A. Yes. 
 
 MRS. HAIRE or HARE Examined. 
 
 This witness was sworn and solemnly admonished by LORD 
 MEADOWBANK to speak the truth, after which she was 
 examined by the LOUD ADVOCATE. 
 
 Q. You are the wife of William Hare that was here just 
 now ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Do you remember last Halloween night ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did two persons sleep in your house that night ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Why did they do so ? A. Burke asked me to give 
 them a bed there in the course of the day. 
 
 Q. Did you go out that night in search of your husband ? 
 
 A. Yes, I found him in John Connaway's. 
 
 Q. Who was there at the same time ? A. Connaway and 
 his wife. 
 
 Q. Was Burke there ? A. I don't recollect. 
 
 Q. Had you spirits there ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Do you recollect seeing an old woman there ? A. Not 
 that I recollect. I stopped there until my husband rose, and 
 then we went into Burke"s house with M'Dougal. 
 
 Q. Was Burke there ? A. No. He came in soon after. 
 
 Q. Was the old woman there ? A. Yes, she was there be- 
 fore. 
 
 Q. Was there a fight there between Burke and your hus- 
 band ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did you go between them ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did the old woman cry murder ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did she get a push ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. You saw Burke on the top of the old woman ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did you see him long there ? A. No ; for M'Dougal 
 and I ran out of the room into the passage, and stopped there 
 upwards of a quarter of an hour. 
 
 Q. When you returned, did you see the old woman ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Did you ask after her ? A. No. I had my suspicion. 
 
 Q. What, that she was murdered ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did you two lie down in the bed ? A. Not immediately. 
 
 Q. Where were you when Burke was lying on the old wo- 
 
AND HELEN M C DOUCAL. 63 
 
 man ? A. I thought, before, I was in the bed, but I think 
 now I was between the door and the bed. 
 
 Q. How many minutes was he on her ? A. Not many. 
 
 Q. Where was M'Dougal ? A. I don't exactly know. 
 
 Q. Which went first out at the door ? A. It was I. 
 
 Q. Were you both alarmed ? A. Yes, Sir. 
 
 Q. You say you suspected what was doing ? A. Yes, Sir. 
 
 Q. Had you any previous reason of suspicion of the act 
 about to be committed on the old woman ? 
 
 A. I had seen a little trick of it done before. I suspected 
 when I saw him lying on her, and Nelly M'Dougal told me 
 something. 
 
 Q. Just tell us what she said ? 
 
 A. She came to our house, and said there was a shot in the 
 house ; and I asked her what she was, and she said, Burke 
 fetched her in out of a shop. 
 
 Q. How did you know it was a woman ? A. She told me. 
 
 Q. Did she say they intended to make away with the wo- 
 man ? 
 
 A. No. But I understood from the word shot they were 
 to do it. 
 
 Q. Why did you understand that ? 
 
 A. Because I heard that word made use of before to express 
 the determination of murdering others. 
 
 Q. Were they pressing drink on the woman ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Was she much the worse of it ? A. Rather. 
 
 Q. You remained there all night ? A. Yes, until 5 o'clock. 
 I was lying in bed when Mr. Paterson came in, but I did not 
 hear what he said. 
 
 Q. Did you know where the body was put ? A. Yes, at 
 the head of the bed, 
 
 Q. Did Burke ask you to go out and get a box ? A. Yes. 
 He said he had purchased one for to put old shoes in. I went 
 for the box and a porter came and carried it. I afterwards 
 followed with M'Dougal, our husbands, towards Newington, 
 for fear they should quarrel or get drunk. 
 
 Q. What answer did you make to her about this shot ? A. 
 I said nothing. 
 
 Q. Had you and M'Dougal any talk about it on your way 
 to Newington ? A. No. 
 
 Q. Did she feel sorry for it ? A. No. 
 
 Q. What were you speaking of while you were in the pass- 
 age ? A. Perhaps I said it might be the same thing with her 
 and I. 
 
 Q. Do you mean that you might be murdered ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Why did you not go into the woman Connaway's ? 
 
T^IAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 A. Because I left my home three times before; and it is not na- 
 tural for a woman to go and inform on her husband. 
 
 Q. You mention the old woman went out at the door ? 
 A. No, Sir, she never went out of the inside door. 
 
 Q. Was it after she came back from the door she fell down ? 
 A. I believe she got a push. 
 
 Q. Was it very soon after that that Burke lay down on 
 her? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. What was he doing when you run out ? A. Burke was 
 lying on her chest. 
 
 Q. Why did you go out ? A. I did not like to see her 
 murdered. 
 
 Q. Was your fear created in consequence of M'Dougal 
 having told you she was a shot ? A. No. I had no thoughts 
 of it at the time. 
 
 By the COURT. On the oath you have now taken, did you 
 suppose she w.as to be murdered that night ? A. No, I did 
 not. 
 
 Mrs. Hare Cross-examined by the DEAN OF FACULTY. 
 
 Q. Was it instantly after the old woman was pushed down 
 that he got on the top of her ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. There^s a door at the outer side of the passage? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. How is it fastened ? A. I donH know. 
 
 Q. When you were in the passage did any one knock at 
 that door ? A. Not that I heard. 
 
 Q. When you were in the passage did you hear the old 
 woman cry ? A. No, Sir. 
 
 Q. When you returned in, you went to bed ? A. Yes, Sir. 
 
 Q. There was a young man of the name of Broggan came 
 in ? A. Yes, and we had a dram. 
 
 Q. Who? A. All of us. 
 
 Q. Then you got up to have it ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did you go tq bed again ? A. No. 
 
 Q. Was M'Dougal in bed ? A. No ; Broggan, M 4 Dou- 
 gal, and I lay down upon the floor. 
 
 Q. Was there any more fighting ? A. Yes ; Burke took 
 the stick and struck Hare, and M'Dougal interfered and said 
 she would not have Hare treated in that manner. 
 
 By the COURT. You had a bed in your own house, why 
 did you not go home to it, and take your husband along with 
 you ? A I did all I could, but he would not come. 
 
AND HELEN M^DOUCiAL. (55 
 
 Dr. BLACK, Examined. 
 
 Q. You saw a woman's body at the Police Office ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Did you examine it ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Were there any marks on the body ? A. None. 
 
 Q. Were there any on the face ? A. Yes, there was 
 blood. 
 
 Q. What appearance had the face ? A. It was much 
 swollen. 
 
 Q. Any thing remarkable about the eyes ? A. They were 
 swollen and the face black. 
 
 Q. Did you think that she came by her death by violence ? 
 A. My private opinion was that she had, but I could not give 
 a decided medical opinion on the subject. 
 
 Q. What was your opinion the moment you saw her? A. I 
 formed the conclusion that she came by her death with violence. 
 
 By the DEAN OF FACULTY. Q. Have you any medical 
 diploma ? A. No ; but I am a regularly bred surgeon, and 
 have been surgeon to the police for twenty years. 
 
 Q. Did you go with the police to the house of Burke ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. What did you see there ? A. The thing I took parti- 
 cular notice of was, from fourteen to sixteen ounces of blood 
 mixed with saliva, and having been told the woman had lain 
 in that place, I was able to judge it came from the mouth and 
 nose. 
 
 Q. Do you mean now to state you have formed a medical 
 opinion in regard to the body ? A. I am really afraid to hazard 
 an opinion. 
 
 By the COURT. Q. Were the appearances you have seen on 
 people brought into the police-office who have been suffocated 
 from drink like this case ? A. Yes. $ 
 
 Q. If you had seen this body lying in the place where you 
 saw the saliva and blood, would you have hesitated in your 
 opinion ? A. I have seen several corpses that died by suffo- 
 cation, and taking the entire circumstances into view, I think 
 the appearances identical. 
 
 By the DEAN OF FACULTY. Q. Have you had any case 
 of simple suffocation lately ? A. No. 
 
 Q. Were the symptoms here the same, or nearly the same, 
 as in cases of suffocation from drink ? A. The eyes were 
 nearly started from the sockets. 
 
 By the LORD ADVOCATE. Q. Have you seen such saliva 
 and blood in cases of drink, unless some injury was done ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
86 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 DR. CHRISTISON, Examined. 
 
 Q. Did you see the body of an elderly female at the police- 
 office at the commencement of November ? A. Yes. I saw 
 and minutely examined a body there on the 2d and 3d of 
 November. 
 
 Q. Did you perceive any marks of violence on it ? A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Describe what you saw to the Court and Jury ? 
 
 A. I saw several contusions on the legs and the elbows, one 
 on the loin, one on the right shoulder blade, a very small one 
 on the inside of the upper lip, and two upon the head ; one 
 on the back part of the left side of the head, and another 
 upon the fore part of the right side. I also found pale lividity 
 of the features generally, and dark lividity of the lips; great red- 
 ness (from vascularity) of the whites of the eyes ; an almost 
 total want of lividity on almost every other part of the body 
 except the face; and roughing of the scarf-skin or cuticle under 
 the chin and over the upper part of the throat. Internally, I 
 found a general fluidity of the blood, and an accumulation of 
 it in the right cavities of the heart. In the middle of the neck, 
 I found the ligaments connecting posterior parts of the vertebrae 
 torn, and blood effused among the spinal muscles, near the 
 laceration, and into the cavities of the spinal muscles. I found 
 no sign of natural disease, except a very slight incipient disorder 
 of the liver. All the other organs of the head, the chest, and 
 the belly, were unusually sound. I forgot to mention a small 
 patch of blood on the left cheek, and also a very slight contu- 
 sion over the left eye. 
 
 Q. Did you consider that those contusions could be pro- 
 duced after death? 
 
 A. No ; but the injury of the spine and other appearances 
 described might have been caused as well after death as 
 before it. An injury properly applied eighteen hours af- 
 ter death, would, I think, cause the same appearances. 
 Cramming into a box or chest like that shown might 
 have caused these appearances. Strangulation or smother- 
 ing, or throttling, is consistent with what has been describ- 
 ed, but particularly throttling or applying the hand under 
 the throat, and throwing the head backward, would prevent 
 the access of air. I found unequivocal proof of violence, in 
 the contusions dispersed throughout the body, and in no 
 signs of disease being visible. I beg to add, from the woman 
 being seen so recently alive and well, from the blood under the 
 bed, as well as the appearances already mentioned, death by 
 violence is extremely probable. If the woman had met her 
 death by the prisoners at the bar, the appearances were such 
 as would correspond with these circumstances. The appear- 
 
AND HELEN M'DOUGAL. 67 
 
 atices in some cases of suffocation would be similar to those in 
 the preset instance. The appearance of Wood from the mouth 
 or nose afn-r death nir-y be produced by any species of suffo- 
 cation, Directly or indirectly, death by intoxication must 
 physiologically be occasioned by .suffocation. 
 
 By Mr. COCKBURN. Q. Did the appearances found on the 
 body justify only a suspicion ? A. Coupled with the cir- 
 cumstances mentioned they amount to a probability. 
 
 By the COURT. Q. Did you open the stomach ? 
 
 A. Yes, my Lofd. 
 
 Q. Describe the contents. A. I found half-digested porridge, 
 but no smell of whisky or of any narcotic. The smell is not a 
 necessary circumstance even in cases of intoxication where a per- 
 son was said to have died of continuous intoxication. At least I 
 know of a reported case where a person was said to have died 
 from constant intoxication, without any smell having been found 
 in the stomach, though it was found in the brain and other parts 
 of the body, but I also know a similar case where the stomach, 
 on being opened, gave out the effluvia of whisky. 
 
 This closed the case for the prosecution. 
 
 The declarations of the pannels were then read. 
 
 DECLARATION OF BURKE. 
 
 At Edinburgh the 3d November 1828. 
 
 In presence of GEORGE TAIT, Esq. Sheriff-Substitute of 
 Edinburghshire, 
 
 Compeared William Burke, at present in custody, who 
 being examined, declares that he is 36 years of age, and he 
 was born in Ireland, and he came to Scotland about 10 years 
 ago : That he is a shoemaker, and he has lived for rather 
 more than a year in the West Port, and about two months 
 ago he went to the house in the West Port in which he at 
 present lives ; but he does not know the name of the entry ; 
 and the prisoner, Helen M'Dougal, has lived with him for 
 about ten years ; but she is not married to him. Declares, 
 that he at first lodged in his present house with a man named 
 John Brogan, but Brogan went away about ten days ago, and 
 the declarant now lodges in the house by himself. Declares, 
 that James Gray and his wife and child came to lodge with 
 the declarant about a week ago. Declares, that on the night of 
 Thursday last, the 30th of October, no person was in the de- 
 clarant's house, except Helen M'Dougal, Gray, and his wife. 
 Declares, thjit on the morning of Friday last lie r< 
 
68 
 
 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 I 
 
 7 o'clock and immediately began to his work, by mending a 
 pair of shoes : That M'Dougal rose about 9 o'clock. Declares, 
 that Gray rose about 6 o'clock and went out : That Gray's 
 wife rose soon afterwards and lighted the fire, and the decla- 
 rant then rose as before mentioned. Declares, that he went out 
 about 9 o'clock to get some tobacco, and he returned in a few 
 minutes, and they all four breakfasted together about 
 10 o'clock, and the women were occupied through the day in 
 washing and pressing, and sorting about the house ; and Gray 
 was going out and in, and the declarant was working ; and 
 declares that on Friday evening he told Gray that he and his 
 wife must go to the other lodging, because he could not afford 
 to support them any longer, as they did not pay for the pro- 
 visions which they used, and they went away ; and the decla- 
 rant accompanied them to Hare's house, to which he recom- 
 mended them. Declares, that he thinks Gray and his wife 
 went away about 5 o^clock. Declares, that about an hour af- 
 terwards, when he was standing at the mouth of the entry, a 
 man came forward to him dressed in a great coat, the cape 
 of which was much up about his face : That he never 
 saw that man before, and does not know his name: That 
 the man asked if the declarant knew where he could get 
 a pair of shoes mended, and the declarant, being a shoemaker, 
 took him home with him, and got off the man's shoes and gave 
 him an old pair in the meantime : That while the declarant was 
 mending the shoes the man walked about the room, and 
 made some remarks about the house being a quiet place, and 
 said that he had a box which he wished to leave there for a 
 short time, and the declarant consented : That the man went 
 out, and in a few minutes returned with a box, which he laid 
 down upon the floor near the bed, which was behind the de- 
 clarant, who was sitting near the window, with his face to it : 
 That the declarant heard the man unroping the box, and then 
 making a sound as if he wtere covering something with straw, 
 and the declarant looked round, and saw him pushing the box 
 towards the bottom of the bed, where there was some straw 
 on the floor, but he did not observe any thing else than the 
 box : That the man then got on his shoes, paid the declar- 
 ant a sixpence, and went away : That the declarant immedi- 
 ately rose to see what was in the box, and he looked under 
 the bed and saw a dead body among the straw, but he could 
 not observe whether it was a man or a woman : That soon 
 afterwards the man came back, and declarant said it was 
 wrong for him to have brought that there, and told him to 
 put it back into the box, and take it away : That the man 
 ,'~aid that lie would come back in a little and do it, and then 
 
AND HELEN M^DOUGAL. 69 
 
 went away, but he did not return till Saturday evening about 
 6 o'clock, and when he did not return on Friday night, the 
 declarant took the box into the entry, but allowed the body to 
 remain under the bed. Declares, that on Saturday morning, 
 about ten o'clock, he went out to the shop of a Mr Rymer, in 
 the West Port, and when he was there, a woman came to the 
 door begging, whom he had never seen before: That the 
 people in the shop refused to give her any thing, and the 
 declarant, discovering from her dialect that shi came from 
 Ireland, asked her from what part of it she came, she said it 
 was from Inesomen, which is a small town in the north of 
 Ireland, and he then asked her name, and she said that it was 
 Mary Dougherty, and the declarant remarked, that his mo- 
 ther's name was Dougherty, and that she came from the same 
 part of Ireland, and that, therefore, they might perhaps 
 be distant relations ; and as she said that she had not broken 
 her fast for twenty-four hours, if she would come home with 
 him, he would give her breakfast, at which time the only per- 
 sons in the house were Helen M'Dougal, Gray and his wife : 
 That she sat by the fire till about three o'clock in the after- 
 noon smoking a pipe, the declarant going out and getting a 
 dram, because it was Halloween, and they all five partook of 
 the dram sitting by the fireside. Declares, that at three 
 o'clock Mary Dougherty said, that she would go to the New 
 Town to beg some provisions for herself, and she went away 
 accordingly. Declares, that he thinks Helen M'Dougal was 
 in the house when Mary Dougherty went away, but he does 
 not remember whether Gray or his wife were in the house, and 
 does not remember of any other person being in the house. 
 Declares, that a few minutes before Mary Dougherty went 
 away, William Hare's wife came into the house, but went away 
 into the house of a neighbour, John Connoway, immediately 
 before Dougherty, went away, and he thinks that Hare's wife, 
 or Connoway's wife, may have seen Dougherty go away, and 
 Mary Dougherty never returned. Declares, that Helen 
 M'Dougal and Gray's wife then washed the floor, and cleaned 
 out the house : That there was no particular reason for doing 
 so farther than to have it clean upon the Saturday night, ac- 
 cording to their practice ; and the declarant continued at his 
 work : That soon afterwards Gray and his wife went away, and 
 Helen M'Dougal went to Connoway's house, leaving the De- 
 clarant by himself, and the Declarant had not mentioned to 
 any person about the dead body, and no suspicion that it had 
 been discovered. Declares, that about 6 o'clock in the even- 
 ing, while he was still alone, the man who had brought the 
 body came, accompanied by a Porter whom the declarant 
 
TRIAL OF WILLIAM BUfcKE 
 
 knows by sight, and whose stance is at some where about the 
 head of the Cowgate, or the foot of the Candlemaker-Row, and 
 whose Christian name he thinks is John : That the man said 
 he had come to take away the body, and the declarant told 
 him the box was in the entry, and the Porter took it in, 
 and the man and the Porter took the body, and put it 
 into the box and roped it, and the porter carried it away. 
 Declares, that when the man came with the porter he said he 
 would give the declarant two guineas for the trouble he had 
 in keeping the body, and proposed to take the body to Sur- 
 geons' 1 Square to dispose of it to any person who would take it ; 
 and the declarant mentioned David Pater son as a person who 
 had some connexion with the surgeons, and went to Pafcerson 
 and took him to Surgeons' Square, where he fotind the man 
 and the porter waiting with the box containing the body : 
 That the body was delivered, and Paterson paid a certain num- 
 ber of pounds to the man, and 2* 10s. to the declarant : 
 That he then went straight home, and was informed by some 
 of the neighbours that a report had been raised of a dead body 
 having been found in the house, and in particular by Conno- 
 way's wife, who told him that a policeman had been searching 
 his house, and he then went out in search of a policeman, and 
 he met Finlay and other policemen in the passage, and he 
 told them who he was, and they went with him to the house 
 and found nothing there, and they took him to the police 
 office. Declares, that he yesterday saw in the police office the 
 dead body of a woman, and he thinks it is the dead body 
 which was below the bed, but it has no likeness to Mary 
 Dougherty, who is not nearly so tall : And being interrogated 
 whether the man who brought the body and afterwards came 
 with the porter is William Hare, declares that he is. And 
 being interrogated, declares that he does not know of any 
 person who saw that Hare had any concern in bringing the 
 body or in taking it away ; and being interrogated, declare^ 
 that the porter's name is John M'Culloch, and declares that- 
 the box in which the body was contained was a tea-chest ; and 
 being specially interrogated, declares that the woman above 
 referred to, of' the name of Mary Dougherty, was not in his 
 house on Friday, and he never to his knowledge saw her till 
 Saturday morning at 10 o'clock : That she promised him to 
 return on the same evening, but she did not, and he dees 
 not know what may have become of her. And being in- 
 terrogated, declares that he sprinkled some whisky about 
 the house on Saturday, to prevent any smell from the 
 dead body. Declares, that Hare did not tell him, nor 
 
AND HELEN MDOL"GAL. 7^ 
 
 did he ask where he got the body. Declares, that he did not 
 observe whether there was any blood upon the body. And 
 being specially interrogated, declares, that lie had no concern 
 in doing harm to the woman before referred to, of the name of 
 Mary Dougherty, or to the woman whose body was brought 
 to the house, and he does not know of any other person being 
 concerned in doing so. Declares, that Dougherty was dressed 
 in a dark gown ; and being shown a coarse linen sheet, a pil- 
 low case, a dark printed cotton gown, and a red striped bed 
 gown, to which a label is affixed, and signed by the declarant 
 and Sheriff, as relative hereto, declares, that the sheet and 
 pillow-slip are his, and he knows nothing about the dark gown 
 and bed gown : That the blood upon the pillow-slip was oc- 
 casioned by his having struck Helen M'Dougal upon the nose, 
 as is known to Gray and his wife ; and the blood upon the 
 sheet is occasioned by the state in which Helen M'Dougal was 
 at the time, and is known to Gray's wife. All which is truth. 
 
 AROHD. SCOTT. /0 . WM. BURKE. 
 
 A. M'LucAs. ' G.TAIT. 
 
 A. MACLEAX. 
 
 At Edinburgh, the IQlh day of November 1828. 
 
 In presence of GEORGE TAIT, Esquire, Sheriff-Substitute 
 of Edinburghshire. 
 
 Compeared William Burke, present prisoner in the Tol- 
 booth of Edinburgh, who being examined, and the declara- 
 tion emitted by him before the said Sheriff-Substitute of 
 Edinburghshire, on the 3d day of November current, being 
 read over to him, he declares that it is incorrect in several 
 particulars declares that it was upon the Friday morning, 
 and not upon the Saturday morning, that the woman, named 
 Mary Dougherty, came to the house, and that all that is said 
 with reference to that woman, up to her going out at 3 o'clock, 
 happened upon the Friday, and not upon the Saturday ; and 
 declares that' the floor being wet in consequence of Helen 
 M'Dougal and Gray's wife washing in the house, those two 
 women washed the floor then, rather than defer it till next 
 day, and the floor was usually washed twice a week, and it 
 was usually washed on the Saturday, as one of the days : 
 That those two women continued doing things about the 
 house, and the decliirant continued working till it was duskish : 
 That the declarant then stopped work, and went out and 
 brought in a dram, because it was Halloween, and he and the 
 two women sat by the fire and drank the dram, and while 
 
72 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 they were doing BO, William Hare came in, and the declar- 
 ant went for more drink, and they all four sat drinking till 
 they got pretty hearty. Declares, that when he was out for 
 drink the second time, he found when he came back, that 
 Mary Dougherty had returned, and was sitting by the fire, and 
 she drunk along with them : That when it was pretty late in 
 the night, but he cannot mention the hour, he and William 
 Hare differed, and rose to fight, and the three women were 
 still in the house drinking, and Mary Dougherty had become 
 much intoxicated. Declares, that while he and Hare were 
 struggling together, Helen M'Dougal and Hare's wife did 
 what they could to separate them; but declares that there 
 was no noise, and, in particular, there were no cries of mur- 
 der. Declares, that after they were separated, they sat down 
 at the fire together to have another dram, and they then miss- 
 ed Mary Dougherty, and asked the other two women, what had 
 become of her, and they answered that they did not know, and 
 the declarant and Hare searched for her through the house, and 
 they both went straight to the straw of the shake-down bed 
 upon the floor at the bottom of the standing bed, to see whe- 
 ther she had crept in there, and they found her amongst the 
 straw, lying against the wall, partly on her back and partly on 
 her side : That her face was turned up, and there was some- 
 thing of the nature of vomiting coming from her mouth, but 
 it was not bloody : That her body was warm, but she appeared 
 to be insensible, and was not breathing : That, after waiting 
 for a few minutes, they were all satisfied that she was dead, 
 and the declarant and Hare proposed to strip the body, and 
 lay it among the straw, but they did not, at that time, say 
 what further they proposed to do, and Helen M'Dougal and 
 Hare's wife immediately left the house, without saying any 
 thing, and the declarant supposed it was because they did not 
 wish to see the dead body : That the declarant and Hare 
 waited till the neighbours should be quiet, there being a con- 
 siderable stir among the neighbours on account of its being 
 Halloween, and in particular, in the house of Connoway, who 
 lives in the same passage, in case any of the neighbours should 
 come in upon them, and they stripped the body, and laid it 
 among the straw, and it was then proposed by both of them, 
 but he cannot say by which of them first, to sell the body to 
 the Surgeons, and they both arranged that they would sell 
 the body to David Paterson, whom they knew to be a porter 
 to Dr Knox, in Surgeons* Square, and who, they knew, re- 
 ceived subjects, and that they would put the body into a 
 chest, and get it conveyed to Surgeons' Square, the following 
 morning, and they then sat down by the fire again, and Helen 
 
AND HELEN M c l)0i;t: AT. 7'^ 
 
 M'Dougal and Hare's wife then returned, but nothing was 
 said by any person about the dead body : That Hare and his 
 wife then went home, at which time it would be near 12 o'clock 
 on the Friday night, and the declarant and M'Dougal went 
 to bed and fell asleep, and rose next morning soon after 6 
 o'clock : Declares, that Gray and his wife came in about 8 
 o'clock in the morning and lighted the fire, and prepared 
 breakfast, and they all got breakfast together, and the decla- 
 rant then went out, and brought in a dram, and sprinkled it 
 under the bed, and upon the walls, to prevent any smell : De- 
 clares, that he went out about 12 o'clock noon, and was 
 out for about two hours walking about, and when he re- 
 turned, he found Gray, and his wife, and Helen M'Dougal 
 still in the house, and after that he was occasionally out. De- 
 clares, that when it became dark he went to call for Paterson, 
 but found that he was out, at which time it was past five 
 o'clock : That he then got John M'Culloch, a porter, and took 
 him to the passage of the declarant's house, and then left him 
 there, and went into the house, and found William Hare there, 
 but no other person, and he also saw an empty chest upon the 
 floor, and they both immediately put the body of the woman 
 into the tea-chest, and they roped it up with a line which hung 
 across the house for drying clothes ; and they called on M'- 
 Culloch and put the tea-chest upon his back and told him to 
 follow Hare, but they did not tell him what was in the tea- 
 chest, nor did he ask them ; and the declarant then went 
 straight to Paterson's house and found him at home, and told 
 him that he had sent forward a subject to Surgeons' Square, 
 and he has no recollection of having seen Paterson on the Fri- 
 day or the Saturday before that time. Declares, that Paterson 
 and the declarant then went to Surgeons' Square together, and 
 they found Hare and M'Culloch waiting there with the tea- 
 chest, and Paterson opened the door of a cellar and the tea- 
 chest was put into it : That Paterson then went and got 5, 
 and gave it to the declarant and Hare, and they paid the por- 
 ter and then went to their respective homes, and the declarant 
 on his way home met Helen M'Dougal, and when they got 
 home they heard from Connoway's wife the report of policemen 
 having searched the house for a dead body, and he then met 
 with Finlay the criminal officer, and he was apprehended and 
 taken to the police office as formerly mentioned ; and being in- 
 terrogated, declares, that he cannot say whether the dead body 
 he saw in the police office on Sunday the 2d current be the 
 body referred to ; and being interrogated, declares, that he 
 had no concern in killing the woman, or in doing any harm to 
 4. I. 
 
74 TRIAL OF WILLIAM IUJRKK 
 
 her, and he has no knowledge or suspicion of Hare or any 
 other person having done so ; and it is his opinion, that the 
 woman was suffocated, by laying herself down among the straw 
 in a state of intoxication ; and heing interrogated, declares, 
 that no violence was done to the woman when she was in life, 
 but a good deal of force was necessary to get the body into 
 the chest, as it was stiff; and, in particular, they had to bend 
 the head forward, and to one side, which may have hurt the 
 neck a little, but he thinks that no force was used, such as 
 could have hurt any part of the neck at all ; and being spe- 
 cially interrogated, declares, that no other person had any con- 
 cern in the matter ; and, in particular, declares, that a young 
 man, named John Brogan, had no concern in it, and that 
 Brogan came into the house on Saturday forenoon, as he 
 thinks, while the body was in the house, but he did not know 
 of its being there. And all this is truth. 
 
 ARCHD. SCOTT. (Signed) Wat. BURKE. 
 
 A. M'LucAS. G. TAIT. 
 
 A. M'LEAN. 
 
 At Edinburgh, the IQth day of November 1828. 
 
 In presence of GEORGE TAIT, Esq. Sheriff-Substitute of 
 Edinburgh shire, 
 
 Compeared William Burke, present prisoner in the tol- 
 booth of Edinburgh, who being examined, declares, that 
 he is thirty-six years of age, and he was born in Ireland, 
 and he came to Scotland about ten years ago, and he is 
 a shoemaker, and he has lived for rather more than a 
 year in the West Port ; and the prisoner M'Dougal resides 
 with him ; declares, that he never saw a lad known by the 
 name of Daft Jamie ; and he does not know of such a person 
 having lived with Hare's wife, before her marriage with the 
 prisoner William Hare, and he had no concern in injuring 
 such a person ; and he does not know of M'Dougal, Hare or 
 his wife, having done so. Interrogated, declares, that he has 
 a brass snuff box which he purchased about four years ago 
 from a shearer lad at Mr. Howden's farm, about two miles 
 from Tranent for sixpence, and he left it in the Lock-up- 
 house last Monday, when he was committed to jail; and de- 
 clares, that he had a snuff spoon which was taken from him 
 when apprehended, and he purchased it for twopence in Sep- 
 tember last from a hawker at the West Port, whose name and 
 residence he does not know, and being shown a brass snuff 
 
AX1> 1IKLKX M'DOI GAL. 7 5 
 
 box, and a snuff spoon, to which a label is attached, sighed by 
 the declarant and Sheriff, as relative hereto, declares, that they 
 are the snuff-box and snuff spoon he refers to ; declares, that 
 he gave the box to a tinsmith in the West Port, named James, 
 whose surname he does not know, but whose shop is next door 
 to Brown's circulating library, to put a new lid upon it, and 
 he thinks he gave it to the tinsmith in September last, and 
 the tinsmith kept it in his possession some weeks ; and all this 
 is truth, &c. 
 
 At Edinburgh, the 3d day of November 1828. 
 
 In presence of GEORGE TAIT, Esq. Sheriff-Substitute of 
 Edinburghshire, 
 
 Compeared Helen M'Dougal, at present in custody, who 
 being examined, declares, that she is 33 years of age, and she 
 was born in Stirlingshire : That she never was married., al- 
 though she has lived with the prisoner, William Burke, for 
 10 years : That about a year ago they came to reside in Tan- 
 ner's Close, 'West Port; and about three months ago they 
 went to another house in the West Port, but she does not 
 know the name of the close : That a person, named John 
 Brogie, occupied the house in which they at present reside ; 
 but Brogie left the house on Friday 8 days, and the declarant 
 and JBurke, who were living with Brogie previously to his 
 leaving the house, took possession of it by themselves. De- 
 clares, that James Gray and his wife came to live with Burke 
 on Sunday the 26th of October. Declares, that the only per- 
 sons who were in the house on the night of Thursday last, the 
 30th of October, were Gray and his wife, and Burke and the 
 declarant : That Burke and the declarant arose from bed on 
 Friday morning about 10 o'clock, and Ann Gray made break- 
 fast for them ; and when she was making breakfast for them 
 Burke went out, and said that he was going to the shop, by 
 which she understood him to mean that he was going to get a 
 dram, and he came in_when breakfast was ready ; and in about 
 five minutes afterwards, when they were taking breakfast, a 
 woman came in whom the declarant had never seen before, 
 and who afterwards said that her Christian name was Mary : 
 That Mary appeared to be the worse of liquor : That she ask- 
 ed leave to light her pipe at the fire ; and she then asked a 
 little bit of soap to wash her cap, and a short-gown, and her 
 apron, and the declarant gave her a. bit of soap, and she wash- 
 ed her clothes, and Gray's wife dried them and ironed them ; 
 
TIUAL UF WILLIAM ttUKKE 
 
 and while that was doing, she talked about having come from 
 Ireland in quest of her son, and soon after she came into the 
 house she said she had got no meat for three days, and the 
 declarant gave her a share of their breakfast : That Burke and 
 Mary entered into conversation ; and Burke, upon hearing 
 that she came from Ireland, said that he came from Ireland 
 too, and he did not know but she might be a relation of his 
 mother's. Declares, that about 1 o'clock in the afternoon 
 Burke brought in some whisky and gave them a glass once 
 round, it being the custom of Irish people to observe Hallow- 
 een in that manner : That Mary became very impatient to go 
 away in order to go to St. Mary's Wynd to inquire for her 
 son, and she went away about 2 o'clock. Declares, that Burke 
 had gone out about half an hour before that and returned 
 about 3 o'clock ; and when he came in, he mentioned that 
 Nancy Connoway, a neighbour, had said to him that she wonder- 
 ed how he could keep Gray and his wife in the house because the 
 noise of their quarrelling was so unpleasant to the neighbours ; 
 and therefore he told them to go away, and never to come 
 back again, because he had not up-putting for them, and Gray 
 and his wife accordingly went away immediately. Declares, 
 that Hare's wife happened to be in the house at the time, and 
 said that she would give them a night's lodging, as she had 
 a spare bed, and the declarant supposed that they went to 
 Hare's, and it would be about six o'clock when they went 
 away : That Burke went to Hare's house about seven o'clock, 
 and the declarant went about half an hour afterwards : That 
 when she went to Hare's, Burke was not there, but she went 
 to an adjoining shop and brought him there, and they had 
 some supper and drink there : That the declarant then went 
 home, and Burke followed soon afterwards bringing some 
 whisky with him which he had got in a shop, and soon after- 
 wards Hare and his wife came in, and they four had some spi- 
 rits together ; and Nancy Connoway, before mentioned, came 
 in and had a share of the spirits : That the declarant then 
 went to Conno way's house and had a dram, and then returned 
 to her own house, and found Hare and his wife still there : 
 That they almost immediately went away, but very soon re- 
 turned, and Hare was very much intoxicated, and Hare lay 
 down in the bed and slept along with Burke all night, and the 
 declarant and Hare's wife slept on the floor : That about six 
 o'clock in the morning Hare and his wife went away : That 
 about seven o'clock, Gray and his wife came in to get some 
 clothes which they left, and the declarant and Burke lay 
 down in bed, and about eight o'clock Burke rose and told 
 
AND HilLEN M'JUOUtiAL. 77 
 
 Gray's wife, who still remained in the house along with her 
 husband, to sort the house and get the kettle boiled, and he 
 himself went to a neighbouring shop for tea and sugar and 
 bread and butter : That when Burke came, Gray's wife made 
 the tea, and Gray and his wife and Burke took breakfast to- 
 gether, and a young man named John Broghan came in and 
 got a share of it : That the declarant did not take any of it : 
 That after breakfast, Gray's wife washed the floor and cleaned 
 the house, the declarant being in bed unwell, in consequence 
 of drink which she had had, and Broghan was in the house 
 most of the day : That Gray remained in the house all day : 
 That Burke was sometimes out and sometimes in, and he lay 
 down for a short time. Declares, that about five o'clock that 
 afternoon the declarant sent Mrs. Gray to Mrs. Law's with 
 some clothes to get mangled ; and Gray and his wife left the 
 declarant's house about seven o'clock to go to their lodgings, 
 and shortly after they so left the house, Mrs. Law came and 
 asked the declarant if she gave Mrs. Gray orders to get her 
 gown : That the declarant said she had not, and Mrs. Law 
 then said, she was off' with it, and in a little after a girl came 
 in and told the declarant that a man was on the street with 
 the declarant's gown, and she went out and found Gray stand- 
 ing at the head of Tanner's Close with the gown under his 
 arm : That she got her gown from Gray, and the declarant 
 and Gray and his wife and Mrs. Hare had a dram together, 
 and the declarant left the gown in Mrs. Law's to get mangled : 
 That the declarant then went home and kindled the fire, and 
 she went out for her husband as it was late, and after she 
 found him they went into Connoway's house, where they re- 
 mained for a few minutes, and Connoway told them that Mrs. 
 Gray had been raising a disturbance, and the declarant and her 
 husband were going out of Connoway's house, when they were 
 apprehended by two policemen, who said that they had taken 
 a corpse out of the house; and, being interrogated, declares, that 
 she did not see Mary after two o'clock on the Friday, and, in par- 
 ticular, she did not see her in the house on the Friday night. 
 Declares, that she yesterday saw the dead body of a woman in 
 the Police Office, but declares that it is not the body of the 
 woman named Mary, because Mary had dark hair, and the 
 body of the woman in the Police Office had grey hair ; and 
 being interrogated, declares, that she had no knowledge or sus- 
 picion of there being any dead body in the house ; and, in 
 particular, of its being under the bed, till after she was ap- 
 prehended. Declares, that there is only one bed in the house ; 
 and declares, that so far as she knows, nothing was under the 
 
78 TllIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 bed except a few potatoes and a little straw, which had fallen 
 from the bed. Being interrogated, declares, that she had no 
 conversation with Gray regarding a dead body ; and in parti- 
 cular, never promised him any money not to say any thing 
 about a dead body ; and being shown a coarse linen sheet, a 
 coarse pillow-case, a dark printed cotton gown, and a red 
 striped cotton bed-gown, to which a label is attached, signed 
 by the sheriff as relative hereto, declares, that the sheet be- 
 longs to a William M'Kinn, from whom the declarant got a 
 loan of it. That the pillow-case was used for containing 
 dirty clothes, and lay at the head of the bed as a pillow, but 
 she never saw the dark gown before to her knowledge. De- 
 clares, that the bed-gown is like the one which Mary wore on 
 the Friday, but she cannot say that it is the same, as it is torn. 
 Declares, that Burke had no money on the Friday, and he had 
 to borrow money for their breakfast on the Saturday morning. 
 That the declarant got 3s. from him on Saturday night, but 
 she does not know where he got that money ; and, being spe- 
 cially interrogated, declares, that she had no concern in killing 
 the woman Mary, or in hurting her, and does not know of 
 Burke, or Hare, or any other person being concerned in doing 
 so, or in concealing the dead body about the house, or in after- 
 wards disposing of it. And, being interrogated in regard to 
 some marks of blood on the sheet and pillow-slip, declares, 
 that the marks upon the pillow-slip were from her nose bleed- 
 ing, in consequence of Burke having struck her ; and the 
 blood upon the sheet proceeded from the declarant, in conse- 
 quence of her state at the time, as was known to Mrs. Gray. 
 And all this she declares to be truth, and that she cannot 
 write. 
 
 ARCHD. SCOTT. (Signed) G. TAIT. 
 
 A. M'LucAs. 
 
 A. MACLEAN. 
 
 At Edinburgh, thelQt/i day of November 1828. 
 
 In presence of GEORGE TAIT, Esq. Sheriff-Substitute of 
 Edinburghshire, 
 
 Compeared Helen M'Dougal, present prisoner in the tol- 
 booth of Edinburgh, and being examined, and the declaration 
 emitted by her before the said Sheriff-Substitute, at Edin- 
 burgh, upon the 3d day of November current, being read 
 over to her, she adheres thereto. And being interrogated, de- 
 
AND HELEN frl'DOUGAL. /iJ 
 
 clares, that between three and four o'clock of Friday afternoon, 
 the woman named Mary insisted on having salt to wash her- 
 self with, and became otherwise very troublesome, and called 
 for tea different times, and the declarant told her she could 
 not be troubled with her any longer, and thrust her out of the 
 door by the shoulders, and never saw her afterwards. And 
 being interrogated, declares, That Brogan did not bring any 
 woman into the house. And being interrogated, declares, 
 That William Burke and William Hare had a slight differ- 
 ence and struggle together on Friday night, as she thinks ; but 
 there was no great noise made, and no cries of murder, so far 
 as she heard. All which she declares to be truth ; and that 
 she cannot write. 
 
 ARCHD. SCOTT. (Signed) GEORGE TAIT. 
 
 A. M'LucAs. 
 
 A. M'LEAN. 
 
 The LORD ADVOCATE addressed the Jury in the following 
 terms : 
 
 Gentlemen of the Jury. It is now my duty to make a few 
 remarks on the tenor of the evidence which has been laid be- 
 fore you in support of the indictment against the pannels at 
 the bar ; and, at this late hour, when you must be exhausted 
 with the long trial in which you have been engaged, I shall 
 not detain you long. Indeed, had this been an ordinary case, 
 I should have had great pleasure in leaving the evidence to 
 your own judgment, without one word of comment from me, 
 satisfied that, in the charge which you will receive from the 
 Court, before you retire, a much more luminous and impartial 
 detail of its substance and bearings will be given, than can be 
 expected from one holding the situation which I do, as Pub- 
 lic Prosecutor. But this is a case of no ordinary complexion ; 
 and I am, therefore, called on for some observations, more es- 
 pecially, as you will be addressed on behalf of the prisoners by 
 my honourable and learned friends on the other side of the 
 bar ; and it might be thought remissness on my pa^rt, if I 
 were to allow the evidence to go to you for a verdict, without 
 some remarks on its tendency, while its true effect would per- 
 haps be impaired by the able comments of the pannels 1 coun- 
 sel. 
 
 Gentlemen, it affords me peculiar satisfaction to see, in a 
 case of this kind, so full and formidable an array of counsel 
 for the defence. In all cases, the Bar of Scotland does itself 
 honour by undertaking the defence of the unhappy persons 
 
80 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 who are brought before this Court accused of offences ; but, in 
 this case, I am proud and happy to see the most distinguished 
 among my brethren engaged in the defence of the prisoners 
 coming forward and lending the strength of their great talents 
 and great learning spontaneously and gratuitously to these 
 unfortunate persons. It is for the ends of public justice that 
 they have done so : and it is a great consolation to me, in the 
 discharge of my painful duty, that the pannels, and in them 
 the law and the country at large, will derive all the benefit 
 which may be looked for from the knowledge and the elo- 
 quence of such distinguished advocates. If an acquittal should 
 follow the proceedings in which we have this day been en- 
 gaged, I hope it will be acknowledged that I have only done 
 my duty to the public, in putting these prisoners on their 
 trial ; and should they be convicted, they will be ably defend- 
 ed, if they have any defence ; and the country must be satis- 
 fied that the conviction will be just, when the defence is in 
 the hands of counsel so eminent, and so universally and de- 
 servedly respected. 
 
 And, Gentlemen, this aid of able counsel is of the more im- 
 portance, that this is one of the most extraordinary and novel 
 subjects of trial that has ever been brought before this or any 
 other Court, and has created in the public mind the greatest 
 anxiety and alarm. I am not surprised at this excitement, 
 because the offences charged are of so atrocious a description, 
 that human nature shudders and revolts at it ; and the belief 
 that such crimes as are here charged have been committed 
 among us, even in a single instance, is calculated to produce 
 terror and dismay. This excitement arises from detestation 
 of the assassins' deeds, and from veneration for the ashes of 
 the dead. But I am bound to say, that whatever may have 
 occasioned this general excitement, or raised it to that degree 
 which exists, it has not originated in any improper disclosures 
 on the part of those official persons who have been entrusted 
 with the investigations connected with this business ; for there 
 never was a case in which the public officers to whom such 
 inquiries are confided, displayed greater secrecy, circumspec- 
 tion, and ability. It is my duty, Gentlemen, to remove that 
 alarm which prevails out of doors, and to afford all the pro- 
 tection which the law can give to the community against the 
 perpetration of such crimes, by bringing the parties implicated 
 to trial ; and I trust it will tend to tranquillize the public 
 mind, when I declare I am determined to do so. I cannot 
 allow any collateral notions about the promotion of science to 
 influence me in this course ; and I am fullv determined that 
 
AND HELEN M<DOUGAL. 81 
 
 every thing in my power shall be done to bring to light and 
 punishment thoss deeds of darkness which have so deeply af- 
 fected the public mind. 
 
 Gentlemen, before I proceed to detail, which I shall do very 
 briefly, the evidence now laid before you in support of the in- 
 dictment against the prisoners, I must impress upon you what 
 will be more eloquently and emphatically told you by their 
 counsel and the Court, that in judging upon the only charge 
 now under trial, you are to banish from your minds all im- 
 pressions which you may have received from any other source 
 than from the evidence itself. To that evidence alone you 
 must confine your attention and you are not to allow your- 
 selves to be moved by the fact that there were other charges 
 in the indictment of a similar description, because these 
 charges have now been entirely withdrawn, for the present, 
 from your consideration. Those charges have been separated 
 from that nowJ;o be tried, at the special desire of the prisoners 
 themselves, and to remove any ground of objection that an 
 impression was necessarily created to the prejudice of the 
 prisoners. God forbid, that I should ever in any case, pursue 
 a criminal in a form to the prejudice of the party accused. 
 The pannels are accused of murder and the three instances that 
 were libelled were only three separate facts in support of that 
 general charge. But since the prisoners and their Counsel 
 have made their option to be tried for each separately, and the 
 Court have sanctioned this course, I willingly acquiesce in it. 
 I must say, however, that in framing the indictment, includ- 
 ing all the three charges, I did so to give the pannels the 
 fairest chances on their trial, and for the purpose of probing 
 to the bottom the whole system of atrocity, a part of which 
 I have this day brought before you, with evidence, which, I 
 conceive, amounts to the most complete and convincing proof. 
 
 In going over that proof, Gentlemen, it is not necessary 
 that I should read over to you fully the notes of the evidence 
 because that will be more ably and authoritatively done by 
 the Court, than it can be by any one in the situation of Pub- 
 lic Prosecutor. I shall, therefore, content myself with a con- 
 densed and connected reference to its import from which I 
 have no doubt, you will find a verdict of guilty against the 
 pannels. 
 
 Gentlemen the chain of evidence in this case is very com- 
 plete, and you can, from the testimony of the witnesses you 
 have heard examined, trace the poor creature who was mur- 
 dered, from Mrs. Stewart's house, in the Pleasance, to Burke's 
 house, where she was bereaved of life, and whence her body 
 
82 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 was afterwards carried, by the direction of Burke, to Dr. 
 Knox's dissecting-room, in Surgeons' Square, where Burke sold 
 it to the Doctor, and delivered it to his assistant. This is the 
 essence of the crime charged, and it is clearly established in 
 evidence. You have heard the evidence of Mrs. Stewart, that 
 in the forenoon of Friday, the 31st October last, the deceased 
 left Mrs. Stewart's house to go in quest of her son. In this 
 case there is no doubt as to the time, for it was in the Sacra- 
 ment week, and on Hallowe'en- two circumstances which en- 
 able all the witnesses to speak positively on that point. You 
 have next the testimony of Charles M'Lachlan, who lodged 
 with Mrs. Stewart, and who accompanied the deceased as far 
 as his own shop in St. Mary's Wynd, where he parted with 
 her, betwixt nine and ten o'clock on the forenoon of that day. 
 You have then the testimony of William Noble, Mr. Rymer's 
 shop boy, that she met with Burke in his master's shop, at an 
 early hour in the forenoon of the same day, when he asked 
 her name, and struck up an acquaintance wSh her on hear- 
 ing it, upon a pretence that it was likely she was a kins- 
 woman ; and as she was destitute, and seeking charity, he be- 
 guiled her to his house in the West Port, by pretending kind- 
 ness, offering her breakfast, &c. Mrs. Connaway, who lived in 
 the same house with Burke, saw him pass into his apartment 
 with the deceased in his company, about the middle of the 
 same day saw her again in the evening in Burke's company, 
 when jollity prevailed dancing, and singing, and drinking ; in 
 all of which hospitalities the deceased joined, and was in per- 
 fect health and good spirits ; and, finally, saw her go from 
 her (Connaway's) house into Burke's, about eleven o'clock the 
 same night, in company with the pannels and Hare and his 
 write. Mrs. Law corroborates a great deal of this, and the 
 deceased is identified by all these witnesses, so as to leave 
 that matter quite clear. Then, the disturbance in Burke's 
 house, after the pannels, and Hares, and the deceased went 
 into it, is instructed by all the neighbours ; and the testimony 
 ef Alston is most important ; for, in addition to the other 
 circumstances previously established, he proves that, betwixt 
 eleven and twelve o'clock the same night, he heard a riot in 
 Burke's house, and cries of murder and distress, which induc- 
 ed him to go in search of the Police ; but not finding an 
 officer, and the cries having ceased, he concluded the riot 
 to be over, and the mischief which he apprehended, to be at 
 an end. It is also proved, by Connaway and others, that 
 Burke went out in the evening, and was absent about ten 
 o'clock, at which hour, it is proved by Elizabeth Paterson? 
 
AND HELEN M ( D0U6AL. 83 
 
 that Burke called, inquiring for her brother, an assistant to 
 Dr. Kfiox, Lecturer on Anatomy ; and he being from home, 
 that Burke proceeded with the deceased, and the other per- 
 sons referred to, including the defunct, into his own apart- 
 ment, at eleven o'clock that night. There is the testi- 
 mony of Gray and his wife, that they, being temporary 
 lodgers in Burked house, were requested to go elsewhere 
 for that night, and that their lodgings for that night were 
 provided and paid for by Burke ; and they confirm many 
 particulars stated by the other witnesses. Then there is 
 the testimony of Paterson, Dr. Knox's assistant, that Burke 
 came to him at twelve o'clock the same night took him 
 to his house, and told him he had got a subject for the 
 Doctor. You have the evidence of Gray and his wife, that 
 on Saturday the 1st November, they found lying under the 
 bed, the dead body of the deceased, whom they had seen 
 the previous night in Burke's room, alive and in good health. 
 There is no evidence that she was drunk. You have the 
 evidence of the porter who packed and carried the dead body 
 to Surgeons' Square of Paterson who received it in a box, 
 and paid ^5 of the price to Burke and Hare of the shop-boy 
 who sold the box to Burke ; and thus proof of every circum- 
 stance, except the actual fact of murdering the woman by 
 the panneis ; and then that is supplied by the testimony 
 of the Hares, who, no doubt, were socii criminis, and 
 who explain all the horrible details of the perpetration of 
 this deliberate and midnight murder. That they are liable 
 to suspicions as socii criminis, I admit ; but they only corro- 
 borate evidence which, in all its parts, would alone be sufficient 
 to bring home the crime to the panneis : and, however worth- 
 less these persons may be, it is with you, gentlemen of the 
 jury, to decide to what measure of credibility they are entitled, 
 when they, in this and other particulars, give an explanation of 
 what could only be seen by them at the time being an occult 
 crime, committed in the dead of night. When it is proved by 
 other unexceptionable evidence that Burke seduced this poor 
 destitute woman into his house, on a pretext of hospitality, she 
 being at that time in perfect health, that he went to a person with 
 whom he was in the habit of dealing in dead bodies, as anatomical 
 subjects, at ten o'clock went again to him at twelve the same 
 night, and offered him a subject and next day carried it, and 
 sold for money the body of the deceased, which lias been fully 
 and satisfactorily identified, what conclusion can be drawn 
 from all this good evidence, corroborated by that of the sowi, 
 but that these panneis had perpetrated the foul murder libel- 
 
84 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 led, with the intent and purpose of selling the body to be dis- 
 sected, for a paltry sum of money ? I will not waste your 
 time by going into every minute circumstance in the proof; 
 but it is all consistent, reconcilable, except in the most trivial 
 and unimportant points, and perfectly conclusive against the 
 prisoner Burke. The credibility of the socii will be strongly 
 questioned, I have no doubt, by the counsel for the defence ; 
 but giving all proper weight to the ordinary objections in such 
 cases, I submit to you that the main points of the case are 
 borne out by all the other circumstances that are well esta- 
 blished. In particular, I must call your attention to the tes- 
 timony of Hare, that Campbell went out into the passage and 
 called " Police and murder" during the scuffle betwixt him and 
 Burke ; and that when Burke began his work of death she 
 gave " a screech." This is confirmed by Mr. Alston, who 
 providentially arrived in the immediate vicinity at that critical 
 time ; and he depones, that when he heard in Burke's house the 
 sound of a scuffle and fighting, he also heard, first, a female 
 voice calling " Murder" and " Police," " For God's sake go for 
 the police, for there is murder here ;" and in a few minutes he 
 heard some person or animal give fainter cries, as if it were 
 choking. 
 
 This witness is above all suspicion, and corroborates 
 Hare's edition of the transaction in these most material 
 particulars ; and then Burke admits in his declaration many 
 of the facts sworn to by the several witnesses. He admits 
 that he picked the .deceased up in Rymer's shop that she 
 was in his apartment 'during the 31st October, and at a late 
 hour that night. He acknowledges that he administered li- 
 quor to her, that she lost her life that night in his house, and 
 that next day he had her body packed up in a box and carried 
 to Dr. Knox's dissecting room, after which he got money from 
 Paterson for it. In these circumstances, is it possible to doubt 
 that he murdered her for the purpose of selling her body ? 
 And even from the facts admitted by himself, independently 
 of all other proof, I feel myself warranted to call on you for a 
 verdict of guilty. That the woman M'Dougal, who was not 
 bound to him by any legal tie, was guilty art and part, and 
 witnessed and sanctioned the whole proceedings, is equally 
 clear. I, therefore, submit to you, Gentlemen of the Jury, 
 that you ought to give a verdict of guilty against the pannels. 
 And if you do not give a verdict against them, I do not 
 think it possible that in any case I shall ever obtain a ver- 
 dict against the greatest criminals. The crime now charged 
 is one of unexampled atrocity unexampled in the history of 
 
AND HELEN M 4 DOUGAL. 85 
 
 civilized countries and the occurrence of which, in this coun- 
 try, in my time, is a circumstance which I deeply deplore. 
 
 The DEAN of FACULTY began his address to the jury at 
 three o'clock on Thursday morning, and at first spoke in a low 
 tone of voice, indicating exhaustion. He addressed the jury 
 nearly as follows, and soon began to speak with his wonted 
 energy : 
 
 Gentlemen, It is some relief to my mind at this moment, 
 that I shall not have occasion to go over all the mass of evi- 
 dence which has been laid before you in support of the charge 
 against the prisoners. We have now been seventeen hours en- 
 gaged in this trial, and, with the exception of a short space 
 consumed in the discussion of the point of form, the whole of 
 that time has been devoted to the hearing of evidence in sup- 
 port of the prosecution. Such a mass of testimony must of it- 
 self distract and press heavily upon your minds ; but it shall 
 be my endeavour to show you, that, extensive and varied as it 
 is, it does not amount to that legal proof which you require, as 
 a jury, to find a verdict against my client ; and that it is wholly 
 destitute of force, on the main, and indeed, the sole fact in the 
 case that the pannel Burke did commit the crime of murder 
 charged against him in this indictment. 
 
 Gentlemen, I do not stand here as the advocate of William 
 Burke's character. To do so would be to insult you, and to 
 degrade my own profession. But I appear before you as an 
 advocate for the great principle of our law, under which you 
 and I, and all of us, live and repose in safety the broad and 
 general principle, that no man is to be 'held guilty of any 
 crime unless his guilt be proved by good and unexceptionable 
 legal evidence, and to the benefit of this sacred principle my 
 client, however odious, or however abandoned he may be in 
 any other respect, is fully entitled in judging of the case now 
 before you. 
 
 The pannel, Burke, labours under great disadvantages 
 He is avowedly a person who has been engaged in the loath- 
 some and detested occupation of procuring dead bodies for 
 dissection ; and this circumstance is calculated to excite preju- 
 dice, and ought to guard your minds strongly against being 
 influenced by any feelings, except the convictions of your un- 
 derstandings, and the dictates of your consciences, on a strict 
 and rigorous examination of the evidence which has been laid 
 before you. And I must warn you also against any prepos- 
 sessions created by what has appeared in newspapers, or 
 otherwise, out of doors. Gentlemen, laying all prejudices 
 and extrajudicial statements aside, and guarded only by the 
 
 
86 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BUKKE 
 
 lights of law and of justice, you must look steadily at you* 
 duty as jurymen not to the many irrelevant circumstances 
 which have been this day sworn to, but to the evidence which 
 has been laid before you of a murder having, as is alleged, 
 been committed on the body of Campbell, and committed by 
 my client Burke. Now, I maintain, that of these averments 
 there is no proof at all for none of the witnesses, except 
 Hare and his wife, swear to that point and they are so ut- 
 terly contaminated and have such strong and obvious mo- 
 tives to criminate my clients in order to screen themselves, 
 that their evidence is of no value whatever. They are incre- 
 dible as witnesses and they are in this case the only wit- 
 nesses. It has been said they corroborate the other witness- 
 es ; but this cannot be the case, for there is nothing to corro- 
 borate. There is no other evidence of the fact of the murder 
 charged in the indictment but their testimony ; and that testi- 
 mony cannot be believed. 
 
 Gentlemen, it is the great and governing principle of our 
 law, that in all cases of alleged murder, the fact of murder 
 must be proved. In the highest species of murder, that of 
 high treason, that of compassing the death of the King- 
 the overt act must be established by unexceptionable evidence. 
 Constructive treason is not now recognized in our law. 
 In such cases the accused is covered all over with the armour 
 of the law ; and to every other case of alleged murder the same 
 principle extends its protecting power. The fact of murder 
 must here be proved; the fact of murder by the hand of 
 Burke for without that fact being established, by good, cre- 
 dible, and unpolluted witnesses, there is here no case, and no 
 evidence whatever, in support of the indictment. 
 
 There are many flaws and inconsistencies in the whole of 
 the evidence ; and Hare and his wife not only contradict each 
 other in several instances, but the statements of both are con- 
 tradicted by other witnesses who also contradict one another. 
 Thus Mary Stewart swears that Campbell left her house in 
 the Pleasance, betwixt 7 an ^ $ o'clock on the morning of 
 Friday, 31st October, while M'Lachlan swears that it was 
 between nine and ten. William Noble says it was on that 
 Friday morning about breakfast- time that Burke and the wo- 
 man Campbell met in his master's shop ; but Mrs. Connaway 
 says it was mid-day when they entered Burke's house to 
 breakfast, and Mrs. Law makes it two in the afternoon. But 
 this is nothing to the contradictory testimonies of Hare and 
 his wife themselves, as to the scenes in Burke's house. Hare 
 swears that at the time of the scuffle the old woman went out 
 
AND HELEN M'DOUGAL. 87 
 
 into the passage and cried " police," and " murder ;" but his 
 wife swears that she never went out of the inside door, nor 
 cried out at all. And the wife even contradicts herself; for 
 at another part of the evidence she says that Campbell did 
 call out " murder." Again, Hare says that when Burke was 
 above Campbell on the floor, and when his wife and M'Dou- 
 gal heard the first screech, they leaped out of bed and ran in- 
 to the passage ; but the wife says that she was not in the bed 
 when Burke was lying on the old woman, but standing be- 
 tween the door and the bed. And after all the scenes which 
 they pretend to describe with such accuracy and truth, Hare 
 says that he did not go to bed, but slept on a chair with 
 his head on the bed, the two women and Broggan being in the 
 bed, and Broggan being next to his aunt M'Dougal ; while the 
 wife swears that she, Broggan, and M'Dougal, lay down upon 
 the floor, and the men, Burke and Hare, slept in the bed, 
 the dead body being underneath it ; and Broggan gives an 
 account of the matter differing entirely from both, for he says 
 that he and the men lay on the floor at the fireside, while the 
 two women were in bed. Then as to the proceedings of Sa- 
 turday, we have a similar tissue of contradictions. Hare 
 swears that Burke took the body from under the bed, and the 
 porter helped him to put it into the box. But M'Culloch 
 swears that he did not assist in putting the body into the box 
 that he did not see a body at all, but something in a sheet, 
 and that he only thought it was a body, because he saw some 
 hair sticking out after this something was crammed into the 
 box. Further, as to the settlement of the price by Paterson, 
 we have more contradiction. Paterson swore that he had 
 seen both Hare and Burke dealing with Dr. Knox about dead 
 bodies : that he had been directed by the doctor to divide 
 the L.5 betwixt them to prevent them from quarreling, as 
 they had done formerly : that he took them to a public house 
 and got change, and gave each L.2, 10s., that they left some- 
 thing for the porter, and that the whole price of the body was 
 L.8. Now Hare swears that Paterson gave the porter 5s., 
 and each of the others L.2, 7s. 6d., and that the price of the 
 subject was L.10. But Hare, on cross-examination, said it 
 was from Burke, not Paterson, that he got the L.2, 7s. 6d. 
 Paterson says that he gave each of Burke and Hare L.2, 10s. 
 and that they paid the porter ; but the porter himself swears 
 that it was Patarson who paid him, so that all these witnesses, 
 Paterson, M'Culloch, and Hare, prevaricate and contradict 
 each other in the clearest and most unequivocal manner. 
 Paterson. who was questioned as a person having medical 
 
TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 and anatomical knowledge, as to the appearance of the body, 
 deponed, that the eyes did not project when the subject was 
 taken from the box, and Dr. Black swore that the eyes were 
 nearly started from the sockets, and he further said that 
 Docherty's appearance was very much the same with that of 
 persons brought to the police office who had been suffocated 
 with drink ; and he declared he was afraid to hazard an 
 opinion whether her death had been occasioned by violence. 
 Dr. Christison merely stated his opinion that it was probable 
 she had suffered a violent death ; but there never were medi- 
 cal opinions on the whole so various and inconclusive in sup- 
 port of a libel for murder. 
 
 These particulars in the evidence may appear trivial ; but 
 in a case of circumstantial evidence, the most trivial cir- 
 cumstance is often of the greatest importance in judging of 
 a witnesses credibility ; and when you find among so many 
 of the witnesses in this case such a cluster of inconsistencies 
 and contradictions ; when you remember the nature of the 
 occupations in which these witnesses are avowedly engaged, 
 and consider the motives by which they must be actuated, to 
 white-wash themselves as far as possible by inculpating the 
 pannels, it is utterly impossible you can give credence to their 
 testimonies, or listen to it for one moment as the evidence of 
 witnesses upon which you can with a safe conscience give a 
 verdict against the pannels. The Dean concluded by urging 
 the jury to keep in mind the general principle on which 
 the safety of every man in society rested, and the necessity of 
 the murder being proved upon better evidence than that of 
 such nefarious witnesses. 
 
 Mr. COCKBURN, for the pannel M'Dougal, said, that in 
 pleading her defence, it was only necessary for him to. assume 
 what was contrary to the fact, that the Public Prosecutor had 
 succeeded in establishing the guilt of the other pannel Burke ; 
 a proposition which no one would maintain after listening to 
 the powerful argument of his friend the Dean of Faculty. But 
 he would assume that the guilt of Burke was established, and 
 what followed ? Not that the other pannel M'Dougal had 
 aided and assisted in that murder, but that she fled from the 
 scene described by Hare, and did not even witness the atroci- 
 ties of which that monster held himself out as a willing and 
 passive spectator. Although it were correct and credible, it 
 proves nothing against M'Dougal. But to talk of their cre- 
 dibility was a sporting with men's lives and a mockery of jus- 
 tice. The evidence of these miscreants could not be received 
 in the same manner as the evidence of an honest person. Their 
 
 l 
 
AXD HELEN JI k DOUGAL. $9 
 
 character was written in characters of blood, that never could 
 be effaced from the recollection of those who heard their horrid 
 narrative. Could they conceive that an accessory to murder 
 was worthy of credit ? and yet the law made him an admis- 
 sible witness. The man who was the chief evidence in a trial 
 for the crime of murder, who had told that he sat on a chair 
 within a yard of the murdered and murderer, and raised not 
 an arm, nor uttered a cry to save the unhappy victim calling 
 for help and struggling with the assassin in the last agonies of 
 life; which was the most guilty, the cool, cold-blooded 
 spectator of the foul murder or the actor, whose physical ex- 
 ertions would, in such an awful moment, impart phrenzy to 
 his mind ? There-were certain questions which he had felt it 
 his duty to put to Hare ; but which he warned him he need 
 not answer unless he chose. " I asked him," said Mr. Cock- 
 .burn, " if he had been concerned in other murders ; but he 
 Declined to answer. I asked him whether a murder was com- 
 mitted in his own house in October last ; and again that mon- 
 ster took shelter in his privilege. In what situation was that 
 man placed when he gave his evidence ? There were other 
 murders hanging over his head, upon which he might be li- 
 belled ; he came from the jail and would be returned to it, 
 knowing full well, that, if the case failed, he might be called 
 upon to descend from the witness-box, to take, along with his 
 wife, his place at the bar in short, to exchange places with 
 the pannels. And if they were the pannels, and Burke and 
 M'Dougal the witnesses, then would the true state of the 
 .case appear and the present witnesses would be proved the 
 guilty perpetrators. The monster had come that very day out 
 of jail, to which he would be again consigned if he failed to 
 make them (the Jury) believe his story." He (Mr. C.) had 
 often heard of King's evidences, or approvers, in crimes to 
 which they had been accessories ; but of persons coining to 
 give evidence with other crimes of a similar nature hanging 
 over their heads, the very idea was horrible. If Hare and 
 his wife had stood at the bar, and made a judicial confession 
 of participation in the crimes which they had stated from the 
 witness-box, sentence of conviction, legally disqualifying them, 
 would have been recorded ; but being allowed to make their 
 confession from the box, they were not only freed from the 
 crime, but cleared to the effect of being converted into good 
 and credible witnesses. But what could a jury think of the 
 evidence of the man who came forward and said, " I have been 
 guilty of one murder, but want to free myself from blam . 
 by impeaching another who was not probably so guilty ?' 
 
90 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BU11KE 
 
 They had seen the squalid wretch the very picture of his re- 
 volting traffic a visible spectacle of penury and profligacy. 
 
 And then, as to Hare's wife ; Mr. Cockburn said he did 
 not know whether or not the Lord Advocate had any skill in 
 physiognomy. Perhaps the Lord Advocate liked her face 
 a good one for a King's evidence ; but as his Lordship's 
 back was towards the witness, he did not perhaps see that 
 woman's face so well as he (Mr. C.) did. To him it appeared, 
 that on that countenance every evil passion was imprinted. 
 She stood in that box, with a miserable child in her arms, the 
 blighted creature of vice and misery ; and, instead of casting 
 upon it a look of maternal tenderness in its distress, she evin- 
 ced a harshness and brutality, and seemed to eye it in such a 
 manner as added to her malign aspect. He would say, with- 
 out fear of contradiction, that he never had, in the course of 
 his. practice, seen such wretches placed in the witness box. 
 The learned gentleman alluded to the declarations, and said, 
 if the jury allowed their minds to be influenced by the state- 
 ments of those documents, the pannels would be legally mur- 
 dered. 
 
 And in the conclusion of his speech, Mr. Cockburn ad- 
 dressed the jury in a tone of peculiar eloquence and impres- 
 siveness : " If, Gentlemen, (said he,) you have any doubts 
 you must give the pannels the benefit of those doubts ; and 
 after seeing the exhibition, and hearing the testimonies of 
 Hare and his wife this day as witnesses good God ! can you 
 say there are no doubts ? It is the duty of the Public Prose- 
 cutor to prove his case by good evidence. He has produced 
 a horde of wretches who are a pollution to any evidence. The 
 Hares, the Grays, the Connoways, M'Cullochs, and Brogans, 
 the whole host of witnesses to every material circumstance in 
 the proof are polluted. Talk not of suspicions of dangers to 
 the public for in my mind no greater danger can be imagin- 
 ed than that of a criminal verdict on doubtful and polluted 
 evjdence. Though the town should ring with clamours and 
 the country resound with them, you are only called on the more 
 strongly to discharge your duty manfully, by the exercise of 
 your own judgment, and the dictates of your consciences ban- 
 ishing from your minds every prejudice, and looking well to the 
 nature of the evidence on which you are called to condemn a fel- 
 low-creature to death recollecting too, that when the public 
 mind is agitated and disturbed, it is the Courts of Law, and 
 the Juries of our country, who hold in their hands the balance 
 of justice and that when the storm is up, and popular preju- 
 dice and passion rage around, the louder is the call for an en- 
 
AND HELEN U'DOUaAL. 1 
 
 lightened and intrepid discharge of your duty. 1 ' He conclud- 
 ed by craving an acquittal of M'Dougalfrom the charge made 
 against her. 
 
 The LORD JUSTICE CLERK began his charge to the Jury at 
 six o'clock on Thursday morning, and finished about half past 
 eight. His Lordship expressed great satisfaction at the de- 
 fence having been committed to such eminent counsel ; for he 
 could assure them (the jury) he never had heard the defence 
 of any individuals conducted with more zeal and consummate 
 ability than that of the prisoners. There was another consi- 
 deration which he was called upon to bring under their notice ; 
 namely, to express his thorough confidence that they would 
 divest their minds of every impression or prejudice which 
 might have been raised from what they had read or heard out 
 of doors. It would be a matter of infinite regret, if writings or 
 publications, or any sort of public feeling, should for one instant 
 affect their minds ; but he was sure they knew their duty too 
 well, to be influenced by prejudice ; they would be guided by 
 nothing but the facts as disclosed during the investigation. 
 The evidence was partly circumstantial, and partly direct. 
 The first was composed of a number of minute facts and cir- 
 cumstances ; and the latter of the testimony of socii. It 
 would be their duty, First, to consider the general evidence ; 
 Secondly, that of the socii ; 'and, Thirdly, the combined ef- 
 fect of both conjoined. From these, the verdict, upon a fair 
 inference drawn from a consideration of the whole, would be 
 made up. His Lordship then directed the attention of the 
 Jury to the way and manner the old woman, Campbell, had 
 been bereaved of life, informing them, that if they were satis- 
 fied she had not died in consequence of violence, there would 
 be an end of the inquiry. If they held the contrary opinion, 
 they would proceed to consider, whether she had lost her life 
 by the hands of the prisoners, or one or other of them. 
 
 The evidence of the identity of her person was the first branch 
 of the investigation. His Lordship then went over the whole 
 evidence with great minuteness, commenting upon those parts 
 where there were seeming contradictions, or which had been 
 specially alluded to by the Public Prosecutor, or the counsel 
 for the pannels, in the course of the defence, but it is unne- 
 cessary to recapitulate his Lordship's detail, as the reader has 
 the whole evidence itself before him. 
 
 With respect to the socii , his Lordship said they were 
 entitled to credit, if they gave a true account of the transac- 
 tion of which they spoke. He admitted they were not placed 
 in the same situation with persons against whom no sus- 
 
92 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURIE 
 
 picion existed ; but it was the duty of the jury to sift their 
 evidence, and in as far as it was corroborated by good evi- 
 dence, it was entitled to such a measure of credibility as they 
 in their consciences thought it merited. They had been told 
 of the Hares being connected with other murders. With 
 what murders they might be chargeable, he did not know ; 
 but to a certainty, they could not be libelled on either of the 
 charges contained in the libel now under trial, and which 
 had not been sent to the jury. It was, therefore, unfound- 
 ed in law to say, that these two persons were liable to 
 be tried for the two murders contained in the indictment. 
 These individuals, who were under the protection of the 
 Court, had been called as accomplices, in the same man- 
 ner as associates in robbery, wilful fire-raising, and other 
 capital crimes. With respect to M'Dougal, his Lord- 
 ship was understood to express his opinion, that if the evi- 
 dence was to be believed, she had been an accessory before 
 the commission of the crime, during its commission, and after 
 it was committed ; and* upon the whole, he considered the 
 libel as made out against both. 
 
 The Jury then retired at half-past eight o'clock to consider 
 their verdict, and after an absence of fifty minutes, returned 
 into Court and gave in the following verdict by their chancel- 
 lor, WILLIAM MACFIE, ESQ, 
 
 VERDICT. 
 
 The jury find the pannel, William Burke, guilty of the 
 third charge in the indictment, and find the indictment not 
 proven against the pannel Helen M'Dougal. 
 
 The Lords assoilzie the pannel, Helen M'Dougal, simpli- 
 citer, and dismiss her from the bar. 
 
 The LORD ADVOCATE having moved for the sentence of 
 the Court, 
 
 Lord MEADOWBANK gave his opinion nearly in the follow- 
 ing terms : 
 
 My Lords, after a trial of unexampled length pro- 
 tracted to nearly twenty-four hours a trial in which the 
 minds of your Lordships have been exerted to the utter- 
 most, it would be improper in me to detain the Court 
 with commenting on the circumstances of this most atrocious 
 
AND HELEN M C DOUGAL. 93 
 
 case ; and I feel that it is quite impossible for any one who 
 has attended to the proceedings on this trial, to think that we 
 have any thing left to do, but to go through with the distress- 
 ing duty which is now fallen to your Lordships to perform. 
 But it is impossible, in considering the whole circumstances of 
 this distressing case, not to advert to that extraordinary 
 that most unexampled, and that atrocious system, which every 
 one must feel has been developed by the evidence that has 
 been brought forward. I am sure, and I speak in the pre- 
 sence of your Lordships, who can correct me if I am wrong, 
 that in the whole history of the country I may say, in the 
 history of civilized society- nothing has ever been exhibited 
 that is, in any respect, parallel to this case. Murders have 
 been committed before now ; crimes of all descriptions have 
 unhappily been too common ; but we had flattered ourselves 
 that our county was, in a great measure, free from the stigma 
 of any great or heinous atrocity committed within its bounds. 
 That there should have been found, therefore, not one but 
 many leagued and combined together, in order to sacrifice 
 their unoffending fellow-creatures, for the wretched purpose 
 of disposing of their bodies, is, to the last degree, humiliat- 
 ing. The very announcement of such a system is sufficient 
 to raise ideas of horror which it would be vain to search for 
 words adequately to express. When I take a view of the 
 other features of this case, it exhibits a picture of iniquity 
 which the greatest stretch of imagination can hardly take in, 
 yet it was so clearly brought in proof, that, I am sure, it must 
 carry conviction to every one who heard the evidence. It is 
 proved that the prisoner, in going up the street after some of 
 his usual avocations in the morning, fell in with the poor un- 
 protected old woman, with whom, it is quite clear, that he was 
 perfectly unacquainted before. Now began his arrangements 
 for ensnaring his victim. With the immediate feeling upon 
 him of the object which he had in view, he claims kindred 
 with her by a fictitious name ; and by pretences of kindness 
 endeavours to gain on her affections. He entices her into his 
 own house, and there continued his friendship to her, inso- 
 much that she expressed gratitude to Mrs. Counoway for the 
 kindness with which he had treated her. He thus contrives 
 so far to attain his object, that she seems to have opened her 
 affection and confidence to him she looked to him for pro- 
 tection she felt he had dealt kindly with her she refused to 
 enter the house until he entered with her. She did enter with 
 him. A struggle, or pretended struggle, ensued ; and, when 
 
94 TRIAL OF WILLIAM JJURKE 
 
 I recollect that the moment she fell that straggle ended, T 
 cannot rationally entertain a doubt that it was feigned, and 
 got up for the purpose of entrapping her, and throwing her 
 off her guard. What did the individual to whom she looked 
 for protection now do ? She is thrown tfown, and he, with 
 the atrocity of a demon, instantly throws himself upon her, 
 and extinguishes life in a few moments. I do not state this 
 with any view whatever of exciting the feelings, or aggravating 
 indignation against the unhappy prisoner, but really when 
 such a system of crime, in which there are many actors, is 
 developed in the midst of this great metropolis, I cannot 
 resist stating the impression which it has made upon my 
 mind as one of the most monstrous exhibitions of atrocity 
 ever disclosed in the annals of criminal jurisprudence in this 
 or any other country. Sitting as I do in this place, there 
 is little occasion to advert to certain matters that were 
 pointed at, and eloquently pointed at, in the course of the de- 
 fence. I will only observe, that with matters of science we 
 have nothing to do. We have nothing to do but to adminis- 
 ter the law as handed down to us, and God forbid that the 
 claims of science, or of philosophy, or of speculation of any 
 kind, shall prevent us from feeling the horror which such 
 offences are naturally calculated to excite. With respect to 
 the issue to the prisoner, your Lordships are aware that that 
 issue must be death. The highest law has said, " Thou 
 shalt not kill thou shalt do no murder ;" and the law of this 
 country says, that he who commits murder shall suffer death. 
 The prisoner must have considered that he was committing 
 the high crime of murder. In his breast, as in the breast of 
 every one, must be implanted that feeling, that murder was 
 the most heinous of crimes. There is no doubt that it is the 
 duty of the Court to pronounce sentence on the prisoner ; 
 and I now suggest that he be detained in the Tolbooth of 
 Edinburgh, and that he suffer death on the scaffold on the 
 28th day of January next, and his body be given for dissec- 
 tion. 
 
 Lord MACKENZIE expressed his concurrence. 
 
 The LORD JUSTICE CLERK then addressed the prisoner 
 nearly as follows : William Burke, you now stand convicted 
 by the verdict of an intelligent and respectable Jury, of the 
 atrocious murder charged against you in the indictment, upon 
 evidence which could not leave a doubt of your guilt on the 
 mind of any one who heard it. I so fully concur in the view 
 which has been so eloquently given by my learned brother, of 
 
AND HELEN M"i)Ol C.AL. 95 
 
 the nature of the offence, that I will not occupy the time of 
 the Court with commenting on it. A crime more atrocious, 
 a more cold-blooded, deliberate, and systematic preparation 
 for murder, and the motive so paltry, was really unexampled 
 in the annals of the country. It is now my duty to inform 
 you, that if ever it was clear beyond all possibility of a doubt, 
 that the sentence would in any case be carried into full 
 execution, this is the case. You may rest assured that 
 you have no chance of pardon ; and I now would solemn- 
 ly warn you to prepare your mind in the most suitable 
 manner to appear in a very short time before the throne of 
 Almighty God, to answer for this crime, and for every other 
 with which you stand chargeable in your own conscience. 
 The necessity of repressing crimes of this nature precludes 
 the possibility of your entertaining the slightest hope of a 
 remission of your sentence. The only doubt I have in my 
 mind is, whether to satisfy the violated laws of your country 
 and the voice of public indignation, your body ought not to 
 be exhibited in chains, to bleach in the winds, in order to 
 deter others from the commission of similar offences. "But, 
 taking into consideration that the public eye would be offend- 
 ed by so dismal a spectacle, I am willing to accede to a more 
 lenient execution of your sentence, and that your body 
 should be publicly dissected. I trust that if it is ever cus- 
 tomary to preserve skeletons, yours will be preserved, in order 
 that posterity may keep in remembrance your atrocious 
 crimes. I earnestly advise you to lose no time in humbling 
 yourself in the sight of God, and that you will seek the aid 
 of the ministers of religion, to whatever profession you may 
 belong. The present charges having been fully established 
 against you, it is my duty to inform you that you have but a 
 few days to remain on the earth. His Lordship then pro- 
 nounced, with due solemnity, the sentence of the law, which 
 was recorded in the following terms : 
 
 SENTENCE. 
 
 The Lord Justice Clerk and Lords Commissioners of Jus- 
 ticiary, in respect of the verdict before recorded, decern and 
 adjudge the said William Burke, pannel, to be carried from 
 the bar back to the tolbooth of Edinburgh, therein to be de- 
 tained, and to be fed on bread and water only, in terms of an 
 act of Parliament passed in the 25th year of the reign of His 
 
96 TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE 
 
 Majesty King George the Second, entitled " an Act for pre- 
 venting the horrid crime of murder," until Wednesday the 
 twenty-eighth day of January next to come, and upon that 
 day to be taken furth of the said tolbooth to the common 
 place of execution in the Lawnmarket of Edinburgh, and then 
 and there, between the hours of eight and ten o'clock before 
 noon of the said day, to be hanged by the neck by the hands 
 of the common executioner upon a gibbet until he be dead, 
 and his body thereafter to be delivered to Dr. Alexander 
 Munro, Professor of Anatomy in the University of Edin- 
 burgh, to be by him publicly dissected and anatomized, in 
 terms of the said act, and ordain all his moveable goods and 
 gear to be escheat and inbrought to His Majesty's use, which 
 is pronounced for doom. 
 
 (Signed) D. BOYLE, 
 
 A. MACONOCHIK, 
 J. H. MACKENZIE. 
 
 Counsel for the Crown, the LORD ADVOCATE, ROBERT 
 DUNDAS, Esq., ARCHIBALD ALISON, Esq., and ALEXANDER 
 WOOD, Esq., Advocate Deputes, JAMES TYTLER, Esq., Crown 
 Agent. 
 
 Counsel for Burke, Sir JAMES W, MONCRIEFF, Bart., 
 Dean of Faculty, PATRICK ROBERTSON, MARK NAPIER, 
 and DAVID MILNE, Esqrs. 
 
 Counsel for M'DougaL, HENRY COCKBURN, DUNCAN 
 M'Nr.iL, HUGH BRUCE, and GEORGE PATTON, Esqrs. 
 
 Agent for both pannels, JAMES BEVERIDGE, Esq. W. S. 
 one of the agents for the poor. 
 
 We understand that the learned counsel above named, all 
 very handsomely gave their services to the prisoners gra- 
 tuitously. 
 
 Having thus given a faithful account of the judicial proceed- 
 ings in this important trial, it will not, we trust, be an unac- 
 ceptable supplement if we subjoin some particulars connected 
 with it, which might indeed have been interwoven in the pro- 
 gress of the foregoing report, but which would have only in- 
 cumbered the technical details that are, of course, most inte- 
 
 6 
 
as she appeared, at theBar 
 taken iix Court 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 97 
 
 resting. To these particulars we may add such other facts 
 connected with the nefarious system of murder which had 
 been organized among us as have transpired since the trial ; 
 and in an affair which has excited the most extraordinary 
 sensation ever perhaps known in Scotland, in reference to 
 crimes of a private nature, it seems desirable not only to 
 give a complete and connected account of them, but to col- 
 lect and embody along with it, in a single record, the various 
 expressions of public feeling, as these have come forth 
 through the press in all parts of the country. 
 
 From the whole evidence there appears scarce the shadow 
 of a doubt that Helen M'Dougal was equally involved with 
 the other in this scheme of systematic murder. She did 
 not put forth her hands because this was not the part which 
 she was best fitted to perform ; but that she was privy to 
 what was about to take place is clearly made out, by her 
 reluctance to part with the woman Campbell, evidently 
 from the fear of losing her prey ; and that she was an ac- 
 cessary after appears from what she said to the Grays, that 
 if they would conceal what they saw, it would be worth to 
 them L.10 a-week. This is proved by the testimony of 
 those witnesses, which is above all chaUenge. That it 
 should have been necessary to set at liberty a wretch of this 
 description, stained with such foul crimes, to begin anew 
 her career of iniquity, cannot be sufficiently regretted. 
 
 We may mention also as a singular instance of the obli- 
 quity of the human understanding, or at least of the effect 
 produced upon some by the Dean of Faculty^ powerful 
 speech for Burke, that two of the Jury by whom he was 
 
 tried were of opinion that the Prosecutor had not made out 
 5. 
 
98 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 his case against that unhappy man, and consequently were 
 for returning a verdict of Not Proven in his case as well as 
 that of M'Dougal. No one who attended to the evidence 
 as it was led, or who has examined it since, has been able 
 to discover upon what ground such a verdict was returned 
 even in the case of the female pannel ; but had the opinion 
 of these two gentlemen prevailed, and the charges against 
 Burke been found not proven, Justice might have thrown 
 away her balance and broken her sword, and the Prosecu- 
 tor might well have despaired of ever again obtaining a ver- 
 dict upon a charge of murder. Happily nothing so utterly 
 monstrous as this occurred. Justice has received one vic- 
 tim, but she will not be satisfied with this solitary sacrifice. 
 Others yet remain to be claimed, whose hands are dyed in 
 blood, and whose criminality is not either in law or in mo- 
 rality inferior to that of the unhappy man whose days are 
 numbered, and who is doomed to expiate his manifold crimes 
 on the scaffold. 
 
 The intense sensation which has been excited among all 
 classes by this extraordinary case, far exceeds what we have 
 ever witnessed on any former occasion. The story, when it 
 was first rumoured, created the deepest agitation. But it 
 was treated by many as an idle tale, framed to feed the vul- 
 gar appetite for the marvellous, and too horrible to be be- 
 lieved. Nor need we wonder that the most credulous should 
 have been startled by the recital of such atrocious cruelty, 
 which far surpasses any thing that is usually found in the 
 records of crime. The offence of murder, dreadful as it is, 
 is unhappily too familiar in our criminal proceedings ; but 
 such an artfully contrived and deliberate scheme, such a 
 systematic traffic in blood, was certainly never before heard 
 of in this country. It is a new passage in our domestic his- 
 tory ; it is entirely out of the ordinary range of iniquity ; 
 
WEST TORT MURDERS. 99 
 
 and stands by itself, a solitary monument of villany, such 
 as would almost seem to mark an extinction in the heart of 
 all those social sympathies which bind man to his fellow-men, 
 and even of that light of conscience which awes the most 
 hardened, by the fear of final retribution. In works of fic- 
 tion, no doubt, where the writer, to produce effect, borrows 
 the aid of his imagination, we have accounts of such deeds, 
 perpetrated, perhaps, in the secret chambers of some se- 
 cluded castle, or in the deep recesses of some lone and se- 
 questered haunt. But the striking and awful peculiarity of 
 the present case is, that we have laid open, not in the high- 
 wrought scenes of romance, but in the sober records of ju- 
 dicial inquiry, a den of murderers in the very bosom of civi- 
 lized society, in the heart of our populous city, amid the 
 haunts of business and the bustle of ordinary life, who have 
 been, if we may so speak, living on their fellow-creatures as 
 their natural prey. Words would fail to convey an idea of 
 the sensation that was excited in the Court as in the progress 
 of the trial the horrid details of this conspiracy were gra- 
 dually unfolded ; the craft by which the unhappy woman 
 was lured to her destruction ; the artful preparations for the 
 bloody tragedy ; and the cool decision and ferocity with 
 which, when the fitting time was come, the murderer sprung 
 upon his victim and extinguished life in a few moments. At 
 every new view of this unhappy story, it assumes a deeper 
 dye. What a fearful character does it present of cunning 
 and violence, the true ingredients of villany ! From first to 
 last we see the same master spirit of iniquity at work to con- 
 trive and to execute. We see no doubt, no wavering, no 
 compunctious visitings of the conscience, nor any soft re- 
 lenting ; but a stern deliberation of purpose, that is truly 
 diabolical ; and it is fearful to reflect, that a person capable 
 of such crimes should have been so long haunting our 
 streets, mixing in society, and coolly selecting subjects for 
 his sanguinary trade. 
 
 
100 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 Among the other peculiarities of the present case, we may 
 remark, that such acts of savage atrocity are rather out of 
 place in so civilized a community as that in which we 
 live. They are not in unison with the moral tone of so- 
 ciety. Crimes of violence are the natural product of barba- 
 rism. They grow up to frightful maturity in that congenial 
 soil; and all savage communities are accordingly distin- 
 guished by cruelty, and the most profligate indifference to 
 human life. As mankind improve, and as knowledge is dif- 
 fused, those crimes disappear, and are succeeded by others 
 sufficiently odious, no doubt, but still of a less atrocious na- 
 ture. The same process by which we cultivate the intellec- 
 tual faculties would seem also to open the heart to more hu- 
 mane sentiments and to more kindly feelings. But however 
 we may improve society and diffuse instruction, there is still 
 a vast expanse of ignorance, poverty, and vice, which we 
 may lessen by active efforts, but which we cannot altogether 
 remove, and it is in this intellectual desert, if we may so speak, 
 where nothing that is humane, enlightened, or moral, ever 
 springs up to refresh the eye, that crimes are produced. 
 Under the influence of ignorance all the best affections of the 
 human heart wither and lie dead ; and it is chiefly from 
 those who are within its sphere, that the ranks of crime are 
 recruited; and that, occasionally, such wretches arise as 
 Burke or Hare, or their female associates, who distance all 
 competitors in iniquity, and shock the feelings of the age by 
 their enormous crimes. It will generally be found that 
 these criminals are not only wicked and immoral, but that 
 they are uneducated and grossly ignorant ; living, no doubt, 
 in a civilized community, and with certain habits of civiliza- 
 tion that they cannot avoid, but still in respect to mental 
 cultivation, scarcely, if at all, raised above the level of sa- 
 vages. Hence the vast importance to society of spreading 
 knowledge, of bringing all ranks under some process of men- 
 
, 
 
 WEST PORT MURDERS. 101 
 
 tal tuition, and of establishing schools where instruction and 
 morality, for they go together, are retailed at a cheap rate. 
 It is only in this way that we can ensure the decrease of 
 crimes ; and more especially of such atrocious crimes as have 
 been recently perpetrated. 
 
 In the course of this trial, some allusion was made to the 
 interests of science, to which, in the impressive address of 
 Lord Meadowbank, previous to passing sentence, there is a 
 conclusive reply, and we would only remark, that the more 
 this subject is agitated, the greater will be the prejudice ex- 
 cited ; nor can any law be made that would be of the least 
 service. The subject, involving as it does so many critical 
 considerations, is far too delicate to be touched by act of 
 Parliament ; besides, that the popular ferment, that would 
 thereby be raised, would multiply the present difficulties 
 tenfold. We cannot possibly comprehend how Parliament 
 could interfere in this matter, or how any act could be 
 framed to make that legal which is at present illegal. 
 Science, in short, may be injured, but it cannot possibly be 
 benefited by any public agitation of the subject. 
 
 During the whole course of the trial Burke maintained 
 the most perfect self-possession and tranquillity, even when 
 some parts of the evidence that made others shudder came 
 out against him. He conversed occasionally with M'Dou- 
 gal, and more than once we saw him smile at such parts of 
 the testimonies as probably appeared to him not to be " the 
 whole truth." 
 
 In the course of his trial we understand that Burke, 
 about four o'clock, asked when he would get dinner, and 
 
102 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 being informed it would be about six, he begged that he 
 might have a biscuit or two, as he would lose his appetite 
 before that time. Both pannels ate bread and soup heartily ; 
 and although they displayed no external marks of inward 
 emotion, they frequently, especially the woman, took co- 
 pious draughts of water. 
 
 Before the jury retired, and during the time they were 
 enclosed, Burke endeavoured to prepare the mind of M<- 
 Dougal for her fate, as, from the address of the Lord Jus- 
 tice-Clerk, he supposed she would be found guilty ; in the 
 view of which he gave her directions how she should conduct 
 herself, desiring her to look at and observe him when the 
 Lord Justice-Clerk was pronouncing sentence. When the 
 jury returned with their verdict, they mentioned first that 
 they found the libel against M'Dougal Not Proven. He 
 was immediately heard coolly to exclaim, " Nelly, you are 
 out of the scrape." After the Lord Justice-Clerk's address 
 to him he was very anxious that permission should be given 
 to M'Dougal to remain a day or two in the Lock-up-house, 
 for her personal protection. 
 
 The advocates for the Crown and the pannels spoke in 
 their addresses to the jury nearly six hours ; and, alto- 
 gether, the trial was one of the most interesting we ever 
 witnessed, by the horrors which the investigation disclosed, 
 by the intense interest which pervaded the whole assem- 
 blage, and by the picturesque and singular appearance of 
 the scene. This was not a little heightened by the expedi- 
 ent to which the greater part of the audience were obliged 
 to resort for self preservation against the inclemency of the 
 weather. By orders from the Court a large^window was 
 thrown open as far as it could be done, and a current of cold 
 damp air beat, for twenty-four hours, upon the heads of the 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 103 
 
 whole audience* How far this was necessary or considerate 
 we presume not to say ; and we trust no fatal consequences 
 will ensue ; but we must be permitted to express a hope 
 that some plan will be adopted for preventing a repetition of 
 a similar occurrence such an occurrence as last winter, on 
 Mrs. Smith's trial, endangered the life of one of our most 
 valuable and esteemed advocates. In the present instance, 
 the greater part of the audience being Advocates and 
 Writers to the Signet in their gowns, these were wrapped 
 round their heads, and, intermingled with various coloured 
 handkerchiefs in every shade and form of drapery, which 
 gave to the visages that were inshrouded under them, such 
 a grim and grisly aspect as assimilated them to a college of 
 monks or inquisitors, or characters imagined in tales of ro- 
 mance, grouped and contrasted most fantastically with the 
 costume of the bench and crowded bar engaged in the trial. 
 
 The personal appearance of Burke and M'Dougal has 
 been already mentioned ; and that of Hare has also been 
 described in terms sufficiently glowing by the Counsel for 
 M'Dougal. Hare is indeed one of the most squalid-looking 
 wretches we have ever seen ; and when he gave his evi- 
 dence, he had a sinister expression in his look which made 
 his presence peculiarly revolting. After being warned not 
 to answer any questions which might criminate himself, ex- 
 cept with regard to the murder of Docherty, instead of an- 
 swering Mr. Cockbunfs interrogatories, he repeatedly gave 
 a silent diabolical nod with his head ; and on his way from 
 the witness-box to the Lock-up-house in the custody of the 
 macer, he had a look of evident satisfaction in his imagined 
 escape ; and he even chatted and conducted himself with 
 the most hardened levity. He repeatedly, when giving his 
 evidence, distinguished Docherty by the contemptuous ap- 
 pellation of " the old wife." His appearance betokens the 
 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 greatest effrontery, while it is altogether that of a low black- 
 guard ; and all his demeanour fully justifies Mr. Cock- 
 burn's account of him as an embodiment of " penury and 
 profligacy." His wife is a short, stout, round-faced and 
 fresh-complexioned personage, but withal has a look of 
 coarse and determined brutality, fitting her to be a suitable 
 consort to such a mate. From their demeanour and aspect 
 it is perhaps less to be marvelled at that some of the jury, 
 led away also by the eloquence of the Dean of Faculty and 
 Mr. Cockburn, should have been unwilling to convict even 
 Burke on the testimony of such wretches to whom falsehood 
 seemed more familiar than truth. 
 
 The honest Irishman Gray, and his wife, to whom alone 
 the public are indebted for the disclosure of this base mur- 
 der, and the exposure of the gang of miscreants engaged 
 in this trade of blood, forms an interesting contrast to the 
 party with whom their miseries made them for a time 
 bed-fellows. And when it is known, that in addition to the 
 temptation for concealment which their poverty and the pro- 
 mised reward for secrecy supplied, there was the additional 
 one of screening a near relation, their honesty assumes a 
 higher character. Hitherto they have not met with the ap- 
 plause nor the reward to which their integrity and valuable 
 services entitle them. They both gave their testimony with 
 a clearness and precision, and in a manner which bespoke 
 a clear conscience , and no one could see and hear them 
 without sympathising sincerely with these poor but honest 
 people, whose destitution subjected them and their child to 
 repose on the bloody bed of straw, on which perhaps they 
 were destined, at no distant period, to have perished, if they 
 had not been providentially the means of bringing those 
 hidden deeds to light. It has been well observed, that the 
 fiendish gang gave a powerful though unwilling testimony to 
 
 B 
 
WEST FORT MURDERS. 105 
 
 tfceir uncorrupted honesty when they found it necessary 
 to put them out of the way until their deeds of darkness 
 were perpetrated.* 
 
 Blame has sometimes been cast upon the periodical press 
 for raising a popular excitement by exaggerated statements. 
 In this case, no such charge could be made. The press, 
 up to the time of the trial, remained nearly silent, and the 
 dreadful and revolting crimes then divulged were beyond 
 the conceptions almost of the most fertile imagination. 
 Popular feeling was however excited ; and the interest uni- 
 versally expressed, has seldom been equalled in intensity. 
 At an early hour in the morning, the avenues to the Court 
 were crowded ; judicious arrangements had been made for 
 the jurymen, witnesses, and those who were concerned, pro- 
 curing admittance by private entrances ; and due precau- 
 tions used to prevent a rush and inconvenient crowding into 
 the Court. Still, however, the court-room, which is small, 
 was excessively crowded ; and although very few were suf- 
 fered to pass the cordons of policemen, who guarded the 
 approaches, it continued in this state till the result was 
 known. The usual good nature and sympathy towards a 
 criminal were laid aside in this instance, and a universal 
 desire seemed to pervade all classes, that both pannels 
 should be convicted, and a regret that Hare also and his 
 guilty partner could not share the same fate. All day, the 
 
 * Several benevolent individuals have interested themselves in the 
 behalf of Gray and his wife, and as it may be gratifying to the hearts 
 of many to relieve the virtuous in distress, the publisher of this will 
 most cheerfully receive subscriptions for Gray's behoof; and the pub- 
 lic are earnestly intreated to mark their sense of this poor man's up- 
 right and correct conduct when surrounded with tempters and temp- 
 tations to which a less manly and honest nature might have yielded ! 
 
100 WEST PORT MURDEKS. 
 
 streets in the neighbourhood of the Parliament Square were 
 thronged by anxious groupes, who eagerly questioned those 
 proceeding from the Court as to the progress of the trial, 
 and their reports speedily found their way to the remotest 
 parts of the city. The imperfect rumours of the objection 
 made to the relevancy of the indictment, and the subsequent 
 account of its being confined to one charge^ seemed to create 
 a fear that the criminals were about to elude the grasp of 
 the law on some technical grounds. Had such been the 
 case,^ popular tumult from the reckless, unthinking part 
 of the assemblage appeared an inevitable consequence. 
 Towards the evening, the numbers increased ; and about 
 nine o'clock, a gang of blackguard men and boys proceeded 
 to Dr. Knox's class-room, in Surgeons' 1 Square, for the pur r 
 pose of destruction. By this time the high constables, and 
 the other bodies of constables, joined to the ordinary police 
 force, were in readiness, and the steady front that was ex^ 
 hibited quickly induced the assailants to withdraw. Some 
 of the mob proceeded to the college, and broke a few panes 
 of glass in the windows of Dr. Monro's class-room and the 
 neighbouring rooms ; but the arrival of a party of constables 
 and policemen speedily stopped their proceedings here also. 
 During part of the night, the concourse continued ; but as 
 the inclemency of the weather continued, and the night 
 advanced, without bringing a prospect of a speedy conclu- 
 sion, the people gradually dispersed. The hour to which 
 the proceedings were protracted, allowed time for them to 
 reassemble next morning, and with renewed patience wait 
 the conclusion. Hasty inquiries about the result were made 
 by those citizens who had spent the night comfortably in 
 bed, and were now proceeding to their places of business, 
 of those coming from the direction of the Court, and whose 
 jaded and pale appearance betokened that they had either 
 been employed in some capacity, or had Ibeen so fortunate 
 
WEST POUT MURDERS. 1(>7 
 
 as to obtain a hearing of the interesting proceeding at the 
 expense of a night's rest. The citizens of Edinburgh are by 
 110 means blood-thirsty, and, on ordinary occasions, would 
 rejoice to learn that a fellow-being had escaped the fearful 
 death that the law adjudges to great criminals ; but in this 
 case there was expressed a universal feeling of satisfaction, 
 and if at all alloyed, it was by the knowledge that the woman, 
 who was considered equally guilty, should not have been 
 equally punished. It seemed as if the enormity of their 
 offences had stopped the channels of pity, and an unanimous 
 requisition for vengeance was made by a whole population. 
 . 
 
 The offices of the newspapers published on that day were 
 beset by eager purchasers, and the presses kept constantly 
 at work could scarcely supply the unceasing demand. It has 
 been computed, that eight thousand copies, in addition to 
 their ordinary circulation, were sold in one week by the 
 Edinburgh newspapers alone. 
 
 A general outcry has been raised for the blood of the 
 miscreant Hare, and if he, who is believed to have been 
 the author and principal actor in so many murders, be suf- 
 fered to escape, it will be to the disappointment of the pub- 
 lic ; every confidence, is, however, felt in the Lord Advo- 
 cate. He, it is understood, is still actively prosecuting his 
 inquiries, and as long as the ruffian and his wife are de- 
 tained in custody, hopes are cherished that it is with a view 
 of putting them upon their trial. Discussions have taken 
 place as to the policy and legality of such a course, some of 
 which will be found in the subsequent parts of this work. It 
 is not our part to decide upon the question, but apparently 
 nothing will allay the public ferment until either a resolution 
 to sift the matter regarding them to the bottom be promul- 
 gated, or some official annunciation of its impracticability be 
 made public. 
 
106 WEST POUT MURDERS. 
 
 CONDUCT IN LOCK-UP-HOUSE. 
 
 After the trial, Burke and M'Dougal were removed to 
 the Lock-up-house ; Hare and his wife followed, and were 
 lodged in different apartments. Burke had hardly been 
 seated, when looking round, he said to the officers who had 
 
 him in charge, " this is a cold place you have brought 
 
 me till." The officers had been long inured to moral turpi- 
 tude, to bacchanalian frenzy, and wickedness of every de- 
 scription ; but lying, as he then was, under sentence of 
 an ignominious death, for a crime of unparalleled atrocity, 
 his unseemly levity struck them with horror, and one of 
 them rebuked him sharply for his conduct. Burke stated, 
 that from the moment he heard that Hare had been ad- 
 mitted an evidence, he was aware that escape was impossi- 
 ble, and he was prepared for the worst. It was stated to 
 him, that as he had for some time lived a life of unexam- 
 pled wickedness, a fair confession of his crimes, arid an ac- 
 curate account of his life, might be read with interest, 
 and be of service to mankind ; he replied that he would 
 make no confession whatever till he had consulted his priest 
 on the subject. He stated, that he considered Hare was 
 the most guilty of the two ; for, said he, " he murdered the 
 first woman, he persuaded me to join him, and now he has 
 murdered me, and I will regret to the last hour of my exis. 
 tence that he did not share the same fate," One of the 
 officers stated, in Burke's hearing, " I think I could never 
 wish to see that man forgiven who could murder that poor 
 harmless good-natured idiot, Daft Jamie." Here the 
 wretched man stared intently on the officer, and replied with 
 peculiar emphasis, " My days are numbered I am soon 
 to die by the hands of man I have no more to fear, and 
 can now have no interest in telling a lie, and I declare that 
 
WEST FOKT MURDEKS. 109 
 
 I am as innocent of Daft Jamie's blood as you are. He 
 was taken into Hare's house, and murdered by him and his 
 wife ; to be sure I was guilty in so far, for I assisted to carry 
 the body to , and got a share of the money.* 1 
 
 He stated, in answer to direct questions of course, that it 
 was the general plan to look after poor and wretched strangers, 
 who were not likely to be inquired after by any person of 
 consequence ; but promptly refused to state, till he had con- 
 sulted his priest, whether or not he had been concerned in 
 any other murders than those with which he was charged 
 in the indictment, or whether he was in the practice of go- 
 ing to the country for the purpose of enticing poor wan- 
 derers to his house. He gave rather a different account of 
 the mode in which he put the poor woman Campbell to 
 death, from that given by his accomplice Hare. He stated, 
 that after the sham fight was over, she was thrown down on 
 her back ; that Hare seized her by the legs ; that he forced 
 the mouth of a bottle into her throat, and poured down 
 whisky till she was choaked or nearly so, and that he him- 
 self then sat down upon her, stopping up her nose and 
 mouth so completely that she died in a few minutes. About 
 three o'clock, he inquired if he might be permitted to offer 
 up a short prayer ; his request was instantly granted, and 
 the unhappy man prayed with great fervour for a few mi- 
 nutes. In the course of his prayer, he implored forgiveness 
 for the wicked life he had led, and more especially for the 
 great crime for which he was about to suffer on the gibbet. 
 He also entreated that his wretched partner in guilt might 
 be brought to a full sense of the crimes of which she had 
 been guilty, that she might repent, and atone, as far as it 
 was in her power to do so in this world, by a life of quiet- 
 ness, piety, and honest industry. At his request, the officer 
 read about half a dozen chapters of the Scriptures, to which 
 
110 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 he paid great attention, occasionally saying, u That passage 
 touches keenly on my crimes. 1 ' When preparations were mak- 
 ing for his removal to the jail on the Calton-hill, he requested 
 the officers to visit him in the prison. On heing informed 
 that there would be no admittance to him, he said, " Well, 
 well, though I should never see you again, you will see me 
 on the 28th January, at the head of Libberton's Wynd. 
 I have now only five weeks to live, and I will not weary 
 greatly for that day." While in the Lock-up-house, he ex- 
 pressed the greatest dread of the heavy irons in the con- 
 demned Cell. On reaching the jail, however, he was secured 
 in the usual way, and every possible precaution will be used 
 lest he should in some degree defeat the ends of justice by 
 suicide, and add self-destruction to the appalling list of 
 murders to which he has been accessary. No person has 
 since bee permitted to hold any conversation with him, 
 except his spiritual instructors. Though he has been 
 brought up in the Roman Catholic faith, and has intimated 
 his resolution to die a member of the church, in a belief of 
 whose principles he has been educated, he receives the visits 
 of the Rev. Messrs. Porteous and Marshall, with the same 
 pleasure he does those of the Rev. Gentlemen of his own 
 persuasion. He pays due attention to their exhortations 
 reads the Bible or some religious book constantly in their 
 absence, and is making every preparation for the great and 
 awful change which he must soon undergo. 
 
 The woman M'Dougal, upon her release from the 
 Lock-up-House, in which she had been detained for 
 two days for her personal protection, had the audacity 
 or folly to proceed to her old haunts in the West Port, 
 and even to venture to the street. She was quickly 
 
PORT MUUDERS. Ill 
 
 recognised, and a mob collecting, was in danger of being 
 roughly handled. Fortunately for her, the proximity 
 of the place to the police watch-office, enabled protection 
 to be immediately afforded, and with some difficulty she was 
 conveyed to the watch-house. The mob increased to a 
 somewhat alarming size for the slender force that was sta- 
 tioned there, and the officers had .to resort to an expedient to 
 prevent an assault. A ladder was placed at a back window, by 
 which it was pretended that she had descended ; this induced 
 the populace to depart, when she was e^cjrted to the head 
 office. Since then she has been several times exposed to 
 similar danger, and as often rescued by the police officers. 
 Finding the lower classes too much exasperated to allow her 
 to live in safety in Edinburgh, she left it, and proceeded to 
 the village of Redding in Stirlingshire, where her father is 
 now settled. It is said that she has since left that village, 
 and is living in Glasgow with Constantino Burke. 
 
 On Sunday, after her confinement in the Lock-up as 
 formerly detailed, this wretched woman related a horrible; 
 but a plausible story, to one of the subalterns of autho- 
 rity. She stated, that one night Burke and Hare were 
 carousing in one of the apartments of Hare's .human 
 shambles, on the profit of a recent murder. , In the 
 midst of their unhallowed orgies, Hare raised his liandj 
 and in a fit of fiendish exultation, stated that they 
 could never want money, for, when they were at a loss for 
 " a shot," (a body for dissection,) they would murder and 
 sell, first one and then the other of their own wives. Bein- 
 in the adjoining apartment, the females overheard, and were 
 petrified by this horrible resolution, as they had every rea- 
 son to be assured that the monsters would certainly carry 
 it into effect. A discussion of some length ensued, $ncj 
 Hare finally succeeded in persuading Burke to consent, 
 
112 
 
 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 that when the dreaded emergency did arrive, M'Dougal 
 should be the first victim. Hence, this woman may be sup- 
 posed to have win as imminent a risk of a violent death by 
 the hands of her inhuman husband, as she did of an igno^ 
 minious end on the gallows. 
 
 ANOTHER ACCOUNT. 
 
 When Burke was removed from the Court-room to the 
 Lock-up house, he was considerably agitated, and throwing 
 himself upon his knees, addressed a prayer to God, whom 
 he had so grievously offended. During the rest of the day 
 he was composed, and even spoke cheerfully to the police- 
 man who had the charge of him. He expressed his joy at 
 the acquittal of M'Dougal. He also said that the Irishwo- 
 man was murdered, not by him, but by Hare, in the man- 
 ner described in Harems testimony ; but admitted that, dur- 
 ing the shocking operation he held her hands. H e confess- 
 ed that he had participated in many more murders than 
 those he had been indicted for; and said, that after his 
 mind was composed, he would make disclosures which 
 would implicate several others besides Hare and his wife, in 
 the same crimes as those for which he was doomed to die. He 
 was asked how did he feel when he was pursuing his most hor- 
 rible avocation ? He replied, that in his waking moments 
 he had no feeling, but that when he slept he had frightful 
 dreams, which previously he had been unaccustomed to. 
 The fact is, that when awake, by means of ardent spirits, 
 he steeped his senses in forgetfulness ; and his excessive use 
 of spirits accounts for his absolute penury at the time of his 
 being apprehended. He expressed a wish that one of his 
 Counsel, whom he mentioned, would call upon him, that 
 
WEST FOUT MU 111) CltS. 
 
 lie might furnish him with nates of his life and adventures, 
 as he was desirous to have his history published. At night 
 he had short fits of sleep, during which he raved, but his 
 expressions were inarticulate, and he grinded his teeth in 
 the most fearful manner. Whenever he awoke he was in a 
 frantic state, but always recovered his composure ; and in 
 the course of the evening he read two chapters of the Bible. 
 At two o'clock on Friday morning he was removed in a 
 coach to the Calton Hill Jail, and put upon the gad. 
 
 CONDUCT IK JAIL. 
 
 Burke since he went to Jail has been remarkably com- 
 posed and devout. He has observed that he is by no 
 means a bigot in religion ; that besides Popish churches, he 
 had, when a soldier, attended Presbyterian, Episcopalian, 
 and Methodist ones, with the peculiar tenets of all which he 
 appears to be perfectly conversant. He says that he has 
 received instruction from good men of every faith ; and that 
 " real repentance and a strong belief," are sufficient to en- 
 sure salvation. 
 
 He mentioned at first that he would wish to have a 
 clergyman to attend him ; and upon being asked of what 
 persuasion he would like him to be, expressed indifference 
 upon that point, but wished only one who would point out 
 the way to salvation. He received the visits of the Reve- 
 rend Mjr. Marshall, minister of the Tolbooth Church, with 
 whose ministrations he expressed himself much satisfied, 
 and of the Reverend Mr. Porteous, chaplain of the Jail. 
 One day Mr. Marshall, and the Reverend Mr. Stuart, Ca- 
 tholic priest, called to see him ; and upon being asked 
 
114? WEST PORT 
 
 which he would wish to converse with, he replied that he 
 would have both ; he has also received visits from the 
 Reverend Bishop Paterson, and the Reverend Mr. Reid, 
 Catholic priests ; latterly, since the visits of clergymen of 
 his own persuasion, he has declined those of Mr. Marshall, 
 and they have consequently been discontinued. Whether 
 it be that the horrors of his wretched death have been miti- 
 gated in the contemplation by the familiarity with it, which 
 time must produce after the first shuddering sensations have 
 passed away and left a comparatively apathetic calmness, 
 certain it is, that he now displays less concern about the sin 
 than he did during the first few days ; he is penitent because 
 his crimes have been- detected and punishment awarded ; 
 but were not this the case, in all probability he would think 
 little of the heinousness of the offences. 
 
 lie continues to be particularly anxious that his associate 
 Hare should be brought to trial, and receive the punish- 
 ment he merits for his misdeeds, but asserts that it is 
 not from any vindictive or revengeful feeling that he 
 cherishes towards him, but from motives of humanity. 
 When conversing lately upon the subject, he stated his 
 perfect conviction, that if Hare should again be let loose 
 upon society, he would recommence his murderous career 
 when he wanted money ; at the same time he declared that 
 lie was afraid the spirits of his future victims would reproach 
 him in the regions of bliss, for not having taken means to 
 get Hare executed, and thereby preventing their violent and 
 untimely deaths. 
 
 A day or two after conviction he sent his watch and what 
 money he possessed to M'Dougal ; and when informed that 
 his mission was executed, expressed satisfaction, and ob- 
 served, " poor thing it is all I have to give her, it will be 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 11,5 
 
 of some use to her, and I will not need it." He speaks in 
 terms of great affection towards her, and anticipates that she 
 will be allowed to have an interview with him before hd 
 suffers. 
 
 He is free and communicative to those who are neces- 
 sarily about him, though strangers coming from motives of 
 curiosity are excluded. Had liberty been afforded to the 
 turnkeys to admit those who came, they might have cleared 
 a handsome sum : so much as two guineas has been offered 
 for admittance. He is watched day and night : and 
 throughout the night it is ascertained every half hour that 
 the watchman does not slumber at his post. Any thing 
 by which self destruction could possibly be effected is sedu- 
 lously kept out of his way. 
 
 He is afflicted with a cancer which has been incorrect! v 
 stated to have been produced by a bite from Daft Jamie, 
 It is of long standing, and distresses him much, and 
 would, in all probability, have ended his days at no dis- 
 tant period, if he had escaped the gallows ; and there is 
 little doubt that Hare would have had no compunction in 
 
 J| 
 
 transferring his comrade's body to the dissecting rooms, as 
 well as those he had so frequently trafficked in. This sore 
 keeps him in great pain, and along with some of the ad- 
 juncts of prison fare and treatment, tends to divert his 
 mine, from his spiritual state to his bodily discomfort. The 
 condemned cell, as he observed, is but a comfortless place, 
 cold and cheerless and dreary, where hope, at least in such 
 a case as his, never enters to enliven it ; chained in such a 
 place to the gad much confinement to bed is necessary to 
 produce a little warmth, especially at this season ; while 
 coarse bread and cold water are but unpalatable food for one 
 who was accustomed to spend his profligate gains in de- 
 
116 WEST POUT MURDERS. 
 
 bauchery and drunkenness. The very deprivation of ardent 
 spirits must be felt as an intolerable grievance, and while it 
 is properly withheld, food, that could in some degree 
 supply the craving for stimulants that such a long course of 
 indulgence cannot fail to have produced, might surely be 
 afforded. It is not from any notion that his appetite should 
 be pampered that we mention this, but from a desire that a 
 man in his awful situation, standing on the brink of eter- 
 nity, and to whom a few calm days may be of eternal im- 
 port, should not have his mind distracted by any needless 
 bodily mortifications. The law in this part of the island hu- 
 manely allows a period for the purpose of giving an op- 
 portunity of repentance to the criminal, and time to make up 
 his peace with God, while it at the same time annexes con- 
 ditions which in some degree renders the indulgence nuga- 
 tory for the purpose. The statute is a British one, and 
 probably the legislators did not contemplate that an interval 
 of six weeks should be spent upon this hard regimen. 
 
 Captain Rose, the Governor of the Jail, does all that hu- 
 manity dictates to alleviate his situation. 
 
 s BEHAVIOUR. 
 
 When the officers were removing Hare from the Court- 
 house to the Calton-hill jail, he is reported, to the hurror 
 even of those men accustomed to vice in its most hardened 
 and depraved forms, to have been seized with a fit of dia- 
 bolical glee at his fancied escape from justice. There is 
 something awfully appalling in the merriment of a being 
 who a few minutes before, had, to save himself from a 
 merited fate on the gallows, by his testimony consigned his 
 guilty partner to an ignominious death, -the comrade too 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 whom he had lured to the commission of the crimes, and 
 instructed in the manner of executing them. It might oven 
 have been supposed, that the recollection of the appearance 
 he made in the witness' box, when he could only escape from 
 the avowal of numberless murders, by skulking under the 
 privilege of his situation, would have prevented his un- 
 seasonable mirth. His wife and he have since been kept in 
 confinement, and inquiries have been instituted, apparently 
 for the purpose of attempting to prove some of the nume- 
 rous charges of murders alleged against him, which, although 
 unauthenticated and unproved, have assumed such a shape 
 as to be worthy of official investigation. 
 
 Stories have been sent abroad of his anxiety to shun the 
 public gaze, and muffling himself under the bed-clothes when 
 visited by the authorities. Usually, however, he shows no 
 such indisposition to publicity ; but amuses himself in the 
 airing ground attached to the ward, along with the other 
 prisoners confined in it, and exhibits no disinclination to be 
 looked at. He has the appearance of the greatest effron- 
 tery ; and whether from design or apathy, appears uncon- 
 scious of his being remarkable, or that there is any thing about 
 him that could satisfy curiosity. He is generally disliked by 
 the prisoners, who, whatever may be their crimes, naturally 
 share in the universal aversion that causes any person, pre- 
 serving even a small portion of the ordinary feelings of hu- 
 manity, to shrink from contact with a deep-dyed murderer. 
 Joined to the horror of such companionship, another means 
 of annoyance accompanies Hare ; the ward is the greatest 
 object of attraction to the numerous visitors to the jail, and 
 a groupe is generally waiting his appearance ; the other 
 prisoners are thus either prevented from taking their usual 
 exercise, or subjected to the gaze of the assemblage. To 
 obviate this as much as possible, they are in the custom of 
 
118 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 shoving Hare forward, and forcing him to satisfy the public 
 curiosity, and thus rid - them of the annoyance for a 
 season. 
 
 It gives us no small pleasure to be able to inform the pub- 
 lic, that the Lord Advocate has caused inquiries respecting 
 these atrocious murders to be resumed with renovated zeal 
 and activity ; and it is said that Mr. Peel, Secretary of 
 State for the Home Department, has communicated with 
 his Lordship, requesting that the matter should undergo 
 a complete investigation. On one day no less than se- 
 ven individuals, including four resurrectionists, and three 
 persons who were in the habit of frequenting Hare's house, 
 were examined ; the different anatomical lecturers and va- 
 rious medical gentlemen have likewise been examined. 
 We may also mention that one of the macers of the High 
 Court of Justiciary has apprehended a woman in Glasgow, 
 who had been servant to Hare, and there are no slight 
 grounds to hope, that she and the others will unfold a tale of 
 horror, which will cause a jury to consign that acknowledged 
 murderer to the ignominious death he deserves. He is be- 
 ginning to get remarkably uneasy in his confinement ; and 
 his anxious inquiries at the turnkeys in the jail, the decline 
 of his health, and the dogged silence he maintains, evince 
 that he is labouring, as he well may, under the most serious 
 apprehension. 
 
 Public clamour is also loud against him and his wife ; 
 and every one is anxious, if it were at all possible, that cri- 
 minal proceedings should be commenced against them. We 
 have no doubt, however, that those who have so successful- 
 ly investigated and brought to light those foul proceedings, 
 will anxiously deliberate, and firmly resolve, on what is best 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 119 
 
 to be done. They have before them all the evidence, and to 
 their sound discretion the whole matter may be safely 
 left. 
 
 It is stated upon good authority, that measures have been 
 taken, with the sanction and by the authority of the nearest 
 kindred of James Wilson, commonly called " Daft Jamie," 
 for investigating into the cause and manner of his death, 
 and, if possible, bringing those concerned in his alleged 
 murder to punishment. For this purpose, an able and 
 active agent has been employed, and Mr. Jeffrey, we under- 
 stand, is already retained as senior counsel for the intended 
 prosecution, while other eminent counsel have also been 
 retained. 
 
 The public at large are making anxious and universal 
 inquiry after Pateison. This man, instead of checking at 
 once the course of murder, and bringing the murderers to 
 justice, encouraged the homicides and profited by the horrid 
 traffic. Had he procured only such bodies as were indis- 
 pensable for his employer's hall, dire necessity might have 
 been urged as a slight palliation of his odious conduct, but 
 he enjoined the assassins to " procure as many subjects as 
 they could,"" " asked no questions," and it is beyond dis- 
 pute, that he offered the body of the woman Docherty to an 
 eminent lecturer in town for L.I 5, who spurned the pro- 
 posal with merited indignation and contempt. It was proved 
 on Burke 1 s trial that he never paid more than L.10 for a 
 body, and had this gentleman accepted his offer, here was at 
 once a profit to Paterson of L.5. It will ever be regretted 
 if no severer punishment than universal reprobation and ab- 
 horrence overtake this wholesale dealer in the bodies of his 
 murdered fellow subjects. He has not absconded, as has 
 been reported, though discharged from Dr. Knox's service ; 
 he is still in Edinburgh. 
 
120 WEST ?ORT MURDERS. 
 
 Great numbers have been attracted to the habitations of 
 Burke and Hare, where the slaughters were carried on. 
 Mr. Alston, the witness on the trial, who has the key of 
 Burke's den, has been much annoyed by the multitudes who 
 have beset him for admission. He has somewhat unusual 
 punctilios against making profit by the transaction, and, 
 not unreasonably, is unwilling to be farther troubled. In- 
 deed, little damage could be done now though the doors of 
 both houses were thrown open, and the public freely ad- 
 mitted ; the places are completely dismantled, and only the 
 bare walls remaining. The only danger to be feared is, that 
 the eagerness to procure reliques, which has been so strange- 
 ly manifested, should induce some individuals to break up 
 the doors and windows. Great anxiety has been shown to 
 be possessed of some article or other which belonged to the 
 peerless criminals ; one man boasts that he has got Burke's 
 hammer; another that he has obtained that invaluable ar- 
 ticle Hare's whisky bottle ; a third has had the marvellous 
 good fortune to secure Burke's cane, while others have ac- 
 tually carried off small pieces of wood, in order to be con- 
 verted into snuff-boxes, or some articles of fancy. Hare's 
 furniture, if the trumpery sticks that decorated his walls and 
 supplied the place of furniture can be called such, has been 
 safely deposited in an adjacent cellar, which is securely pad- 
 locked, and all chance of a curiosity-monger getting access to 
 the precious store excluded. In the late case of Corder, the 
 rope that hanged the criminal was said to have been sold at 
 the rate of a guinea per inch, and if the Edinburgh hangman 
 be as well acquainted with the art of turning the penny as his 
 southern prototype, he may possibly contrive to supply as large 
 a demand as the taste of the public creates at the same rate, 
 
 7 
 
BITJKKES MUBE F1RQM THE BACK 
 
 \.Burke's Window 
 
 B. Back entr ance.wb ore the Bo die severe Isroug-ht out 
 

WEST POUT MURDERS. 121 
 
 every inch, of course, being a genuine part of the cord by 
 which Burke was suspended. 
 
 A sagacious personage, who is troubled with none of Mr. 
 Alston's scruples, observing that Hare's house was an ob- 
 ject of great attraction, rented it for a specific time, and 
 shows it for a trifle to the visitors. His speculation will pro- 
 bably be a profitable one, as scores are frequently waiting 
 their turn for admittance. 
 
 Both places seem admirably adapted for the deeds of 
 darkness that were carried on in them ; a happier choice 
 could scarcely have been made, although the occupation 
 of them had been the result of design instead of accident, 
 as it certainly was in Burke' s case. Situated in the heart 
 of a swarming population, and the resort of every sort of 
 vagrant, they are still retired and apart from observa- 
 tion. In approaching Burke's you enter a respectable 
 looking land from the street, and proceed along a pas- 
 sage and then descend a stair, and turning to the right a 
 passage leads to the door, which is very near to Connaway's 
 and almost directly opposite to Mrs. Law's ; a dark passage 
 within the door leads to the room ; to this passage the wo- 
 men retreated while the murder was committed. The 
 room is small, and of an oblong form ; the miserabl 6 
 bed occupied nearly one end of it, (that next the door,) 
 so that the women must have almost stepped over the 
 poor old woman, while Burke was stifling her, when they 
 went into the passage. For some days after the trial, 
 every thing remained in the position in which it had been 
 when they were arrested, and presented a disgusting pic- 
 ture of squalid wretchedness ; rags, and straw, mingled with 
 implements of shoemaking, and old shoes and boots, in 
 
 such quantities as Burke' s nominal profession of a cobbler 
 6. 
 
WliXT PORT MURDERS. 
 
 could never account for. A pot full of boiled potatoes was 
 a prominent object. The bed was a coarse wooden frame, 
 without posts or curtains, and filled with old straw and rags. 
 At the foot of it and near the wall was the heap of straw un- 
 der which the woman Campbell's body was concealed. The 
 window looks into a small court, closed in by a wall. At 
 the top of the stair leading down to the room is a back en- 
 trance from a piece of waste ground, across which the body 
 was conveyed by M'Culloch. There are several outlets from 
 it. Nobody can, however, discover where the cellar is 
 situated in which it is said the subjects were concealed ; they 
 were apparently conveyed direct from the shambles to the 
 dissecting-rooms. 
 
 Hare's house is a little further west, in a dirty, low, 
 wretched close called Tanner's Close, which also opens off 
 the West Port, from which it descends a few steps. It has 
 likewise a back entrance, which communicates with the 
 waste ground behind Burke's. It is a dwelling of more pre- 
 tension than Burke's, being self-contained and possessing 
 three apartments. It is a one storey house, and though the 
 interior is liable to be observed by any passer-by from the 
 close, it is not immediately connected with other dwellings. It 
 was, before the trial, completely divested of furniture : when 
 occupied, it was fitted up as a lodging for beggars and other 
 wanderers, and " beds to let" invited vagrants to enter, fre- 
 quently to their destruction. The outer apartment is large, 
 and was all round occupied by wretched beds ; one room 
 opening from it is also large for such a place, and was fur- 
 nished in the same manner. So far from any concealment be- 
 ing practised, the door generally stood open, and we have men- 
 tioned above that the windows were overlooked by the passen- 
 gers in the close ; but there is a small inner apartment or 
 closet, the window of which looks only upon a pig-stye and 
 dead wall, into which it is* asserted they were accustomed to 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 123 
 
 .conduct their prey to be murdered. No surprise could have 
 been excited by cries of murder issuing from such a riotous 
 and disorderly house, but it was unlikely that any could 
 reach the ear from the interior den ; and even though they 
 had, the house might have borne a fair semblance in front, 
 while the murderous work went on behind. In the inner 
 apartment Burke used to work when a lodger in Hare's, 
 when he did work, which was seldom. 
 
 When we consider this most singular and atrocious con- 
 spiracy, and the characters of the different actors in it, as 
 we understand them to be, it should seem as if they had 
 each of them their allotted parts in the bloody drama. 
 Hare, as far as we can learn, is a rude ruffian, with all the 
 outward appearance of a ruffian ; drunken, ferocious, and 
 profligate ; and far likelier to repel than to ensnare any one 
 by a specious show, which he is quite incapable of assum- 
 ing. He appears, however, to have been the more deeply 
 designing of the two ; and to have over-reached his asso- 
 ciate, Burke, whom he succeeded in always thrusting for- 
 ward, with a view, we have no doubt, of turning short upon 
 him, as he has done at the last, and consigning him to the 
 gallows, when this should be necessary, in order to save 
 himself. Burke was indeed the only one of the two quali- 
 fied to manage the out-door business of the copartnery, and 
 he it was, accordingly, who always went out to prowl for 
 victims, and to decoy them to their destruction. In his 
 outward manners he was entirely the reverse of Hare. He 
 was, as we learn from good authority, quiet in his demean- 
 our ; he was never riotous ; was never heard cursing and 
 swearing ; and even when he was the worse of drink, he 
 walked so quietly into his own house, that hi* foot was 
 
124 
 
 WEST POHT MURDERS. 
 
 scarcely heard in the passage. He was of a fawning ad- 
 dress, and was so well liked by the children in the neigh-, 
 bourhood, that each was more ready than another to do his 
 errands. The riots which often occurred in the house, and 
 in which Hare always bore a conspicuous part, were, there 
 is every reason to believe, got up on purpose, either when 
 they were in the act of committing murder, or that the 
 neighbours might not -be alarmed at the noise which inevi- 
 tably accompanied the mortal struggle between them and 
 the unhappy inmates whom they had enticed into their 
 dwelling. 
 
 MURDER OF MARY PATERSON. 
 
 The first murder which was charged against Burke, al-*- 
 though it is surmised that several had been committed be- 
 fore that time, is that of the girl Paterson, who was about 
 eighteen or twenty years of age. It appears that this girU 
 with one of her associates, Janet Brown, had been lodged 
 in the Canongate Police Office on Tuesday night, the 
 8th of April. They were kept till six o'clock next morn- 
 ing, when they went to the house of one Swanston, to pro- 
 cure spirits. Here they were met, for the first time, by 
 Burke, who asked them to drink. He afterwards prevail- 
 ed on them to go with him to breakfast, and gave them 
 two bottles of spirits to carry along with them. They 
 accompanied him to Constantine Burke's house, in the 
 Canongate. This man was a scavenger, and went 
 out at his usual hour to his work. After they had 
 been in the house for some time, Burke and his wife be- 
 gan to quarrel and to fight* which seems to have been the 
 usual preliminary to mischief. In the midst of this uproar, 
 
WEST PORT MURDEIIS. 125 
 
 Hare, who had been sent for, and who was a principal 
 agent in this scene of villany, entered, and in the mean 
 time Janet Brown, agitated seemingly, and alarmed by the 
 appearance of violence, wished to leave the house, and to 
 take her companion along with her. By this time it was 
 about ten o'clock on Wednesday morning, and Paterson 
 was asleep in one of the beds, totally unconscious of her 
 approaching fate. The other girl went out, and was absent 
 about twenty minutes. When she returned she asked for 
 Paterson, and was told that she had left the house. By 
 this time she was murdered. She came back in the after- 
 noon in search of her, and received the same answer. Burke 
 had availed himself of the short interval of twenty minutes, 
 during which her companion Janet Brown was absent, to 
 execute his horrid purpose when she was asleep, by stopping 
 her breath ; and that very afternoon, between five and six 
 o'clock, her body was taken to the dissecting room and dis- 
 posed of for L.8. The appearance of this body, which was 
 quite fresh, which had not even begun to grow stiff, and 
 of which the face was settled and pleasant, without any ex- 
 pression of pain, awakened suspicions, and Burke was 
 strictly questioned as to where he procured it. He easily 
 framed some plausible excuse, that he had purchased it from 
 the house where she died, which silenced all further sus- 
 picion. 
 
 JANET BROWN S STATEMENT RELATIVE TO THE MURDER 
 OF PATERSON. 
 
 The following is the account of the circumstances con- 
 nected with the death of the unfortunate girl, Mary Pater- 
 son, who was murdered in Cohstantine Burke's house, in 
 Gibb's close Canongate, as given by her companion, Janet 
 
126 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 Brown. Brown, though a girl of the town, seems possess*, 
 ed of considerable intelligence, and tells her story with dis- 
 tinctness and with every mark of apparent truth. She 
 does not appear disposed to exaggerate, but rather seems 
 unaware of the inference that may be drawn from some parts 
 of the statement. This account has been communicated by 
 herself, and is taken down nearly in her own words. 
 
 Mary Paterson and she, after leaving the Canongate 
 watch-house, between four and five o'clock in the morning 
 on which the murder was committed, proceeded to the house 
 of an acquaintance, Mrs. Lawrie, where they had formerly 
 lodged. Mrs. Lawrie wished them to remain. They, how- 
 ever, left the house in a very short time, and went to a 
 spirit-dealer's in the Canongate, named Swanston. They 
 had there a gill of whisky, and while drinking it, they ob- 
 served Burke, who, in company with Swanston, was drink- 
 ing rum and bitters. He entered into conversation with 
 the girls, and affected to be much taken with them, and three 
 gills of rum and bitters were drank at his expense. He 
 wished them to accompany him to his lodgings, which he 
 said were in the neighbourhood, and upon Brown express- 
 ing reluctance, was very urgent that she should go, say- 
 ing that he had a pension and could keep her handsomely, 
 and make her comfortable for life, and that he would stand 
 between them and harm from the people in the house. This 
 particular attention to her, she supposes to have been in 
 consequence of finding her more shy and backward than 
 Paterson, who was always of a forward fearless disposition. 
 They consented to go along with him, and he promised them 
 breakfast when they reached the house. He purchased, be- 
 fore leaving Swanston's, two bottles of whisky, and gave one 
 to each of the girls to carry. He then conducted them to 
 Constantine Burkc's house in Gibb's close. They found 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 there Constantine and his wife; when they arrived the fire 
 was not lighted, and William Burke swore and abused the 
 woman for her negligence. 
 
 The fire was afterwards lighted up, and breakfast, con- 
 sisting of tea, bread, eggs, and Finnan haddocks prepared; 
 but during this process, the two bottles of whisky were pro- 
 duced and partly drank by Burke, Constantine, his wife, 
 and the two girls. Constantine partook only of part of it, 
 having in the meantime left the house to his work as a sca- 
 venger. 
 
 Before the whisky was finished, however, Burke had re- 
 quested Brown to leave the house along with him. He seems 
 to have considered Paterson as already sufficiently intoxi- 
 cated for his m\urderous purpose, and to have applied him- 
 self more particularly to Brown, on whom the spirits had 
 not taken so much effect. Finding that the enormous quan- 
 tity of whisky had not yet produced the requisite effect upon 
 her, he accompanied her to a neighbouring public house, 
 where he proceeded further in his design of stupifying her, 
 by giving her two bottles of porter which he also partook of, 
 and a pie. All along, it is remarkable, that Burke, al- 
 though he seems never to have lost sight of his object, but 
 to have adopted every method to further it, should never- 
 theless have partaken as freely of the liquors consumed as if 
 he had no other intent than to produce intoxication on him- 
 self as well as his intended victims, and it appears surprising 
 that such a quantity of ardent spirits, joined to the porter, 
 should not have disqualified him for carrying on the plot. 
 He has, since his conviction, mentioned that it had produced 
 this effect, and that he was intoxicated when the murder 
 was committed. 
 
 After leaving this public-house, Brown was again taken 
 
128 WEST PORT MUHJ)R$. 
 
 to ConstantineX and the second bottle of whisky finished. 
 While engaged on it, M'Dougal, who had hitherto been un- 
 observed, suddenly started from a bed, and joined in drinking 
 the spirits. When she appeared, Constantine's wife whis- 
 pered to the girls that she was Burke's wife, and upon her 
 upbraiding him for his conduct, Brown apologised for 
 being in his company, mentioning that they did not know 
 him to be a married man, otherwise they would not have 
 eome, and proposed then to leave the house. M' 6 Dougal re- 
 plied that she did not blame them, but that it was his constant 
 practice to desert her and spend his money upon loose wo- 
 men, She requested them to sit still, and seemed anxious 
 that they should not go away. The quarrelling between 
 Burke and her then got more violent, and she took up the 
 eggs which had been set down for breakfast and threw them 
 into the fire. Upon this Burke took up a dram glass and 
 flung it at her ; it hit her forehead above the eye and 
 cut it. 
 
 At the commencement of the uproar, Constantine Burke's 
 wife ran out of the house, as Brown supposes for the purpose 
 of bringing Hare ; indeed, as she saw no other person dis- 
 patched any where, it is difficult to account otherwise for this 
 vampire's speedy appearance. After her departure Burke 
 succeeded in turning M'Dougal out of the house, locking 
 the door upon her. By this time Paterson was lying across 
 the bed in a state nearly approaching to insensibility, and 
 the murderer seems to have considered her as incapable of 
 exertion, and certain to fall an easy prey when he had lei- 
 sure to finish her. On this account, doubtless, he endea- 
 voured to commence his diabolical work upon her more ac- 
 tive companion ; he affected great kindness towards her, and 
 pressed her to go along with him into the bed which M'Dougal 
 had so recently left. As she herself .observes, however 
 
 8 
 
much she might have been disposed to yield to his wishes, she 
 could scarcely have done so after the brawl she had so recently 
 witnessed, and while M'Dougal was still making a noise at 
 the door and knocking for admittance, and she peremptorily 
 refused. Fortunate it was for her that she did so, as there can 
 be no doubt about his purpose, if he had succeeded in get- 
 ting her into the bed, and once there it cannot be questioned 
 that it was intended she should never leave it alive. 
 
 The confusion and uproar which had most probably been 
 got up at first, as was their usual custom, to cover the com- 
 mencement, and continued afterwards to drown the cries 
 of the victims, had in this instance an opposite effect, 
 and Brown, who had become much alarmed by their pro- 
 ceedings, though still unsuspicious of the horrible reality, 
 persisted in her wish to be allowed to depart, promising to 
 return in a quarter of an hour. Upon this promise she was 
 suffered to depart, and Burke at her request conducted her 
 past M'Dougal, who was still upon the stair-head apparently 
 much enraged. It is not easy to account for his allowing his 
 prey to escape from his clutches, probably he did expect her 
 to return, and perhaps she got off more easily, as Hare, who 
 if there is any difference in their desperate wickedness, seems 
 to merit the distinction of being the arch-fiend of the two, 
 had not yet arrived. If so, Brown again made a narrow 
 escape, as from the short time that elapsed before she return- 
 ed, when the murder was perpetrated, and Hare appeared 
 standing as if unconcerned ; he must have come within a 
 very few minutes of her leaving the house. 
 
 She went straight to Mrs. Lawrie's, and jestingly told her 
 that she would not remain with her, as she had got fine lodg- 
 ings now ; but after informing Mrs. L. of the circumstances, 
 f agreed to go back along with her servant, and endeavour 
 
130 WKST FOKT MUKDEKS. 
 
 to get Paterson removed. Upon her return, she did not 
 recollect perfectly the close in which the house was situated, 
 and applied at Swanston's for a direction to the residence of 
 the man who left his house with them. She was told that 
 they could not have gone with him, as he was a married man, 
 and did not keep company with such as they, but that she 
 would probably find him in his brother's in Gibb's Close. 
 Even after getting into the close and the stair, she did not 
 recognise the house, and entered that of a decent woman, 
 inquiring if it was there she was before. She was informed 
 that they kept company with no such people, but that it 
 would likely be in the house up stairs. They proceeded up 
 accordingly, and found there M'Dougsl and Hare and his 
 wife. Mrs. Hare ran forward to strike Brown, but was pre- 
 vented. Between her leaving Burke^s and returning, she 
 thinks there was only about an interval of twenty minutes. 
 
 Upon inquiring for Paterson, they alleged that she had 
 gone out with Burke, and added that they expected them 
 back soon, and invited her to sit down and take a glass of 
 whisky with them. She did so, in the hope that Paterson 
 might quickly return. Mrs. L/s servant then left them, 
 and M'Dougal commenced a narration of her grievances 
 from Burke 1 s bad conduct, and railed at him for going away 
 with the girl, and this while her murdered body must have 
 been lying within a few feet of her I In a short time the 
 servant returned for Brown, Mrs. L. having become alarmed 
 at her report, had sent her to bring her. No attempt was 
 made to detain her ; but she was invited to return, which 
 she promised to do. 
 
 In the afternoon she dkl go back, and was again informed 
 by Constantine Burke's wife that Burke and the girl had 
 not returned. 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 131 
 
 In answer to her subsequent inquiries and those of Mrs. 
 Worthington, in whose house they lived, it was pretended that 
 Paterson had gone off to Glasgow with a packman ; but this 
 reply did not satisfy Brown, as she knew that Paterson was 
 a well-educated girl, and could write sufficiently well to send 
 an account to her friends if she had left Edinburgh, which 
 she certainly would have done ; her clothes also remained 
 unclaimed. No more satisfactory intelligence, however, 
 could be obtained, and she never heard farther tidings of her 
 until after the murder of the woman Campbell, when the 
 mystery was developed, and the clothes which Paterson 
 wore were found in the West Port. Upon being confront- 
 ed with Burke and M'Dougal, she readily recognised them. 
 
 She believes firmly that Constantine Burke and his wife 
 were cognizant of the proceedings, both from their manner 
 at the time and the conduct of Constantine afterwards when 
 she questioned him about Paterson. Whenever she saw 
 him, which she frequently did at his work early in the morn- 
 ing, she inquired after her. His answers were always very 
 surly ; on two occasions saying, " How the h 11 can I tell 
 about you sort of people ; you are here to-day and away to. 
 morrow ;" and on another, as if in allusion .to the horrid 
 transaction, " I am often out upon my lawful business, and 
 how can I answer for all that takes place in my house in my 
 absence." 
 
 She represents Paterson to have been irregular in her ha- 
 bits, but not so low as has been represented, and appears 
 indignant at a paltry print of her, in which she is repre- 
 sented in the garb of a servant, a dress in which she never 
 appeared. She had been well educated for one in her situ- 
 ation,, and possessed a fine person, for which she was more 
 remarkable than beauty of face. The story which has ap- 
 
WEST PORT AILRlH-'.liS. 
 
 peared in the newspapers about her mother being a house- 
 keeper in the west country, Brown alleges to be unfounded. 
 She was a native of Edinburgh, and her mother is dead. 
 
 
 
 MURDER OF DAFT JAMIE." 
 
 The second murder charged in the indictment was 
 that of James Wilson, commonly known by the name of 
 " Daft Jamie ;" and the circumstances attending it were 
 even more revolting than those of the women Paterson 
 and Campbell. None of their misdeeds has excited a 
 greater feeling of indignation in the public mind. Jamie 
 was very generally known, and was a universal favourite. 
 His appearance marked the imbecility of his mind, and 
 was such as to make every one regard him with a feeling 
 of tenderness and sympathy. He was perfectly harm- 
 less and inoffensive, and possessed apparently great 
 kindliness of heart. To all who had occasion to be on 
 the streets of Edinburgh, whether at an early or late 
 hour, Jamie's appearance was perfectly familiar wan- 
 dering about, in every sort of weather, bareheaded, and 
 without stockings or shoes, and his good-humoured laugh 
 and salutation, by an awkward bow and twitch of the 
 front lock of hair, were readily recognised and replied 
 to. Though roaming almost constantly about in this 
 guise, he was never known as a beggar, but occasionally 
 visited certain houses, where he was admitted as a fami- 
 liar guest, and kindly entertained, while even in these 
 lie conducted himself in a modest unobtrusive manner. 
 He used to allege that he did not need money, as he had 
 sometimes the " feck o' half-a-croun on him." Jamie 
 was by no means, however, the moping idiot that he has 
 
WEST 1'OliT MURDERS. 
 
 been represented. Though undoubtedly imbecile and 
 incapable of any continuous mental exertion, he possess- 
 ed some small portion of intellect. To the boys of Edin-r, 
 burgh, his knowledge of the days of the month and week, 
 and facility in computing on what day of the week any, 
 given time would fall, were well known; indeed, he 
 sometimes appeared to serve in place of a kalendar to 
 them. His musical talents were also appreciated, and 
 he was often called upon to entertain his juvenile ac- 
 quaintances with a song, which he executed in tolerable 
 style. 
 
 He was scrupulously clean in his person and linen,, 
 changing it frequently. His hands and feet, though un- 
 covered, were also observed to be always clean. They 
 were peculiarly formed, and by his feet he is said to have; 
 been recognised by some of the students in Dr. Knox's 
 dissecting rooms. 
 
 It is a curious fact, that almost all the naturals who 
 have lately been known on the streets of this city, have 
 met with a violent and untimely end. Bobby Auld, a 
 cotemporary and acquaintance of Jamie's, was killed by 
 the kick of an ass, and afterwards became also a subject for 
 dissection. There is an anecdote told concerning them, 
 which is a curious instance of blindness to a personal de- 
 ficiency, joined to a just perception of it in another, and 
 at the same time exhibits in a strong light what we have 
 said of Jamie's innocent and artless disposition. It is 
 narrated that the two met accidentally one day some- 
 where in the neighbourhood of the Grassmarket. " It's 
 a cauld day, Bobby." " Aye is't, Jamie," replies Bobby. 
 " We wud be the better o" a dram hae ye ony siller? I hae 
 tippence;" "and I hae fourpence," says Jamie. "Oh, man," 
 
134 WEST PORT MUKDEUS. 
 
 rejoins Bobby, " that'll get half a mutchkin." They then 
 adjourned to aneighbouringpublic-house, where themoney 
 was produced, and the liquor ordered. But before any 
 of them had partaken of it, Bobby inquired anxiously, if 
 Jamie had seen " the twa dougs fechting on the street?" 
 " No," says Jamie, " I saw nae dougs fechting." " It's 
 a grand fecht though,' 1 replies Bobby, " and has lasted 
 half an hour ; its weel worth your seeing, and you had 
 better gang to the door and see it." Jamie accordingly 
 proceeded unsuspectingly to the street to witness this 
 wonderful dog fight, but speedily returned with the in- 
 telligence that he could discover no such conflict. "They'll 
 be dune then," coolly observes Bobby. " But what's 
 come o' the whisky ?" said Jamie, on observing the stoup 
 standing empty. " Ou, man," says the treacherous Bob- 
 by, " ye bade sae lang I could na wait." Upon Jamie's 
 being questioned what he had done to Bobby for this 
 false play, he replied, " Ou what could ye spy to puir 
 Bobby ? he's daft, ye ken." 
 
 Jamie, however, though inferior to Bobby in trickery 
 and low cunning, was much his superior in intellect. 
 His father is said to have been a decent religious man, 
 and took him regularly to a place of worship in the old 
 town on Sabbaths, which Jamie, after his death, perhaps 
 from habit, continued to attend. Wheri examined by a 
 respectable member, it was found that his religious know- 
 ledge was far beyond what could have been expected, 
 and superior to many whose appearance promised more. 
 His answers to questions \vere intelligent, and out of the 
 usual routine. 
 
 It is probable that this poor creature had been for 
 some time watched by the gang of murderers, and mark- 
 
WT.ST PORT M17KDKRS. 
 
 ed out as one that might be easily taken off without ex- 
 citing suspicion. They had very much miscalculated 
 however, both the. notice that would be taken of his dis- 
 appearance, and the degree of resistance he was capable 
 of making. Accident unfortunately threw him in their 
 way. He was met by Burke at nine o'clock one morn- 
 ing in the beginning of October last, wandering about in 
 his usual way in the Grassmarket. He instantly ac- 
 costed him in his fawning manner, and inquired of him 
 whether he was in search of any one ; he told him he 
 was seeking his mother, to whom, as he was a creature 
 of kindly dispositions, he was warmly attached. The 
 wretch at once saw that he now had him within his 
 grasp, and instantly commenced his schemes for drawing 
 him away to some convenient place where he might be 
 murdered. He contrived to persuade him that he knew 
 where his mother had gone, and would take him to the 
 place, and by coaxing and flattery he at length decoyed 
 him into Hare's house. Here those monsters of iniquity, 
 exulting over their deluded victim, began to pretend the 
 greatest kindness for him, and having procured liquor, they 
 pressed it upon him,. He at first decidedly refused to taste 
 it, but they so far wrought upon his good nature by their 
 assumed kindness, that they induced him to join them in 
 their cups, and then plied him so effectually, that he was 
 soon overpowered, and laying himself down on the floor, 
 fell asleep. Burke, who was anxiously watching his op- 
 portunity, then said to Hare, " Shall I do it now ?" to 
 which Hare replied, " He is too strong for you yet; 
 you had better let him alone a while." Both the ruffians 
 seem to have been afraid of the physical strength which 
 they knew the poor creature possessed, and of the use 
 he would make of it, if prematurely roused. Burke, ac- 
 cordingly, waited a little, but impatient at length to ac- 
 
WEST POUT MURDERS. 
 
 complish his object, he suddenly threw himself upon 
 Jamie, and attempted to strangle him. Oppressed as 
 he was with the influence of liquor, he was roused at 
 once by this assault to a full sense of his danger; and, 
 by a dreadful effort, he threw off Burke, and sprung to 
 his feet, when the mortal struggle began. Jamie fought 
 with all the fury of despair, and would have been an 
 overmatch for any. one of his ruffian assailants. Burke 
 had actually the worst of the struggle, and was about to 
 be overpowered, when he called out furiously to Hare to 
 assist him, crying that he would stick a knife into him if he 
 did not do so. Hare rushing forward turned the ba- 
 lance of the unequal conflict by tripping up Jamie's heels ; 
 and afterwards dragging him along the floor, with Burke 
 lying above him. None were present at this murder, 
 which was completed before mid-day, except the two 
 ruffians themselves. 
 
 This will be readily recognised as Hare's account, and ? 
 of course, it is fitted to show him in the most favourable 
 light which the circumstances will admit of. It is but 
 justice, however, to give the statement of his companion 
 in guilt, who, if there is any choice, is, after all, perhaps 
 tl}e one whose testimony is most entitled to credit. 
 
 Burke states that it was Hare who decoyed Jamie in- 
 to the house, and then sent for him to assist him in his 
 inhuman design, that Jamie not only peremptorily re- 
 fused to taste the liquor presented to him at first, but 
 actually did drink very little of it, and not nearly so 
 much as to produce intoxication, that he then sat down 
 upon the bed, reclining backwards and leaning upon his 
 arm, and that Hare sat beside him in the same position, 
 and after some time, impatient for his prey, began to 
 
WIST PORT MURDERS. 187 
 
 attempt to suffocate him in the usual way, by pressing 
 Ins hands over his nose and mouth. Jamie, however, 
 when he found him using violence, resisted stoutly, and 
 grappled with him ; and during the struggle, both fell off 
 the bed, and roiled on the floor. Hare then called for 
 Uurke's assistance, which he effectually rendered, by 
 falling upon Jamie's body, when, by their united efforts, 
 he was dispatched. 
 
 Jamie fought manfully, and did inflict some injuries 
 upon them ; but it is a mistake to suppose that Burke^s 
 cancer was produced in consequence of the bite which he is 
 said to have given. It was originally the effect of heat and 
 fatigue in walking, which he had neglected, and leading 
 a dissipated dissolute life afterwards, it reached the dan- 
 gerous state which it has now assumed. After Jamie's 
 death, Burke remarked that his clothes would answer his 
 brother, to whom they were given, and a pair of trousers 
 were afterwards recognised upon him by a baker in the 
 Cowgate, whose they had been, and who had given them 
 to Jamie. It was also observed that his son wore his 
 kerchief. 
 
 DISCUSSIONS RELATIVE TO THE TRIAL OF 
 HARE AND THE SOCII CRIMINUM. 
 
 Since the condemnation of Burke a very important 
 question has been agitated, not only among lawyers, but 
 in society and the public prints, namely, whether or 
 not Hare, or any of the other parties who were con- 
 cerned in the two murders that were libelled in the 
 indictment against Burke, but which were not brought 
 to trial, -can now, after having been admitted as 
 
138 WEST PORT MURDEHS. 
 
 evidences for the crown, be legally put upon their 
 trial for participation in those murders ? This is a 
 very nice and intricate question indeed, and it is likely 
 to be brought on for immediate discussion in a regular 
 shape, as the mother of James Wilson, one of the vic- 
 tims, has been advised that it is competent to her, as a 
 private party, to prosecute Hare, or any of the other 
 guilty persons, notwithstanding any arrangements into 
 which the Lord Advocate, as public prosecutor, has en- 
 tered with them as king's witnesses on Burke" s trial ; 
 and such is the strong current of public feeling in sup- 
 port of an attempt to bring Hare to justice, that a sub- 
 scription has been set on foot, and some of our nobility 
 and gentry of high rank have given the sanction of their 
 names, and the aid of their purses, to support the poor 
 woman, while eminent counsel and an agent as we for- 
 merly mentioned have undertaken the conduct of the 
 proceedings. Preparatory to such a prosecution, appli- 
 cation has been made, in name of Wilson's mother, to the 
 Court of Justiciary, to have Hare and his wife detained 
 in custody until an indictment shall be served, and the 
 other preliminary steps gone through, preparatory to a 
 solemn trial of the question. 
 
 In the meantime, it may be interesting .is a chapter in 
 the history of this frightful drama of real life, to combine 
 with the details formerly given such a selection from the 
 arguments which have already been maintained on this 
 point, as will afford a concentrated view of the discus- 
 sions which lie scattered over a number of different pub- 
 lications. And in doing this, we shall take the liberty of 
 lopping off such parts of the controversy as are extrane- 
 ous to the mere point of law, and as might tend to pro- 
 long any of that irritation and personality which very 
 
WEST PORT MUHDERS. 13Q 
 
 naturally, although not necessarily, mingle themselres in 
 public discussions, 
 
 We regret that the length to which these discussions 
 necessarily extend will prevent us from giving, so early as 
 was intended, a complete account of the Life of William 
 Burke, and the circumstances attending the murders, in- 
 cluding many interesting particulars hitherto unpublish- 
 ed. This will appear immediately after, and in the 
 meantime we trust that the public will appreciate the im- 
 portance of the question now presented to their notice. 
 
 The first publication, we believe, on this subject was 
 an article in the Caledonian Mercury, of which the sub- 
 stance is as follows : 
 
 It is now certain that no further proceedings are to be 
 taken against the persons concerned either as principals 
 or accessories in the late murders ; at least, we have seen 
 a document issued from a high quarter, the gist and bear- 
 ing of which lead directly to this inference. But the 
 matter cannot possibly be allowed to rest here. The 
 united voice of society calls loudly for further, deeper, 
 and fuller investigation ; and if the Public Prosecutor 
 refuse to obey that call, and redeem liis pledge to probe 
 and sift the whole system of iniquity to the bottom, there 
 is another place where the universal cry for justice, 
 which now rings throughout the land, will be listened to 
 and respected, and where even that high functionary 
 himself may be called to account for the mode in which 
 he has exercised the almost unlimited, certainly unde- 
 fined, powers of his office. We are quite prepared to 
 give him credit for the perfect purity and uprightness of 
 his motives in abstaining from the institution of further 
 
140 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 inquiries, and in wishing to allow the veil, of which a 
 corner only had been withdrawn, to drop for ever on, 
 scenes too horrid and bloody to be contemplated without 
 fear and trembling. He may have come under a promise 
 to the prime particeps criminwn which, as a man of 
 honour, he cannot violate ; and he may be actuated by a 
 desire to avoid, as far as possible, every thing calculated, 
 as he believes, to injure the schools of anatomy in this 
 city. But, in regard to the first of these grounds of 
 forbearance, (which the reader will observe we put 
 merely as suppositions) the public have nothing what- 
 ever to do with any private and extrajudicial obligations 
 of this sort, which however expedient or necessary in 
 some cases they may be thought, are in every case ille- 
 gal ; and the answer made to such an apologetical plea 
 will unquestionably be, that justice is not to be stifled, 
 nor a horde of murderers, and accessories to murder, 
 suffered to escape, because one of the horrid gang was 
 induced to " peach" by a promise of impunity and pro- 
 tection. That incomparable miscreant, steeped to the 
 very teeth in blood and slaughter, the origivator of the 
 assassinations, Burke' s master in the art of murder, and 
 a principal or an accessory in every crime which has 
 been committed, in short, if there be any gradations of 
 guilt in atrocities such as were never before heard of or 
 paralleled in any age or country, the most guilty, was 
 not surely a fit subject to be selected for clemency upon 
 the condition of betraying his accomplices : especially, 
 where these were so numerous that others less deeply 
 implicated might have been found equally capable of re- 
 vealing the whole mystery of iniquity. Besides, his evi- 
 dence, if evidence it may be called, was unnecessary and 
 useless. It was unnecessary, because, exclusive of his 
 revelations, there was abundant evidence to bring home 
 
WEST PORT MUKDEHS. 141 
 
 the crime charged to both of the prisoners ; and it was 
 useless, for what Jury would credit the testimony of a 
 wretch whose only title to be believed consisted in his 
 having been concerned in the perpetration of three, per- 
 haps thirty murders, who coolly admitted in the box 
 that he had stood or sat by, with perfect composure and 
 unconcern, while Burke was strangling the unhappy 
 woman for whose murder his life has been forfeited, 
 who had the most powerful of all human motives, and the 
 very strongest conceivable interest in saying every thing 
 which he deemed calculated to effect the destruction of 
 his quondam pupil and associate, and who must have 
 exchanged places with the pannel, if the pannel had been 
 acquitted ? We say, therefore, that we are utterly at a 
 loss to conceive upon what principle this execrable vil- 
 lain was admitted to " peach." 
 
 This was followed by an answer, reply, and various 
 replications, which we shall content ourselves with in- 
 serting in their order, denuded only of such portions is 
 might have perhaps been spared, but which must have 
 crept in unadvisedly, in the heat and hurry of composi- 
 tion for newspapers. 
 
 Edinburgh Advertiser. 
 
 Much dissatisfaction has been expressed that no more 
 of the horrid gang of murderers are likely to be brought 
 to trial, and, consequently, that Burke is the only victim 
 who is to be sacrificed to public justice ; but the decision 
 to which the Court came in restricting the Prosecutor to 
 the proof of one of the three charges exhibited against 
 Burke, however it may have been consistent with strict 
 justice, was attended with the necessary effect of prevent- 
 ing the disclosure of the circumstances connected with 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 the other two murders, namely, those of Mary Paterson 
 and of " Daft Jamie," for which the Lord Advocate so 
 strenuously contended, in the view of satisfying the pub- 
 lic mind; for, after Burke had been convicted under the 
 third charge, it was out of the question to proceed to try 
 him a second and a third time on the two previous accu- 
 sations. The limited nature of the disclosure thus pro- 
 duced has naturally led the public in the present state 
 of excited feeling, to call for the farther trial and punish- 
 ment of this atrocious gang. 
 
 We have heard, however, that no farther trials will 
 take place, and we can figure the reasons why. It is ap- 
 parent that there were just four persons engaged in these 
 horrid deeds, viz. Hare and his wife, Burke and M'Dou- 
 gal ; the latter of whom, though not actually married to 
 Burke, had lived with him as his wife, and had borne his 
 name for ten years, and was thus legally his wife. After 
 being detained weeks in jail, we understand, that not one 
 of these four prisoners, when examined as accused per- 
 sons, would acknowledge any share of guilt. In such 
 circumstances, if these persons had been all indicted, it 
 is obvious that the evidence against them would have 
 been merely presumptive, and considering the difficulty 
 even in convicting Burke, when two eye-witnesses swore 
 to the way in which the deed was done, it is plain that 
 all the four would have been acquitted. What effect 
 such a result would have had on the public mind it is 
 needless to inquire. The only course left to secure a con- 
 viction was to admit a part of the gang as witnesses against 
 the rest. To have taken the women as king's evidence 
 against the men, if they had been willing to speak out, 
 which it is believed they wei'e not, could have availed 
 nothing, as by law their testimony could not have been 
 
WEST POUT MURDERS. 143 
 
 received against their husbands ;" besides, their know- 
 ledge could not be of that extended nature which it was 
 desirable to possess. The only resource, therefore, must 
 have consisted in taking Hare, who, however criminal, 
 was not the leader of the gang. It may be well supposed 
 that Hare would not have been so well dealt with, unless 
 he had agreed to disclose, not merely the circumstances 
 connected with the murder of Docherty, but with every 
 other crime of that nature in which he and Burke had been 
 concerned, and that his wife, against whom he could not 
 give evidence, should confirm his statements so far as 
 consistent with her knowledge. Such information was 
 clearly indispensable for the safety of the public. It is 
 known that it was solely from Hare's consequent disclo- 
 sures that the murders of Mary Paterson and Daft Jamie 
 were ascertained, and that collateral evidence ^was obtain- 
 ed sufficient to warrant a charge against Burke as con- 
 nected with these murders. In both these cases, it is 
 certain that the bodies were recognised in the dissecting- 
 room, and in both, part of the clothes of the unfortunate 
 persons murdered, were found in Burke's possession. If 
 no other case was charged, it may well be supposed to 
 have arisen from the absence of such collateral evidence, 
 without which no conviction could have been looked for. 
 If we are right in this statement, and we have been at some 
 pains in obtaining accurate information, it would be impos- 
 sible to bring Hare or his wife to trial for crimes which 
 they had disclosed under such circumstances, even if 
 there could be evidence against them, which is no ways 
 likely. 
 
 M'Dougal has been tried, and a jury has thought fife 
 to acquit her of the only charge of which evidence could 
 be obtained of her accession ; and Burke has been con- 
 
144 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 victed, and he is to be executed. Deeply as we regret 
 that punishment should not reach a greater number of 
 those miscreants, we cannot shut our eyes to the ob- 
 stacles which may thus present themselves to its accom- 
 plishment, and must console ourselves with the reflection, 
 that if farther trials are not to take place, the public 
 functionaries are now well informed not only of the ex- 
 tent but of the nature of such practices; and, thus alive 
 as they must be to the dreadful consequences of such 
 crimes, the public has good reason to trust to the effect 
 of their vigilance and exertions in affording security to 
 the lives of the unprotected. 
 
 The Caledonian Mercury. 
 
 In a contemporary journal of Friday last, we observe 
 an article entitled " The West Port Murders," which 
 we think deserving of our special notice ; and as it is 
 substantively an answer to our legal argument respecting 
 the liability of Hare to be tried for the murders of Mary 
 Paterson and Daft Jamie, as well as a defence of the 
 Public Prosecutor, for declining to bring any more of 
 " the horrid gang of murderers" to trial, we feel ourselves 
 called upon to reply to it. In doing so, however, we 
 shall not fail to keep in mind that we have to deal with a 
 question of law and of fact merely, and that, differing as 
 we do toto coelo, from the Lord Advocate, in the view 
 which he has taken of his duty upon this occasion, there 
 is but one opinion as to the purity and uprightness of 
 the motives by which he has been actuated, and of his 
 desire, (unless opposed by technical difficulties,) to afford 
 the fullest satisfaction to the public. His Lordship, to 
 his infinite honour, has uniformly paid attention to the 
 strongly expressed sentiments of the country. 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 145 
 
 The article in question sets out as follows, for quo- 
 tation see pages 141 and 142, paragraph commencing, 
 " Much dissatisfaction, &c. 
 
 Now, we contend that this is altogether erroneous in 
 point of law, and that the writer, in order to arrive at his 
 conclusion, has confounded two things perfectly distinct, 
 viz. the legal effect of a verdict of conviction before sen- 
 tence, and the legal effect of such conviction after the 
 Court has been moved to pronounce judgment; and 
 after a sentence has been passed sinking the caput of the 
 prisoner. It is quite clear in law, that even a convic- 
 tion, upon a capital charge, does not and cannot destroy 
 the status of the prisoner; and for this reason, that the 
 verdict may be special, or inapplicable, or it may find 
 something different from the facts charged, or it may in- 
 volve a conclusion which is inept in law, so that, upon a 
 motion in arrest of judgment, no sentence can pass upon 
 it. Instances of this kind constantly occur; and every 
 one who is acquainted with the books of criminal law, 
 must be familiar with many of them. It follows, there- 
 fore, that if an objection were proponed upon any of 
 these grounds, and sustained by the Court, the prisoner 
 would fall to be dismissed simpliciter from the bar. But 
 until the Court be moved for judgment, it cannot be 
 known whether such an objection may not lie ; and, con- 
 sequently, it is manifest that a mere conviction, however 
 valid it may ultimately be found, does not and cannot af- 
 fect the status or destroy the caput of the prisoner, which 
 is the joint result of the verdict and the sentence. Hence, 
 we contend that the writer before us labours under a 
 complete mistake Li supposing that the decision of the 
 Court " in restricting the Prosecutor to the proof of one 
 of the three charges exhibited against Burke was attended 
 
 * 
 
146 WEST PORT MUHDERS. 
 
 with the necessary effect of preventing the disclosure of the 
 circumstances connected with the other two murders" and 
 that, " after Burke had. been convicted under the third 
 charge^ it was out of the question to proceed to try him a se- 
 cond and a third time on the two previous accusations" As 
 matters turned out, it was indeed out of the question to 
 try Burke a second and a third time for the other two 
 murders. But how was it out of the question ? Solely 
 on account of the error committed by the Prosecutor 
 himself in moving and obtaining the sentence of the Court 
 on the verdict of conviction which had been returned by 
 the Jury on the third charge, namely, the murder of the 
 woman Docherty : For the moment Burke was condemn- 
 ed to die, his caput was destroyed, he was dead in law, 
 and had no longer a persona standi in judicio ; conse- 
 quently, after such conviction and sentence, it was clearly 
 " out of the question to proceed to try him a second 
 and a third time on the two previous accusations." But 
 we have some confidence that no lawyer will maintain 
 the incompetency of proceeding to try Burke upon these 
 charges, had the Lord Advocate rested satisfied with the 
 conviction he had obtained, and delayed moving for sen- 
 tence. We will not argue a point so clear as this. It is 
 evident to us that the dilemma in which the Prosecutor 
 has placed himself is the consequence of his own blun- 
 der, and that Burke might have been tried on twenty se- 
 parate charges, if the indictment had contained so many, 
 but for the error committed by his Lordship himself in 
 moving the Court for judgment, and thus destroying the 
 prisoners civil personality, and, of course, his persona 
 standi in judicio. 
 
 After stating, what is perfectly true, that " the limited 
 nature of the disclosure thus produced has naturally led 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 147 
 
 the public, in the present state~of excited feeling, to call 
 for the farther trial and punishment of this atrocious 
 gang," the writer then proceeds to say : See paragraph 
 on page 142, commencing " We have heard, however," 
 &c. to end of the article. 
 
 Now, our readers will perceive that this just comes, in 
 substance, to the fact stated by implication in our Satur- 
 day's publication, that Hare and his wife were admitted 
 to " peach" upon a promise of impunity and protection. 
 But were the circumstances such as to warrant the Pub- 
 lic Prosecutor in giving such a promise, or accepting 
 disclosures from Hare in regard to the murders of Mary 
 Paterson and Daft Jamie, calculated to embarrass him, 
 in dealing with these miscreants, or to tie up his hands 
 altogether from proceeding against them on account of 
 these horrid crimes ? We maintain there were no such 
 circumstances, and our reasons for thinking so are alrea- 
 dy partly before the public. The defender of the Lord 
 Advocate says, indeed, that " there were just four per-. 
 sons engaged in these horrid deeds, viz. Hare and his 
 wife, and Burke and M'Dougal," and that if all four had 
 been indicted, " it is obvious that the evidence against 
 them would have been merely presumptive, and consider- 
 ing the difficulty experienced even in convicting Burke, 
 when two eye-witnessss swore to the way in which the deed 
 was done, it is plain that all the four would have been 
 acquitted." Now, all this is very loosely and inaccurately 
 stated ; for, in the first place, the Lord Advocate knows 
 as well as we do, that instead of jour, there were at least 
 seven persons concerned either as principals or accessa- 
 ries in these murders ; secondly, that independently of 
 the testimony of Hare and his wife, there was more than 
 " presumptive evidence" inasmuch as he himself rested 
 
14-8 WEST PORT MURDE11S. 
 
 the case against Burke on the other evidence adduced, 
 exclusive of Hare and his wife altogether; thirdly, that 
 the Jury paid no regard whatever to the testimony of 
 these wretches, yet convicted Burke of the charge libelled ; 
 and, lastly, that no other difficulty was experienced in 
 obtaining this conviction than arose from the Prosecutor 
 having to contend with the great talents of the Counsel 
 arrayed for the defence, or were inseparable from a pro- 
 tracted investigation into a great body of circumstantial 
 evidence. How, then, can it be maintained, that if Hare 
 and his wife had been included in the indictment with 
 Burke and M'Dougal, the whole four would have been 
 acquitted ? It is said, indeed, that these miscreants, par- 
 ticularly the former, made such disclosures in relation to 
 the murders of Mary Paterson and Daft Jamie, as ren- 
 ders it now impossible to bring them to trial for these 
 assassinations ; but even admitting this to the fullest ex- 
 tent, it is not pretended that they made any disclosures 
 connected with the murder of Docherty; and as their 
 testimony proved of no avail in facilitating or insuring a 
 conviction against Burke, the necessary inference is, that 
 the Prosecutor mismanaged his case in not including 
 them in the same indictment with their associate and 
 accomplice for that offence at least. But if people will 
 not seek for evidence they cannot find it. Why was 
 Falconer not sought out and brought forward ? Had the 
 Prosecutor apprehended this fellow and Paterson, and 
 afterwards admitted them as king's evidence, there would 
 have been no want of proof to convict the whole opera- 
 tive part of the gang, if not to go even farther than this. 
 The teachers of anatomy ought also to have been exa- 
 mined. They had it in their power to tell much that 
 had come to their knowledge, and to point out channels 
 by which more might have been discovered. Informa- 
 
WEST PORT MUilDERS. 149 
 
 tion of the most valuable description might have been 
 obtained from them, had it been required ; information, 
 which they were willing and anxious to give, and which, 
 we rejoice to learn, the Prosecutor is now taking the 
 proper means to obtain. 
 
 In the paragraph above quoted there are some errors 
 in point of fact, which are the more material and german 
 to our view of the case, because the mind of the Public 
 Prosecutor may have been misled by them, and his course 
 of conduct influenced by the misconceptions under which 
 he laboured. First of all it is stated that M'Dougal, 
 " though not actually married to Burke, had lived with 
 him as his wife, and had borne his name for ten years, 
 and was thus legally his wife." Jn his " confessions," 
 Burke states himself to have been living in notour 
 adultery^ which of course could only be the case upon 
 the supposition that a former wife of his own was 
 alive; which we understand to be the fact. M'Dou- 
 gal's connection with Burke, therefore, was not of 
 such a nature as legally to disqualify her for giving 
 evidence against him. Next, the writer is misinform- 
 ed when he says that Hare " was not the leader of 
 the gang." Further investigation, we are convinced, 
 will prove the contrary. Hare was engaged in this hor- 
 rid traffic before he formed an alliance with Burke; and 
 although the superior appearance, address, and physical 
 strength of the latter, led him to act as the decoy, and 
 to take a conspicuous share in the perpetration of the 
 murders, Hare, we are satisfied, was his master and his 
 tempter, as he is known to have been his constant asso- 
 ciate in all the murders he committed, except, perhaps, 
 one, which Burke alleges Hare did by himself when he 
 was in the country. It is really melancholy to " hear," 
 
150 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 therefore, " that no farther trials will take place," and 
 that, as far as the Prosecutor is concerned, Hare and his 
 wife are now free from all challenge. 
 
 Happily, however, there is one method by which they 
 may still be brought to justice. The mother of Daft 
 Jamie is alive; and it is competent for her to prosecute 
 for the murder of her son, upon obtaining the concourse 
 of the Public Prosecutor, which his Lordship cannot 
 withhold. This, we understand, is a settled point, and 
 we know of a case in which a private party similarly cir- 
 cumstanced came forward. It was in consequence of 
 several persons being shot, in Aberdeen, on the late 
 king's birth day, Captain M'Donach was that day the 
 officer on duty, and gave the orders to the military to 
 fire upon the mob, in consequence of which several per- 
 sons were killed. Politics then ran high, and his Majes- 
 ty's Advocate refused to bring the Captain to trial. But 
 a private party came forward ; his Lordship was obliged 
 to grant his concourse ; and Captain M'Donach was put 
 upon his trial. The Hon. Henry Erskine conducted the 
 case for the prosecution ; but in spite of all his efforts 
 the Jury acquitted the prisoner. We do not remember 
 how the instance was laid, and we have not time at pre- 
 sent to consult the authorities. We are quite certain, 
 however } as to the main fact, that the prosecution was 
 brought by a private party, with concourse of his Majes- 
 ty's Advocate, after that Functionary had refused to 
 prosecute in his own name. Now, the inference we draw 
 from this is, that the mother of Daft Jamie ought to come 
 forward upon this occasion ; and in order to enable her 
 to do so, a subscription should be immediately opened 
 for raising the necessary funds to defray the expense of 
 the trial. Were this done, hundreds, nay thousands 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. . 151 
 
 would subscribe to enable her to prosecute ; and we are 
 satisfied that the Lord Advocate would not only not re- 
 fuse his concourse, but would be pleased and gratified 
 with a proceeding calculated to relieve him from the 
 embarrassments with which he is at present surrounded. 
 
 Edinburgh Advertiser. 
 
 The Lord Advocate is blamed, not only for not having 
 possessed the gift of " second sight," and discovered 
 sooner that Burke and Hare, and their two wives, were 
 murderers. He is blamed in the second place, for having- 
 been able to procure the conviction of only one of the 
 gang. Hare and his wife, it is said, ought not to have been 
 made King's evidence. There was enough of evidence, 
 we are told, against their associates without them ; and' 
 we are desired, therefore, to adopt the conclusion, that 
 they were improperly screened from punishment, by 
 being invested with the character of witnesses. This is 
 really too much. But some persons, when disposed to 
 find fault, require, in the language of the proverb, " but 
 a hair to make a tether." It has proved so, in the pre- 
 sent instance. A better arranged case of proof, circum- 
 stantial and direct, has seldom, perhaps, been laid before 
 a jury, than that which was submitted to the jury on the 
 trial of Burke and M'Dougal. A train of more clearly 
 delivered and unshakenly adhered to testimony, on the 
 part of the unexceptionable witnesses, has seldom been 
 listened to. Yet, even when aided by the direct testi- 
 mony of Hare and his wife, for whose evidence we are 
 told there was no necessity, a jury, including individuals 
 of the most respectable character, unanimously found 
 the charge not proven against M'Dougal, while, at least, 
 two of them, it is asserted, contended for a similar ver- 
 lict even against Burke himself. Had Hare and his wife, 
 
15'2 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 therefore, not been witnesses, there is the best reason for 
 supposing that the conviction of none of the four would 
 have been obtained. It is surprising that, in such a 
 state of facts, the Lord Advocate should be accused of 
 having acted improperly, in admitting these miscreants 
 to the privileges of king's evidence. 
 
 In our last paper we endeavoured to show that his 
 Lordship could not have acted otherwise than he has 
 done. A contemporary of yesterday has reviewed the 
 remarks we then made. After affecting to consider them 
 as coming /rom a " higher quarter" than ourselves, in 
 order, of course to secure the greater attention to his 
 own observations he still contends that the Lord Ad- 
 vocate acted improperly in giving immunity to Hare and 
 his wife, and that if he had not done so, he might have 
 accomplished the conviction of more of the gang than 
 Burke. On a prima facie consideration of the subject, 
 this must appear very unlikely. His lordship was, of 
 course, in possession of all the evidence in its authentic 
 shape, the broken parts of which have been wafted, in an 
 exaggerated form, to the knowledge of the public. He 
 was, perhaps, aware too, that the murders had all been 
 so committed as to preclude the chance of direct evidence 
 of them, except either from Burke or Hare who were 
 accustomed, according to the recent confession of Burke, 
 to keep even their wives out of the way, on such occa- 
 sions. Our contemporary has not stated, and we, there- 
 fore, imagine, cannot state, that any third party, not of 
 the gang, ever witnessed a single one of the murders, or 
 was ever so connected with their perpetration, as to be 
 able to give any thing approaching to the requisite di- 
 rect evidence on the subject. He should be prepared to 
 do so, however, before censuring the Lord Advocate for 
 
WEST POUT MURDERS. 153 
 
 a mode of procedure which may have been, and which, 
 we believe, was wholly unavoidable. 
 
 Our contemporary objects to the extent of immunity 
 he supposes to have been given to Hare and his wife. 
 On this point, we should think, he need feel no uneasi- 
 ness. If king^s evidence was necessary if without such 
 evidence it be plain from what has occurred on the trial 
 of Burke, that there was more than a chance, a probabi- 
 lity even, that the conviction of none of the gang could 
 have been obtained we may rest assured that the Lord 
 Advocate offered no farther premium on the treachery 
 which he felt to be requisite, for the sacrifice of some of 
 them, than was absolutely necessary to insure it. 
 
 But then our contemporary thinks that, at all events, 
 a different selection ought to have been made, and that, 
 by the testimony of M'Dougal, had she been admitted as 
 king's evidence, Hare might have been convicted as well 
 as Burke. In our last paper, we stated that M'Dougal, 
 although not actually married to Burke, had, for ten 
 years, lived with him as his wife, and, in law, therefore, 
 was so, and could not be examined against him; and as the 
 other woman could not, for the same reason, have been 
 examined against Hare and neither of them could furnish 
 against the husband of the other, that clear and decisive 
 evidence required from socii criminis, to give it sufficient 
 weight ; the result of taking them as king's evidence 
 might, and probably would have been, the escape of the 
 whole four. Burke, however, it seems, has been confess- 
 ing since his condemnation, and, as one of his, confes- 
 sions is said to lead to an inference that his cohabitation 
 with M'Dougal could not make her his wife, as either 
 he or she were previously married, and the wife or hus- 
 
154 WEST PORT MURDEBS. 
 
 band of the former marriage still alive our contempo- 
 rary, on the tacit assumption that this even yet mysteri- 
 ously hinted at fact was or ought to have been known, 
 and capable of proof before the trial endeavours to give 
 the coup]de grace to our argument against the possibility 
 of having made M'Dougal give evidence against Burke. 
 His attempt to do so is founded on the result of what is 
 generally called, reasoning in a circle, and seems to re- 
 quire no farther notice. His whole argument, indeed, 
 on this part of the subject proceeds on this other as- 
 sumption, that the Prosecutor, in looking out for king's 
 evidence, has the selection of it entirely in his own hand. 
 This, we rather think, is but seldom the case ; and, 
 where the gang have been connected as husbands and 
 wives, the selection must often be prescribed to him, or 
 made imperative, by circumstances over which he can 
 have no control. Is our contemporary quite sure that 
 the Lord Advocate had not his hands tied, in this way, 
 in the present case ? 
 
 As to his lengthened argument to show that had the 
 Lord Advocate not moved for judgment against Burke, 
 when found guilty of the last of the three murders charged 
 against him, it would have been competent to have led 
 evidence of the circumstances attending the other two 
 we would simply ask, cui bono 9 What good effect could 
 have resulted from the leading of it? Hare and his wife 
 being protected as king's evidence against the conse- 
 quences of their participation in them, and M'Dougal not 
 being charged with them at all, they could only have 
 been proved against Burke, After what had passed, 
 must not this have seemed, in so far as Burke was con- 
 cerned, to be like the pouring of water on a drowned 
 mouse, and, in so far as the public was interested, to be 
 the exciting of feeling unnecessarily and without object ? 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 Our contemporary, in conclusion, asserts, that what- 
 ever immunity the Lord Advocate may have felt it ne- 
 cessary to give to the infamous Hare, the mother of 
 " Daft Jamie," taking advantage of the disclosures made 
 by that wretch under promise of pardon, is entitled to 
 prosecute him, with the concurrence of the Lord Advo- 
 cate, which concurrence, in all these circumstances, his 
 Lordship, he says, will be bound to give. This seems 
 very novel doctrine. We can only say, that we should 
 be extremely glad to think our contemporary correct in 
 laying it down ; and no man, we are certain, would be 
 more happy to think his reasoning without flaw, than the 
 Lord Advocate. 
 
 ' 
 
 There is still another point of dittay against his Lord- 
 ship, an insinuation that he is unwilling to prosecute 
 trains to the knowledge of other murders which are said 
 to have opened to him, and which are reported to im- 
 plicate other murderers than those already known to the 
 public. Such an insinuation might safely be contemned 
 by any one, and must be far too incredible, when made 
 against his Lordship, to find a couple of ears on the re- 
 spective sides of the most credulous head in the strong- 
 holds of credulity itself, to take it in. The Lord Ad- 
 vocate, we suppose, thinks coolly before he acts finds 
 put some person to be tried and on grounds inferring 
 probable conviction, before he institutes the trial ; and, 
 as our contemporary admits that he is still proceeding 
 in his investigations, the charge of unwillingness to pro- 
 secute, seems, even on his own showing, to be very pre- 
 mature, as well as incredible. 
 
 We are satisfied that, in the prosecution of Burke and 
 his associates, and in the investigation of the system of 
 
156 WEST PORT MUKDEKS. 
 
 murder with which they have been connected, the Lord 
 Advocate has done, and is doing his duty, ably, impar- 
 tially, and fearlessly, and that he is entitled to the highest 
 praise instead of the slightest censure. Feeling this to 
 be the case, we cannot withhold our humble effort to 
 make it appear so. 
 
 Edinburgh Observer. 
 
 The people are not satisfied with the imperfect dis- 
 closures that have taken place, and the trivial atonement 
 that is to be made to outraged humanity, by the death of 
 only one of the atrocious gang. There is a cry for blood 
 more blood throughout the land ; and coming, as it 
 does, from the bulk of the nation, it will require no little 
 discrimination and firmness, on the part of the Public 
 Prosecutor, to see his way clearly, and to keep it when 
 he has found it. A more difficult situation than his, at 
 the present time, we cannot well imagine. Even the ac- 
 tivity of the press, in reiterating the calls for further in- 
 quiry and for more victims, at the very moment when he 
 is known to be indefatigably employed in prosecuting the 
 one and searching for the other, has greatly contributed 
 to render his duties more harassing and ungracious. 
 Under a sincere, and, despite what others say, we 
 conceive a just impression, that all the monsters might 
 escape the gallows, as one of them has actually done, by 
 a verdict of " not proven," he permitted two of them to 
 purchase their worthless lives by bearing testimony 
 against their associates. That the Hares obtained this 
 immunity as being the lesser criminals in his estimation, 
 we do not believe. The fact of the particular murder, 
 which led to the whole discoveries, having been perpe- 
 trated under Burke's roof, naturally pointed out him and 
 his guilty partner as the more immediate objects of legal 
 
WEST POUT MUKDKKS. 157 
 
 vengeance. It is evident, that throughout the whole 
 business, the Lord Advocate has been actuated by the 
 most honourable anxiety to investigate the affair to the 
 uttermost; and had he not, at the very outset of the trial, 
 been urged into a concession to the legal scruples of the 
 counsel opposed to him, whose eloquence most assuredly 
 reft one wretch from the clutch of the hangman, not 
 merely one, but three acts of the horrid drama would 
 have been publicly revealed. It is stated, that since the 
 trial, his Lordship and his assistants have been unremit- 
 ting in their inquiries. He has attended almost every 
 precognition, and surveyed in person the foul abodes 
 which the murderers inhabited, and even the dwellings 
 of their victims. But he refuses to violate the public 
 faith, of which, in this instance he is the custodier, by 
 yielding up the tools he has been forced to employ, to 
 that punishment which they have so abundantly merited, 
 yet from which the nation stands pledged they are re- 
 deemed. God forbid that we should advocate the in- 
 demnity of these monsters on any ground, save the sanc- 
 tity of such a pledge. We question greatly, whether 
 Hare and his partner, cast upon the world with ignominy 
 and crime branded on their foreheads, are not more con- 
 dignly punished, than the wretched man whose days are 
 numbered, and whose doom, it is certainly not unchari- 
 table to predict, will yet overtake them. In the case of 
 Weare's murder, Probert, one of the accessaries, was 
 admitted to a like immunity. When his foul breath had 
 consigned one of his associates to the gallows, he was 
 allowed to go forth into the world a. free man; but, like 
 Cain, he found himself an outcast, and, in the course pf 
 a lew months,, was again arraigned as a felon, convicted, 
 and executed. 
 
 6 
 
158 WEST PORT MURUEKS. 
 
 Though we dissent from the summary mode of pro- 
 cedure which many people recommend, and conceive that 
 it would be a perilous innovation on the prerogative of 
 the Public Prosecutor to say, that in this instance, his 
 pledge of immunity shall be disregarded, unless some 
 new charge can be substantiated, we view the detesta- 
 tion so unaffectedly expressed by the public towards the 
 whole gang, as consolatory to humanity. Had crimi- 
 nals, with hands so deeply dyed in blood, found even one 
 commiserator or advocate beyond the walls of the Court 
 of Justice had any man ventured to whisper that the 
 crimes which they have perpetrated are not worthy of 
 death nay, had not the whole nation lifted up its voice, 
 and declared, that even death itself was but a miserable 
 atonement for crimes so monstrous, we should have re- 
 garded it as a national disgrace. It is to be hoped, how- 
 ever, that this laudable spirit will not degenerate into 
 tumultuary violence. The authorities, we are satisfied, 
 will not relax their efforts to develope the whole of these 
 sanguinary atrocities ; and, if the correspondence which 
 is at present carrying on between the Lord Advocate and 
 the teachers of anatomy should, in conjunction with 
 other investigations in progress, lead to the inculpation, 
 in the remotest way, of any individual, we are satisfied 
 that nothing will shield the culprit from the vengeance 
 of the law, be his rank or previous respectability what it 
 may. As yet only one individual of that body has been 
 in any way implicated in these horrible transactions ; and 
 we know that a feeling is prevalent that he has been 
 treated with greater delicacy than he deserves ; but the 
 culpability of one man must not be received as condem- 
 natory evidence against a whole tribe. An earnest de- 
 sire is entertained by the teachers of anatomy that the 
 fullest investigation should take place ; and if criminal 
 
WEST PORT MUBDERS. 159 
 
 laxity in the receipt of subjects can be traced to any 
 particular quarter, an ample exposition will follow. This 
 exposition they are entitled to demand ; for the reputa- 
 tion of the whole fraternity is perilled by the revolting 
 suspicions which the crimes of their caterers have en- 
 gendered. 
 
 The Caledonian Mercury, 
 
 THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR AND HIS 
 APOLOGISTS. 
 
 Mieux cents ennemis qitun imprudent ami. French Proverb. 
 
 The remarks which appeared in our Monday's publi- 
 cation, on the defence of the Lord Advocate inserted in 
 a contemporary Journal of Friday last, have been re- 
 viewed, not answered, in the columns of the same paper 
 of Tuesday ; and were it not of the very greatest import- 
 ance, at the present moment,, that the public should be 
 accurately informed respecting some of the points at is- 
 sue, we should have been well content to leave the sub- 
 ject to the decision of all competent persons, upon our 
 first and somewhat hurried statement. We trust that 
 we shall be excused for proceeding at once to deal with 
 the only matters of law and fact to which the writer has 
 thought proper to advert. 
 
 And, in the first place, (for the sake of perspicuity, 
 we shall take the different topics in. the same order as 
 formerly) the writer reluctantly admits the validity of 
 the argument which we adduced " to show that had not 
 
160 WEST PORT MUKDERS. 
 
 the Lord Advocate moved for judgment against Burke y 
 when found guilty of the last of the three murders charg- 
 ed against him, : it would have been competent to have 
 led evidence of the circumstances attending the other 
 two." But he asks, cuibono? " What good effect could 
 have resulted from the leading of it ?" We answer, first, 
 that it would have redeemed the Lord Advocate's pledge ; 
 and, secondly, that it would have satisfied the country. 
 Both in replying to the arguments of the prisoner's 
 Counsel on the relevancy, and in addressing the Jury for 
 the Crown, his Lordship distinctly pledged himself to 
 probe and sift the whole of these murders to the bottom. 
 In the former case, while contemplating being under the 
 necessity of deserting the diet against M'Dougal, owing 
 to the view taken of the indictment by the Court as con- 
 taining a cumulatio actionum, and the exercise of their 
 discretionary power in separating the charges, he said, 
 " The question is now reduced to one of time and trou- 
 ble ; for if I do not proceed against her to-day, she will 
 be proceeded against ten days hence. In such circum- 
 stances I shall not certainly insist now on that woman's 
 being tried on this indictment. I shall proceed against 
 her alone, since she now says that being tried on this in- 
 dictment will prejudice her case.' 1 And again, almost 
 immediately after, he added, " No motive shall induce, 
 me, for one moment, to listen to any attempt to smother 
 this case ; to tie me down to try one single charge instead 
 of all the three. I am told that the mind of the public is 
 excited ; if so, are they not entitled to know from tht first to 
 the last of this case ; and is it not my duty to go through the 
 whole of these charges? I would be condemned by the 
 country if I did not, and what to me is worse I should de- 
 serve it" The Court, in giving judgment on the rele- 
 vancy, fully recognised the propriety of this most distinct 
 
W'KST POKf MUltUEKS. 1(51 
 
 and articulate pledge; for Lord Pitmilly unequivocally 
 held, that it was competent to try Burke on all the three 
 charges, and that the Public Prosecutor should proceed 
 with the first and then with the others. Lord Meadow- 
 bank, entirely concurring in this view, expressed his opi- 
 nion, that while their Lordships sustained the indictment, 
 they should " direct the Lord Advocate to proceed se- 
 parately in the trial of the different charges." Lord 
 Mackenzie and the Lord Justice Clerk acquiesced in this 
 suggestion, and, in fact, it ultimately became the judg- 
 ment of the Court. Fortified by such authority, the 
 Lord Advocate accordingly reiterated his pledge in his 
 address to the Jury, and in terms equally emphatic and 
 unequivocal. Now, we would simply ask the writer be- 
 fore us. Was this sacred and solemn pledge redeemed ? 
 Were " all the three" charges tried ? Were they gone 
 through from first to last ? Did the Prosecutor do his 
 duty according to his own view of it, by going " through 
 the whole of these charges ?" He cannot answer in the 
 affirmative. By moving for, and obtaining judgment 
 against Burke on the conviction under the first charge, 
 he rendered it impossible for himself to redeem his 
 pledge ; and two of the charges were, in consequence, 
 dismissed without investigation. Now, was this not an 
 error in judgment, which is all we ever alleged ? Nay, 
 was it not an error calculated to place the Prosecutor in 
 a very embarrassing position in reference both to his own 
 pledge and to the public ? It is true the apologist says 
 that trying Burke upon the first and second charges, af- 
 ter he had been convicted on the third, would have been 
 " like pouring water on a drowned mouse." But we can- 
 not say we admire either the elegance or the felicity of 
 this illustration. The question is not one that concern- 
 ed Burke, whose fate was in fact determined by the con- 
 
 
 
162 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 viction under the third charge. It concerned the Lord 
 Advocate and the country alone ; the former as having 
 become bound to try " all the three" charges ; and the 
 latter as, by his Lordship's admission, " entitled to 
 know them from first to last," a knowledge which his 
 Lordship conceived it to be his " duty" to afford, and 
 which he would be deservedly condemned by the coun- 
 try if he did not afford. But the writer adds, that 
 taking any further proceedings was calculated " to ex- 
 cite the feelings of the public unnecessarily and with- 
 out object."" We are really surprised that any person 
 could have been found short-sighted and ignorant enough 
 to hazard such an assertion. What! was the exposure of 
 one murder, and the quashing of all investigation into the 
 circumstances of other two, calculated to allay the excite- 
 ment of the public mind ; or rather, was it not calculated 
 to produce the very opposite effect? A corner of the 
 veil only had been lifted up ; a glimpse merely had been 
 given of crimes which this very writer himself describes 
 as " destined in point of atrocity, to stand alone, and in 
 advance of every other that man has hitherto been known 
 to commit," and as covering up from the view " the very 
 outposts and limits of human wickedness; and then the 
 curtain was suffered to drop on others which it was 
 equally necessary that the public should know, and which 
 they were equally "entitled" to have fully and thorough- 
 ly brought to light : this was the course pursued ; ample 
 scope was given for the imagination to work, under the 
 influence of an undefined apprehension ; and yet we are 
 gravely told that this was the most approved mode which 
 could have been adopted to prevent an unnecessary ex-* 
 citation of public feeling ! Has it been attended, we 
 would ask, with any such results ? 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 163 
 
 Next, as to the unquestionable title of Daft Jamie's 
 inother to prosecute Hare for the murder of her son, 
 with concourse of the Lord Advocate, which concurrence 
 his Lordship may be compelled to give, our learned op- 
 ponent remarks, that " this seems very novel doctrine." 
 We certainly do not hold ourselves bound to instruct our 
 opponent in the first principles of criminal law ; but, for 
 the sake of a public purpose, we shall endeavour to show 
 that the doctrine we maintain, so far from being " novel," 
 is tritissimi juris, one of the most common and most 
 thoroughly settled principles in our criminal code. To 
 entitle a private party to prosecute, he must have an in- 
 terest, not remote or feeble, but immediate and powerful 
 in the cause ; the wrongs alleged must be wrongs done 
 to the person, and " of a high and aggravated kind, such 
 as may naturally excite strong feelings of anguish and 
 resentment in the minds of the kindred of the sufferer ;" 
 an oath of calumny must be taken by the prosecutor, if 
 required by the party accused ; caution must be found 
 to insist in the prosecution ; arid the law also subjects 
 the private prosecutor in expenses, and even in penalties, 
 if he insist in a groundless or malicious accusation. Now 
 has not the mother of Daft Jamie an interest in the pro- 
 secution we point at ? Was there not a wrong done to 
 the person of her innocent child who was foully murder- 
 ed ? May she not with perfect safety take the oath de 
 calumnia, if required ? And is it impossible for her to 
 find caution to insist, and to find means to defray the 
 expense of the prosecution ? The public, with their 
 usual generosity, will, we doubt not, give a practical an- 
 swer to the last of these queries; and as to the others, 
 we profess ourselves unable to discover that we have pro- 
 poned any " novel doctrine." 
 
WEST PORT 
 
 Again, we said the Lord Advocate might be compelled 
 to grant his concurrence in such circumstances; and we 
 think Mr. Burnett and Mr. Baron Hume will amply bear 
 out our assertion. The former, after stating at length 
 the conditions above briefly indicated, says, it is perfectly 
 understood "that his Majesty's Advocate cannot refuse 
 his concourse, and may be compelled to give it, in all cases 
 where the complaint of a private party is founded on a 
 known and relevant point ofdittay, (murder for example) 
 and as to which he has prima facie a title to insist." 
 pp. 306-7. And Mr. Baron Hume is, if possible, still 
 more explicit on the point. After stating that the Lord 
 Advocate may refuse his concourse, if it be asked to a 
 charge of withcraft, which a statute has expunged from 
 the list of crimes, or of treason for which no private par- 
 ty can prosecute, or of murder at the instance of some 
 stranger, who does not even allege that he is anywise re- 
 lated to the deceased, he goes on to say, " On the other 
 side, certainly the Lord Advocate is not the absolute 
 and accountable judge on such occasions; but is subject 
 to the control and direction of the Court, who will 06- 
 lige him to produce and justify the grounds of his refusal to 
 concur. Nay more; except in such extraordinary situa- 
 tions as those above supposed, he shall not even be alloiced 
 to engage in any inquiry concerning the merits of t/i3 case, 
 the propriety of the prosecution, the form of the action, the 
 sufficiency of the title, or the like, BUT SHALL BE ORDAINED 
 To COMPLY STRAIGHTWAY ; leaving the discussion of these 
 matters for the proper place and season, after the libel shall 
 be in Court"' 1 Vol. II. pp. 123-24. Lord Alemore's opi- 
 nion, given on the complaint of .Sir John Gordon against 
 his Majesty's Advocate, June 21,1706, is equally pre- 
 cise : " Had the Advocate refused his concourse, he might 
 have been compelled to give it, for every one is entitled to 
 
WEST TORT MURDERS. 
 
 justice; but he cannot be forced to prosecute." 1 ' Mac- 
 laurin, p. 298. Is there any " novel doctrine" in all 
 this? 
 
 But our opponent endeavours to complicate the mat- 
 ter by most disingenuously attributing to us a statement 
 which we never made, or even so much as dreamt of, 
 namely, that the mother of Daft Jamie, "taking advan- 
 tage of the disclosures made by the infaiuous Hare, under 
 PROMISE of pardon," is entitled to prosecute him with the 
 concurrence of the Lord Advocate. The artifice is pal^ 
 try enough ; but our answer is, that the rights of the 
 private party, who, as such, "is entitled to justice," can- 
 not be in any manner of way loesed or impaired, far less 
 destroyed by any previous proceedings of the Prosecutor, 
 in his public capacity; especially when these proceed- 
 ings are in the eye of the law illegal, and only winked at 
 upon a principle of utility or general expediency. What, 
 in the name of common sense, of reason, and of law, had 
 the mother of Daft Jamie to do with the disclosures made 
 by Hare to the Lord Advocate " under prom ise of par- 
 don ?" That " promise" may be good against his Lord- 
 ship himself; but it is utterly monstrous to pretend that 
 it can in any way affect the rights of a private party who 
 comes forward to prosecute ; which it would unquestion- 
 ably do, in the most serious manner, were his Lordship 
 to be held entitled, in virtue of that most injudicious pro- 
 mise, to refuse his concurrence. Nay, we maintain, on 
 the authority of Mr. Baron Hume, that it would be ille- 
 gal in the Lord Advocate, when his concourse was ap- 
 plied for, to take any such circumstance into his consi- 
 deration at all ; for it is expressly laid down in the pas- 
 sage already quoted, that his Lordship " shall not even 
 be allowed to engage in any inquiry concerning the merits 
 
166 WEST 1'ORT MURDERS. 
 
 of the case; the propriety of the prosecution, \\\eform of 
 the action, the sufficiency of the title, or the like ; all these 
 are jus tertii to him ; and, accordingly, the Court would 
 " ordain him to comply straightway ; leaving the discus- 
 sion of these matters for the proper place and season, 
 after the libel shall be in Court." This, we should think, 
 is not very " novel doctrine ;' and as no man, we are as- 
 sured, " would be more happy to think our reasoning 
 without flaw, than the Lord Advocate," (which we well 
 believe,) we humbly hope that the exposition we have 
 now given will be found to answer that condition. 
 
 These then are the main points of our case ; and we 
 flatter ourselves that we have made them out. But as 
 we are resolved to engage in no further controversy on 
 the subject, and therefore wish to clear oft 7 our score at 
 once, we shall take the liberty of adverting, before we 
 conclude, to one or two points of secondary importance, 
 on which our opponent strenuously insists. 
 
 And, in the first place, he persists in maintaining that 
 " had Hare and his wife not been witnesses, there is the 
 best reason for supposing that the conviction of none of the 
 four would have been obtained." We would have been 
 much better pleased, however, had this incurious apolo- 
 gist condescended to inform us in what this " best rea- 
 son for supposing" consisted; as we confess our own in- 
 ability to discover a shadow of " reason"" for the " sup- 
 position 17 so gratuitously made. The point, we are well 
 .aware, is an important one for our opponent; because, 
 unless he can make out that there was no case against 
 .Burke, without the evidence of Hare and his wife; in 
 other words, disprove our argument that there was suf- 
 ficient testimony to convict without the evidence of the 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 167 
 
 accomplices at all, then our conclusion is inevitable, that 
 Hare and his wife ought to have been at the bar, and 
 not in the witness-box. But, strange to say, although 
 the point at issue is so important to the justification which 
 our adversary labours to make out, he has riot ventured 
 to bring forward a single argument, or show a vestige of 
 " reason" or authority, for the opinion he so strenuously 
 asserts. We shall not, however, follow his example in 
 this respect, but state as shortly as possible the grounds 
 upon which we hold that Hare and his wife ought to 
 have been placed at the bar beside Burke and M'Dou- 
 gal. 
 
 The testimony of a socius criminis is good in law only 
 in so far as it is corroborated by other testimony perfect- 
 ly unexceptionable, or by circumstances of real evidence; 
 and where it stands alone and unsupported, it is the duty 
 of the presiding Judge to direct the Jury to pay no at- 
 tention whatever to it. Let us apply this test to the evi- 
 dence of Hare and his wife, and observe to what conclu- 
 sion it will lead. The former, wherever he spoke to cir- 
 cumstances which fell within the knowledge of unexcep- 
 tionable witnesses, differed from, or rather was flatly 
 contradicted by them ; and consequently his evidence in 
 regard to these was of no avail whatever, except to im- 
 peach his own credibility. Again, he was contradicted 
 by his wife in respect to several of the occurrences in 
 Burke's and Connaway^s on the evening of the murder ; 
 and both were contradicted in regard to other matters 
 in which they agreed, by the unexceptionable witnesses. 
 As to what they said in regard to matters concerning 
 which no other person could speak, they stood alone and 
 unsupported, and of course were* not in law entitled to 
 be believed ; while thev were farther discredited by the 
 
168 
 
 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 want of all corroboration in regard to circumstances 
 spoken to equally by them, and by the unexceptionable 
 witnesses. How then was it possible that any weight 
 whatever could be attached to such evidence, either by 
 the Court or the Jury, particularly the latter ? Two mis- 
 creants, whose only title to be believed was their having 
 been engaged in the commission of three murders, are 
 adduced as witnesses to speak to one of them, and wher- 
 ever their testimony is susceptible of being corroborated, 
 it is flatly and pointedly contradicted by persons who are 
 Bbove all suspicion ; and where it stands alone and un- 
 supported, it is in the eye of the law worth nothing. 
 Why, then, were such witnesses adduced at all ? They 
 were not necessary, because their testimony was not and 
 could not be believed ; and, in point of fact, their depo- 
 sitions served no other purpose, except to enable the 
 Dean of Faculty to plead what would have been otherwise 
 nearly an unpleaded case, and to point out such a for- 
 midable array of flagrant contradictions as to shake the 
 minds of the Jury in regard to the effect of the unchal- 
 lenged and unchallengeable testimony. The case, there- 
 fore, was, in point of fact, made out against Burke by 
 other evidence than that of Hare and his wife ; and as 
 the same evidence which led to the conviction of Burke, 
 would have also led to the conviction of Hare at least, 
 we have again to submit that that hideous wretch, if 
 not also his wife, ought to have been placed at the bar 
 beside his brother murderer. 
 
 We are accused of having blamed the Lord Advocate 
 " for not having possessed the gift of second-sight ;" and 
 various other follies which seem to have entered the ima- 
 gination of*our opponent, when heated with his subject, 
 are also laid to our charge. To these, however, we dis- 
 
WEST PORT MURDKRS. 169 
 
 dain to offer any reply. We can well believe that the 
 case opened upon his Lordship gradually, and that, had 
 he now to retrace his steps, he would, in many respects, 
 act differently from what he has done. With the very 
 best intentions in the world, a Prosecutor may be placed 
 in such circumstances as almost ineritably to lead him to 
 bungle a case : but surely it can be no very heinous of- 
 fence to point out such errors as a warning for the fu- 
 ture, and at the same time to show how even at present 
 they may be in a great measure remedied. " The very 
 head and front of our offending hath this extent no 
 more." It is true, we called for further investigation, 
 and we did our best to indicate what channels ought to 
 be explored. That call has been answered, and inqui- 
 ries have been set on foot which can scarcely fail to lead 
 to important results. In regard to the nature of these 
 inquiries, or the facts which hare been elicited, we are 
 for the present dumb. Our object is to aid, not to 
 thwart, the progress of judicial investigation ; and no 
 wish to gratify the public curiosity, or any other motive 
 indeed shall induce us to breathe a whisper calculated to 
 defeat the great and necessary purpose which the Public 
 Prosecutor is now labouring so zealously to accomplish. 
 
 In order to give a connected account of the preliminary 
 legal proceedings respecting the contemplated trial of 
 Hare, we shall delay introducing the subject at present. 
 In a future number a detail of the whole proceedings 
 will be given. 
 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS, 
 
 We now proceed to detail the particulars which we have 
 carefully collected, with respect to the lives and characters 
 of the several individuals who have been concerned in these 
 nefarious transactions. Of these, the first we shall notice 
 is, 
 
 WILLIAM BURKE. 
 
 We can pledge ourselves that every circumstance that is 
 here narrated, has been obtained from such sources as to 
 leave no doubt of its authenticity ; it will -be seen that while 
 this memoir is a great deal fuller than any one that has ap- 
 peared, it is also dissimilar, in many particulars, to the dis- 
 jointed fragments that have been from time to time pub- 
 lished ; how these have been obtained, we cannot say, but 
 we can aver that this account has been received from sources 
 which may be relied on, and much of it from the unhappy 
 man himself, indeed so much as to entitle us to say that 
 it is almost his own account. 
 
 WILLIAM BURKE, whose crimes have condemned him to 
 an ignominious death on the scaffold, describes himself, in 
 his judicial declaration, emitted before the Sheriff-substitute 
 of Edinburghshire, in relation to the cause for which he was 
 tried, as being thirty-six years of age. He was born in the 
 parish of Orrey, near Strabane, county of Tyrone, in Ireland, 
 about the year 1792. His parents were poor, but industrious 
 and respectable in their station, which was that of cottiers, 
 occupying, like the most of the peasantry of Ireland, a small 
 piece of ground. The Irish are remarkable for the avidity 
 with which they seek education for their children, under cir- 
 cumstances in which it is not easily attainable. The pa- 
 ents of Burke seem to have been actuated by this laudable 
 
WEST PORT Al UK UK K.s. 
 
 desire, as both William and his brother Constantine, must 
 have received the elements of what, in their condition, may 
 be called a good education, and superior to what usually 
 falls to the lot of children in their rank in Ireland. He was 
 educated in the Roman Catholic faith, which he has ever 
 since nominally adhered to, though with little observance of 
 its doctrines or ceremonies. He is by no means, however, 
 a person of the brutal ignorance or stupid indifference that 
 his callously continuing in a course of unparalleled wicked- 
 ness, apparently without compunction, would betoken. He 
 has sinned deeply, but it has not been altogether against 
 knowledge, as he could at times put on a semblance of devo- 
 tion ; and during the fits of hypocrisy, or it may be, starts of 
 better feeling, before he became so miserably depraved, his 
 conversation was that of a man by no means ignorant of the 
 truths of Christianity, and such even as to lead some to imagine 
 him seriously concerned about his eternal salvation. During 
 one of these temporary ebullitions about five years ago, he 
 became an attendant on a prayer- meeting held on the Sab- 
 bath evenings in the Grassmarket. He was, for some time, 
 remarked as one of its most regular and intelligent mem- 
 bers. He never omitted one of its meetings, and expressed 
 much regret when it was discontinued. As a Catholic, he 
 was considered wonderfully free from prejudice, frankly 
 entering into discussions upon the doctrines of his church, 
 or those of other sects, with whose tenets he showed some 
 acquaintance. 
 
 He read the Scriptures, particularly the New Testament, 
 and other religious books, and discussed their merits. On 
 a Sabbath, especially though he never attended a place of 
 worship, he was seldom to be seen without a Bible, or same 
 book of devotion in his hands. 
 
17- WEST TOUT MURDERS. 
 
 At that time no one of his acquaintances would have ad- 
 mitted the idea for a moment that he was capable of com- 
 mitting such infamous crimes, and probably his own mind 
 would have revolted at the contemplation of such enormi- 
 ties ; but a continued indulgence in sin produced in him 
 its never failing consequences in hardening and deadening 
 the heart, and fitting it for the perpetration of deeds, which 
 a little before the sinner would have shuddered at. 
 
 Burke was remarked to be of a very social and agreeable 
 disposition, with a great turn for raillery and jocularity, 
 and what from his after proceedings could scarcely have 
 been supposed, was distinguished not only as a man of pecu- 
 liarly quiet and inoffensive manners, but even as evincing a 
 great degree of humanity. Of this softness of heart., a sin- 
 gular instance is given by an acquaintance and near neigh- 
 bour, whose child Burke was remarkably fond of, and used 
 to caress much. The little boy chanced, during the time he 
 lodged in the neighbourhood, to be afflicted with a tumour 
 and gathering on the neck, and his mother took him to a 
 neighbouring dispensary. The medical attendants there con- 
 sidered it advisable to open the gathering, which was done. 
 Upon the mother's return home with the child, she inform- 
 ed Burke of what had taken place ; he appeared very much 
 affected at the recital, and said repeatedly that he could not 
 have witnessed the operation ; that the mention of it made 
 his flesh creep, and expressed great surprise that the mother 
 could be so cruel as to permit and witness it. 
 
 At an after period, in Peebles, he still made considera- 
 ble pretensions to religion, as the subjoined note testifies.* 
 
 As every thing relating to the ruffian Burke, may be interesting 
 at present, we add the following particulars about him, during his 
 residence in the parish of Peebles 
 
WEST PORT MURDE11S. 173 
 
 It is from an intelligent correspondent of the Saturday 
 Evening Post, who mentions, " On my first visit to his 
 house, he had one or two religious books lying near him, 
 which he said he read ; being at that time confined by a 
 sore leg." Somewhat inconsistent with this pretended 
 sanctity, is the other part of the intelligence, that, " on 
 Saturday nights, and the . Sabbath days, his house was 
 the scene of riot and drunkenness with the lowest of his 
 countrymen." In his confessions, published in the Caledo- 
 nian Mercury, the following testimony, borne by himself, 
 as to his religious feelings, appears : 
 
 " He states, that while in Ireland, his mind was under 
 
 He, and Helen M'Dougal, resided in that burgh in the years 1825 
 and 1826, and part of 1827. 
 
 I find, says our correspondent, that he is a native of Armagh, in 
 the north of Ireland, that he was a Roman Catholic, was a labourer, 
 and employed in working on the roads and in cutting drains. 
 
 He made considerable pretensions to religion, as I recollect on my 
 first visit to his house he had one or two religious books lying near 
 him, which, he said, he read, being at that time confined by a sore 
 leg. He seemed a man of quiet manners, and, on my questioning 
 him about his country and profession, there appeared a mystery about 
 him. Since he has gained a guilty notoriety, I have made inquiries 
 among his neighbours about his character, and, I am informed, that he 
 was an inoffensive man, but that he kept suspicious hours. On the 
 Saturday night and Sabbath days, his house was the scene of riot and 
 drunkenness with the lowest of his countrymen. 
 
 When he left this place, he owed the woman from whom he rented 
 his room, between forty and fifty shillings. He was then going to 
 the harvest, and promised to return and pay the rent, which he never 
 did. On application being made to him afterwards, in Edinburgh, 
 for payment, he sent word to the woman to meet him at the head of 
 Eddlestone water, a wild and desolate part of the road leading from 
 this place to Edinburgh. The meeting was to be at ten o'clock at 
 night, when he would pay her. Recent disclosures have fully proved 
 for what purpose such a meeting was to take place. 
 
 5 
 
174 WEST POUT MURDERfc. 
 
 the influence of religious impressions, and that he was ac- 
 customed to xead his catechism, and his prayer .book, and 
 to attend to his duties." 
 
 All his pretensions, however, seem to have had but little 
 influence on his life and conversation, as he was all the time 
 living in the flagrant violation of the plainest dictates of 
 religion, a drunkard, blasphemer, and adulterer. 
 
 Burke originally worked as a labourer about his native 
 place, assisting hi father, and living in his house, until he 
 attained the age of eighteen, when he left him. He then 
 went as servant to a gentleman in the neighbourhood, but 
 after being one year in this capacity, the gentleman died, 
 when he was obliged to seek other employment. 
 
 I 
 
 At the age of nineteen, he entered the Donegal militia 
 
 as a substitute, and served in it. as a private soldier for 
 seven years. In this regiment, his brother Constantine 
 held the rank of a non-commissioned officer. During 
 tfye greater part of his service, he acted in the capacity of 
 an officer's servant; and from the propriety with which 
 he acquitted himself, gained considerable respect. 
 
 . 
 
 It was at this period that he became acquainted with 
 a young woman, of a respectable character, in Ballina, 
 county of Mayo, to whom, after some time, he was regu- 
 larly married- By her, he had seven children, of whom 
 some were still-born. All of them, excepting one boy, 
 are now dead. His wife still survives, and resides frith 
 her father in Ireland. 
 
 It is probable, that notwithstanding her good charac- 
 ter, the connection was not a very comfortable one for 
 
WEST POUT MURDEtr. 
 
 her. He proved unfaithful to her ; and this is a vice 
 which must have marred their domestic happiness. Inn, 
 deed, even at his best time, he appears to have displayed 
 considerable laxity in his intercourse with women. 
 
 . 
 
 At the general peace, his regiment was disbanded, 
 along with the rest of the militia forces. He then went 
 with his family to reside in the county Mayo, in the 
 neighbourhood of his father-in-law. He was also in the 
 same class as Burke' s parents, and possessed a small 
 farm, which, in conformity with the custom in Ireland, 
 he was Willing to parcel out to his family and connections. 
 The system pursued in that country, of the lessee or tacks- 
 man, of what originally is, perhaps, a very small farm, 
 sub-leasing miserable portions of it to an indefinite num- 
 ber of retainers, is now so universally understood, that it 
 is unnecessary here to explain it. In a country swarming 
 with an unemployed population, and when so many ad- 
 ditional claimants for the most wretched patch of pota- 
 toe ground, had been superadded by the reduction of the 
 army, to the already redundant population, it must have' 
 been no slight good fortune in Burke, to find a father-in- 
 law whose farm could still afford sustenance for another 
 family. He does not seem, however, to have been con- 
 tented with the permission that was allowed him to cul- 
 tivate, from year to year, for his own behoof, the share 
 that was allotted to his use, and insisted upon having a 
 lease granted him. This the old man peremptorily re- 
 fused, on the allegation, that his object, after obtaining 
 the lease, was to sell it and desert his family. This dif- 
 ference led to squabbling between them ; and after it had 
 continued for some time, Burke finding that there was no 
 probability of gaining his point, abandoned the project, 
 and deserted his wife and family. 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 After taking leave of his parents, he came to Scotland 
 in 1817 or 1818. He then engaged as a labourer, on the 
 cutting of the Union Canal, soon after its commencement ; 
 and subsequently wrote to his wife in Ireland, but she 
 would not receive the letter. After some time it was re- 
 turned to him, and with this, all intercourse with his fa- 
 mily ceased, never to be renewed. He has ever since, 
 however, spoken in respectful terms of his wife, and se- 
 veral times expressed an intention, when he could get 
 matters arranged, of returning to her ; but motives are 
 seldom wanting, for a continued indulgence in a favour- 
 ite sin, and want of clothes, to make a respectable ap- 
 pearance, when he joined her, or some other frivolous 
 pretence, constantly diverted him from his purpose. 
 
 While employed upon the Union Canal, he accident- 
 ally met the woman M'Dougal at the village of Middis- 
 ton in Stirlingshire, where she was residing with her fa- 
 ther after the death of her husband. The story told of 
 his falling in with her on the streets of Glasgow is incor- 
 rect. An intimacy was speedily formed, and about a 
 year from the commencement of their correspondence, 
 they agreed to live as man and wife, and have done so 
 ever since. 
 
 A similarity of disposition seems to have produced a 
 corresponding affection, and the sympathy that attracted 
 them to each other appears still to have outlived all their 
 quarrels and the ill usage he subjected her to. They 
 have expressed great attachment to each other since his 
 conviction. It is understood that an account of his con- 
 nection with M'Dougal, while his wife was still alive, 
 having been made to the priest of his religion, he was 
 
WEST POKT MURDKRS. 177 
 
 first admonished, and recommended to return to her, 
 and upon his refusal to do so, was excpmmunicated. 
 This may perhaps in some measure explain his not at- 
 tending chapel while his religious fits were upon him. 
 
 He, after the completion of the canal, came, along 
 with M'Dougal, to reside in Edinburgh, and engaged in 
 the petty trafficking in various sorts of merchandise prac- 
 tised by many of his countrymen, travelling about the 
 country in prosecution of his trade. He dealt in diffe- 
 rent sorts of pedlary wares, old clothes, &c. and collect- 
 ed skins, human hair, &c. in the country. 
 
 During the work on the canal, he had been noted 
 among the other labourers as of a particularly handy 
 active turn, and skilful ^in cobbling, in a rude way, his 
 own and the shoes of his acquaintances. After his sub- 
 sequent settlement in Edinburgh, he turned his talent 
 to some account ; and though he never had learned the 
 craft and mystery of shoemaking, contrived to gain from 
 fifteen to twenty shillings a-week by his new acquire- 
 ment. His practice was to purchase quantities of old 
 shoes, and, after cobbling them in the best fashion he 
 could, to send M'Dougal to hawk them about among 
 the colliers and poor people of her native district. 
 
 At this time he lodged in the house of an Irishman 
 named Michael, or more commonly Mikey Culzean, in 
 the West Port, who kept a lodging-house for beggars 
 and vagrants, similar to the one which Hare's crime has 
 made so familiar to the public, in the language of the 
 classes who frequent them, a beggars' Hotel. 
 
 Many will probably recollect of a fire happening iti 
 one of these abodes of wretchedness about six years ago, 
 2 A 
 
173 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 when incredible numbers emerged from the miserable 
 hovels. In this conflagration Mikey's dwelling suffered, 
 and Burke and M'Dougal escaped from the flames near- 
 ly naked, and with the loss of all the little property they 
 possessed. Some charitable individuals contributed to 
 procure clothes and necessaries for the sufferers, and 
 they received some relief by the hands of the Rev, Dr. 
 Dickson, one of the ministers of the parish. By this dis- 
 aster he lost his library ; and though it is somewhat sur- 
 prising to hear at all of a collection of books under such 
 circumstances, it is not the less so when the names of 
 some of the works are mentioned. Among them were, 
 Ambrose's Looking unto Jesus, Boston's Human Nature 
 in its Fourfold State, the Pilgrim's Progress, and Booth's 
 Reign of Grace. His landlord afterwards took a room 
 in Brown's Close, Grassmarket, where Burke also again 
 went as a lodger. 
 
 It was at this time that he attended the religi- 
 ous meeting we have previously mentioned, which was 
 held in the next apartment to the one in which he 
 lodged. During his attendance he was always per- 
 fectly decorous in his deportment, and when engaged in 
 worship had an air of great seriousness and devotion. 
 The conductor and frequenters of it had formerly been 
 subjected to much obloquy, and even violence, from the 
 Catholics who abounded in that neighbourhood ; and 
 one evening, after Burke's attendance on it, his land- 
 lord, Mikey Culzean, attempted to create annoyance, 
 by breaking through some sheets of paper which were 
 used to cover up an old window, and crying out in a 
 voice of derision, " that the performance was just going 
 to begin." Burke expressed himself in indignant terms 
 on the occasion, saying, that it was shameful and un* 
 worthy of a man to behave in such a manner. 
 
WEST FORT MUHDEUS. 179 
 
 From the general aversion to the meeting So unequivocal, 
 ly manifested by the Catholics, and Burke being universally 
 known to belong to that persuasion, his frequent attend- 
 ance on it, and reverential behaviour, excited the more no- 
 tice. It was usual for him to remain conversing with the 
 individual in whose house they assembled after the others 
 had dispersed ; and on these occasions the subjects that 
 had occupied their attention during the service naturally 
 were often talked over. His conversation was generally 
 such as to show that he had been attentive to what was 
 passing, and comprehended the topics brought under his 
 notice. Since his conviction he has adverted frequently 
 to the subject, and deplored that the meetings had been 
 discontinued, as even this imperfect form of public wor- 
 ship had a tendency to keep him from flagrant sin. He 
 has kept in his recollection, and mentioned after condem- 
 nation, an expression which was used in one of the ex- 
 hortations " that there was no standing still in sin." 
 His career of guilt, gradually advancing in the commis- 
 sion of crime, until the violation of every human and Di- 
 vine law led him tomost flagrant enormities, has awakened 
 him, by bitter experience, to give his unwilling testimony 
 to the justice of the remark. 
 
 During his residence in this neighbourhood, he gave 
 no indications of any thing that would lead people to an- 
 ticipate his future enormities. He was industrious and 
 serviceable, inoffensive and playful in his manner, and 
 was never observed to drink to excess. He was very 
 fond of music and singing, in which he excelled, and du- 
 ring his melancholy moods was most frequently found 
 chanting some favourite plaintive air. All these qua- 
 
 f cations, and his obliging manner, joined to a par- 
 Lilarly jocular quizzical character, with an intermi- 
 
180 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 nable fund of low humour and drollery, rendered him 
 a general favourite. His custom was to take a walk 
 almost daily along the streets with an acquaintance, and 
 freely to interfere in any thing which occurred to indulge 
 his humour. Some of these occurrences are still recol- 
 lected by his companions in his perambulations, a speci- 
 men of which, as every thing concerning him now seems 
 to possess interest, may be given. In passing along the 
 Cowgate on one occasion, his musical ear was annoyed by 
 the continued inharmonious cry of an itinerant vender of 
 salt. Upon her approaching him still nearer, the annoy- 
 ance reached its climax by her drawling out in discordant 
 sounds her reiteration of " whall buy saut ," though 
 flinching under it, he turned and replied with his usual 
 politeness, " Upon my word I do not know, but if you 
 will ask that woman standing gaping at the door oppo- 
 site, she will perhaps be able to inform you." 
 
 On another occasion, when attacked by a girl of the 
 town in the High-Street, instead of replying directly to 
 her solicitations, to the astonishment of the unfortunate 
 girl, he commenced a torrent of abuse, on account of the 
 awkward style in which she had painted her face, saying 
 that he might have passed over the painting, had it been 
 properly done ; but that it was shameful to come to the 
 street, bedaubed in such an unskilful manner. Such was 
 the humour with which he continued his remonstrance, 
 that the rude laugh of the crowd was effectually directed 
 against the amazed girl, and she was glad, by a hasty re- 
 treat, to save herself from farther ridicule., 
 
 Though his conduct was such as has been described, 
 and even to his paramour, notwithstanding her irregu- 
 lar habits, partook most frequently of his general charac- 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 181 
 
 ter. Yet on several occasions, he subjected her to ill 
 usage, or sometimes rather, perhaps, returned her vio- 
 lence, by relentlessly beating her. A fruitful source of 
 quarrels, was his propensity for the company of loose 
 women, which, when exhibited, never failed to rouse her 
 jealousy. The most common subject of it, was a near 
 connection of her own, whose virtue was not of an imma- 
 culate description. She was, however, a great favourite 
 of Burke's, and often was introduced into the house. In 
 one of these squabbles, a result was nearly produced, 
 which might have terminated both their lives, in a some- 
 what less notorious manner, than his is likely to be, 
 though more conducive to the public safety, than his af- 
 ter impunity was, and exhibits the latent savageness of 
 his disposition, notwithstanding the fair exterior. 
 One evening, Burke, M'Dougal, and the female already 
 mentioned, had gone to bed together. In the night, 
 some jealousy had arisen between them, and a battle was 
 the consequence. So long as the conflict was maintain- 
 ed on nearly equal terms, Burke contented himself with 
 witnessing it ; but, when the elder virago was likely to 
 master the young one, he rose out of bed, and interfered 
 in behalf of his favourite. His interposition speedily 
 turned the scale, and he inflicted an unmerciful thrashing 
 upon M'Dougal. The neighbours who had heard the 
 uproar, but as usual, were backward in interfering, were 
 now alarmed by the cries of an interesting little girl, a 
 daughter of M'DougaPs by her former husband, who 
 lived with them, and who entreated them to assist her 
 mother, as William Burke was murdering her. Upon 
 hastily rising and opening their doors, they found 
 M'Dougal extended on the floor of the passage, appa- 
 rently lifeless, with her brutal companion standing by, 
 contemplating her. After some time, she exhibited signs 
 
182! WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 of life, when, again seizing her by the hair, and utter- 
 ing a horrid imprecation, he exclaimed, " There is life 
 in her yet," and dashed her head violently on the floor. 
 The police watchmen had by this time, been made aware 
 of the noise, and arrived immediately after this fresh in- 
 humanity. Upon asking Burke, if the woman was his 
 wife, he again assumed his usual mild manner, arid in an 
 insinuating tone said, " Yes, gentlemen, she is my 
 wife." 
 
 After living for a year in Brown's Close, he removed, 
 still as Culzean's lodger, to Swan's Close on the opposite 
 side of the Grassmarket, where he resided for some time 
 still cobbling and pursuing the same course of conduct. 
 About this time, his acquaintance with the individual 
 who has furnished us with some of the above particulars, 
 suffered an interruption. Burke, although so liberal in 
 his intercourse with Protestants, had still enough of Ca- 
 tholic feeling, as to take exceptions to his friend's attend- 
 ing Orange lodges, and a coolness in consequence en- 
 sued. 
 
 After leaving Swan's Close, he went to Peebles, where 
 he settled for some years. He was employed there as a 
 labourer, and went daily to road-making in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Innerleithen. 
 
 Here, although he still maintained some pretensions to 
 religion, we can trace a gradual deterioration in his cha- 
 racter. From the note formerly given, it will be seen that 
 he was now distinguished for keeping suspicious hours, 
 and that his house was the resort of profligate characters, 
 and noted as the scene of drunkenness and rioting, espe- 
 cially on Saturday nights and Sundays. 
 
WEST POUT MURDERS. 
 
 From thence he went to Pennicuik, where liis conduct 
 and occupation were much the same, working generally 
 as a labourer, and occasionally following his self-taught 
 occupation of mending shoes. 
 . 
 
 After the harvest of 1827, he, still accompanied bj 
 M'Dougal, came again to reside in Edinburgh, and it 
 was at this time that he first became acquainted with, the 
 monster Hare, who was his tempter to these unhallowed 
 deeds, and his teacher, as well as seducer. He came to 
 live in Hare's house in Tanner's Close, West Port, 
 which was kept as a lodging house by his wife, under 
 the name of her former husband Log. In this abode ojf 
 profligacy and vice the resort of vagabonds of every 
 description, and the theatre of continued brawling and 
 drunkenness, it is not surprising that every .trace of de r 
 cent feeling that might still have lingered about him 
 should speedily be dispelled, and his mind be properly 
 tutored and prepared for the commencement of the mur- 
 derous trade in which he so ruthlessly continued for 
 nearly twelve months. 
 
 An intimacy was speedily contracted between Hare and 
 him, and to show the vile footing on which the two families 
 lived, we may here relate an anecdote which was commu- 
 nicated by a respectable neighbour of theirs, who called on 
 Burke with the intention of giving him a job as a cob- 
 bler. He found Hare most brutally beating the woman 
 M'Dougal, who was lying on the floor, and Burke un v - 
 concernedly sitting at the window. He asked Burke why- 
 he suffered another man to beat his wife ? to which he 
 iplied, " She well deserved all she was getting." 
 
 Burke still, however, maintained a more respectable 
 harac,ter than any of his partners ; Hare Was a rude 
 
184 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 and ferocious ruffian; his wife was a meet companion 
 for him ; and M'Dougal was very little behind them in 
 drunkenness and profanity. He continued, (unlike the 
 other three) to work a little at his business, in the inner 
 small apartment. The person who now shows Hare's 
 house is, along with his other avocations, a dealer in old 
 shoes, and used to employ him to mend them up for 
 sale. The stock of boots and shoes which was found 
 in Burke's house upon their arrest, and which excited 
 so much speculation, belonged to him. 
 
 Previously to his becoming an inmate in Hare's dwel- 
 ling, he had been in the habit of engaging in harvest 
 work, first at Mr. Howden's, an extensive farmer in East 
 Lothian, and subsequently with Mr. Edington, farmer at 
 Carlinden, near Carnwath, where Burke and Hare, with 
 their two women, wrought last harvest. 
 
 Of Burke, it had been observed, that he seemed to be 
 a polite, obliging, and industrious person. In rainy 
 weather, while the reapers could not work in the fields, 
 it was usual for him to find out some useful service, 
 which he performed at the farm-steading; so that he 
 was seldom, if ever, idle. Whenever it happened that 
 a servant had any heavy article to lift, he, of all the har- 
 vest people assembled in the kitchen, was the foremost 
 to offer his assistance. On a young woman's] mention- 
 ing that she had never seen Edinburgh, the same cour- 
 teous Burke invited her to town, saying, that he would 
 give her a lodging in his own house, and that he would 
 show her the city; but, fortunately, she never had an 
 opportunity of availing herself of his kindness. After a 
 stay of a few days at Carlinden, a letter arrived, which 
 was said to announce the illness of a child of Hare's, in 
 
WEST FORT MURDERS. 185 
 
 Edinburgh ; the parents began to arrange for their re- 
 turning homeward, when M'Dougal remarked, that " if 
 Hare goes, William Burke will go too, for they are like 
 brothers, and cannot be separated." Accordingly, all 
 the four went off together. 
 
 While he resided in the West Port, he was remarked 
 to be a very early riser, frequently appearing on the 
 streets in his working dress, on a summer morning by 
 three or four o'clock ; some who were also on foot at 
 these early hours, used to observe him, and taunt the 
 shoemakers of the West Port with the observation that 
 the Irish lad was the most industrious man among them. 
 It is probable that this activity was for a very different 
 purpose to what was suspected. 
 
 The first dealing in subjects commenced in a manner 
 which few would be inclined to visit with very great repre- 
 hension, and had the pair throughout confined themselves 
 to similar exploits, they would probably have been re- 
 garded as adroit and ingenious knaves, perhaps more 
 beneficially employed in furnishing the necessary supply 
 of subjects in a manner which harmed no one, than from 
 their bad habits they were likely otherwise to be. 
 
 In December 1827, the natural death of a lodger hap- 
 pened in Hare's house, not of a woman, as has been er- 
 roneously stated, but of a very tall and stout man, a pen- 
 sioner who led a dissipated good-for-nothing life. His 
 debauched habits sufficiently account for his death, while 
 yet in the vigour of life, without any suspicion of unfair 
 agency being aroused. 
 
 
 After his decease, the ordinary observances were gone 
 
 8. 2s 
 
186 WEST PORT MURDERS-. 
 
 through, and all matters fitly prepared for the funeral; 
 a coffin was procured, and the funeral guests invited, 
 and every thing managed in a decorous manner ; the un- 
 dertaker came, and while employed in fastening down 
 the lid, was invited into the other room to recruit his 
 strength by a dram, the coffin was then uncovered, and 
 the corpse quickly dislodged and made to change situa- 
 tions with a sack of waste bark which had been previously 
 procured from a neighbouring tannery. After this, 
 the fastening proceeded. The coffin was borne out at 
 the appointed time, before the assembled guests, and 
 .with all due solemnity deposited in the Grey Friars 
 church-yard. The rogues, after the ceremony, proceeded 
 to find out a purchaser for the body, and so unacquainted 
 were they with the manner of proceeding, that they did 
 not at first apply to the proper quarter. Throughout 
 the day, however, they found this out, and at dusk the 
 subject was conveyed away in the sack which had held 
 the bark, and was carried on Burke's back. Their first 
 resting place was at Bristo Port, where it was set down 
 for a little, when Hare took his share of the burden. 
 They then took the round-about road of College Street 
 to Surgeons' Square. They soon afterwards, however, 
 found out the nearest way. 
 
 After all that has been said, subjects must be procured 
 for scientific purposes ; the necessity of a young man 
 under a course of education for surgical practice qualify- 
 ing himself for his future profession by anatomical dis- 
 sections, renders them indispensable, while the very ordi- 
 nances and regulations of the College of Surgeons, makes 
 dissection imperative before he cap obtain a diploma or 
 license to follow his profession. Were all subjects pro- 
 cured in this harmless way, where neither the feelings of 
 
WEST POJIT MURDERS. 
 
 private friends were outraged, nor public decency vio- 
 lated, small fault would be found, though the nature of 
 the traffic would continue still sufficiently revolting to 
 -deter all but ruthless blackguards from embarking 
 in it. 
 
 But after once gaining what to them was a large sum 
 of money, Burke\s and Hare's cupidity could not be sa- 
 tisfied with this comparatively innocent method of sup- 
 plying their wants. They were apparently too indolent 
 or inexpert, or lacked coumge too much, to adopt the 
 ordinary but hazardous mode of raising the dead from 
 church-yards. Still, with this easy, and apparently unli- 
 mited means of acquiring money opening to them, they 
 could not bejake themselves again to the pursuits of ho- 
 nest industry; and, stimulated by the greatness of the 
 reward, and the prospect of their sensual indulgences 
 being so readily gratified, they formed the desperate re- 
 solution of committing murder, and of continuing to im- 
 brue their hands in their fellow-mortals' blood, as their 
 ordinary and sole means of procuring a livelihood. 
 
 Before commencing the revolting narrative of their 
 appalling crimes, we may mention, that previous to the 
 period in which they engaged in them, their neighbours 
 used to observe them only to notice the squalor and 
 wretchedness of their appearance; but all at once, there 
 was a sudden change, and Burke and M'Dougal especially 
 assumed a different aspect. They appeared well dressed, 
 and spent money freely. Whisky, which however much 
 it may be relished, can only be procured at intervals by 
 men in his situation, seemed to be constantly at their 
 command ; and even credit at a neighbouring spirit- 
 dealer and grocer's, was obtained, to an extent that al- 
 
188 *E6T PORT MURDER*. 
 
 most no individual in his situation would have ventured 
 to hope for or request. At this time, Burke mentioned 
 to the wife of an old acquaintance, whom he met acci- 
 dentally, that he had spent fourteen pounds within the 
 last fortnight; and if he had known where her husband 
 lived, would have been glad to come and spend three or 
 four pounds in company with him. Of course, all this 
 apparent affluence was not exhibited, without exciting 
 the speculation of those who observed it; and they were 
 troublesome in their inquiries into the secret, that ena- 
 bled them to live well, and drink continually, without 
 working. Various were the excuses that were made ; for 
 they never appear to have been at a loss for an answer. 
 On one occasion, when the question was put to Burke, 
 and suspicions intimated, that he followed the trade of a 
 resurrection man, he neither would give a denial nor an 
 affirmative to the proposition, but contented himself with 
 remarking, that the querist was as bad as the rest. On 
 another, he would ask Mrs. " Can you keep a se- 
 cret," and when the curious inquirer, expecting to be 
 entrusted with the whole mystery, eagerly answered, 
 " Yes," he would reply, with an air of secrecy, that he 
 smuggled a little small-still whisky. 
 
 Nelly M'Dougal had a different way of accounting for 
 it. She averred that she had a property in Stirlingshire, 
 which had been left to her by her former husband, and 
 which produced twenty pounds a year ; and that it was 
 from the rent of it the money came. It was afterwards 
 observed to her by some of the neighbours, that this story 
 would scarcely account for their abundant supply of money, 
 as the rents of such properties, as she described, were 
 usually drawn at definite terms, and they seemed to get 
 money much more frequently. She then alleged that the 
 
WEST POBT HUUDERI. 189 
 
 money was the proceeds of a legacy that had been lately 
 left her, and that she drew part of it when she pleased. 
 To humour this story, she used to announce to her ac- 
 quaintances, from time to time, that their money was ex- 
 pended, and that she had written off for a fresh supply. 
 In a few days, accordingly, she intimated that the money 
 had arrived, and new vigour was imparted to their drunken 
 disorderly courses. 
 
 It must be perfectly apparent what the dispatching of 
 the letter meant, and if these proceedings does not amount 
 to a guilty knowledge and accession to the murders, 
 so far as knowledge of, and sharing in the proceeds goes, 
 we do not comprehend what can constitute participation. 
 
 At another time she intimated that William [Burke] 
 was the favourite of a lady in the New Town, who never 
 allowed him to want money, and sometimes she had known 
 him receive twenty pounds at a time from her. 
 
 Burke states, that Hare and he had often talked over 
 the subject of murder, and had consulted upon the best 
 mode of effecting it. It may well be credited, as their 
 first essay seems to have been conducted with as much 
 coolness and deliberation, as much cautious management 
 in effecting it, and as little compunction in the execution, 
 .as if they already had been adepts in the art. It was pei- 
 petrated on an elderly woman, belonging to the village of 
 Gilmerton, whom Hare had observed a little intoxicated 
 on the streets. She was a pensioner to a gentleman in the 
 New Town, from whom she received Is. 6d. a-week. Hare 
 accosted her, and easily succeeded in enticing her into his 
 house, here they gave her spirits to drink, and afterwards 
 Mrs, Hare, purchased, for one shilling and sixpence, a small 
 
190 WEST PORT AIURDE11S. 
 
 cann of kitchen fee which she had received at the house of the 
 gentleman already mentioned. The priceof it wasalso laid out 
 in liquor, and the poor woman speedily got altogether intoxi- 
 cated, and commenced singing in the exuberanceof her mirth. 
 She told them that she had a very fine young daughter at 
 home, and, with maternal feeling, was loud in her praises. 
 Hare represented himself as an unmarried mon, and said, 
 that upon her representation, he would marry her daugh- 
 ter : The poor woman readily consented to the match, when 
 the heartless fiend, expressed great kindness for her, and 
 alleged that his bride and he could not live without 
 ,her, and that when the daughter came home, she must 
 come to reside with them. She willingly consented to this 
 arrangement, and expressed herself quite overjoyed at 
 meeting with such a good provision for herself and daugh- 
 ter, and promised to return and get the marriage consum- 
 mated. They took care to ply her well with liquor, in order 
 that being made completely drunk, she might remain after 
 the other lodgers had departed in the morning. Next day, 
 the spirits had the effect, and she was sick and vomited. 
 The monsters had not abandoned their purpose, however, 
 and after stupifying her with more whisky, when all the 
 others had left the house, they put her to death in the way 
 they pursued ever afterwards, by covering and pressing 
 upon the nose and mouth with their hands. The body was 
 afterwards conveyed to Surgeons' Square, and the money 
 readily obtained for it. This happened in December 
 
 In the whole story, we see none of the hesitations 
 and misgivings of men engaged in a first attempt, at 
 such a horrible crime ; every thing appears rather like 
 the acts of those, whom long familiarity with a course 
 of iniquity had rendered cpmpletely callous; and yet 
 
WEST PORT MUllDERS. 
 
 there does not seem any sufficient ground for supposing 
 that either of them had been engaged in such crimes be- 
 fore. Burke asserts strenuously, that he never was con- 
 cerned in like transactions, and expresses his belief that 
 Hare also was guiltless up to this time, so far as he knows, 
 of the blood of his fellow-creatures; and, after what has 
 happened, he assuredly will not be much inclined to favour 
 Hare. This opinion is also corroborated, when we recol- 
 lect that they proceeded like novices in the disposal of the 
 pensioner who died naturally. 
 
 The next unfortunate victim to be inserted in the horrid 
 catalogue was an Englishman, a travelling pedlar or pack- 
 man> who had lodged also in Hare's house. The process 
 which they had now ascertained to be most easy and effi- 
 cacious was also gone through with him. He was enticed 
 to drink to intoxication at night; and when the house was 
 cleared, he was suffocated in the usual manner. 
 
 Success in these instances made them more eager, and 
 Burke describes himself at this time as thirsting continually 
 after his prey. 
 
 - A connected or chronological account of their murders 
 cannot now be obtained ; the copartnery kept no books to 
 which reference can be made, and were not curious in in- 
 quiring into their victims* names or circumstances ; but 
 such distinctive marks of every one of them has been fur- 
 nished, as to enable us to lay before our readers some no- 
 tice of all the individuals murdered, though it may not 
 perhaps be exactly in the order in which they occurred ; 
 even in this particular, we believe, it- will be found nearly 
 correct. They in all amounted to sixteen ; fewer than 
 what some have asserted, but fur above, what any one 
 
 
192 WEST FORT MURDEKS. 
 
 could have conceived of before this atrocious system was 
 unveiied. One of this number was effected by Hare at the 
 time that Burke was absent in the country - r how it was- 
 accomplished, remains only known to that demon himself, 
 as it was only by accident that Burke discovered anything 
 of it. It has been often said, that there is honour among 
 thieves : this does not, however, seem to hold good regard- 
 ing murderers, as Hare appropriated to himself the price 
 of this subject ; and upon being challenged by Burke for 
 his breach of contract, audaciously asserted that nothing 
 of the kind had taken place. It was only after his com- 
 rade applied at Surgeons'* Square that the truth transpired. 
 This is understood to have been the minister's servant, to 
 which public attention has been attracted. 
 
 Another, and probably the third one sacrificed, was a 
 dissipated character, who used to infest the Grassmarket 
 and neighbourhood, called Mary Haldane ; she was en- 
 ticed into the house, and fell an easy prey ; her previous 
 habits caused her readily to imbibe a sufficient quantity of 
 ardent spirits, and little difficulty was found in despatch- 
 ing her. 
 
 It is singular, that among their victims should be rank- 
 ed a mother and her daughter, and at different times too r 
 but so it is that the child of this Mary Haldane was kid- 
 napped into the house where her mother had been for- 
 merly murdered she was unconscious of her mother's fate, 
 and was deprived of life in the same way. She was a wo- 
 man of the town, and led a very dissolute life ; one of her 
 sisters was transported to Botany Bay not long before the 
 murder of the mother and sister. 
 
 Among the rest, was an old man, who was usually 
 
 6 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 198 
 
 known by the name of Joe. He had been a miller, but 
 old age and infirmities had incapacitated him from work- 
 ing at his trade. In an evil hour he entered Hare's 
 lodging house, and never departed from it ; he was also 
 plied with liquor, and when in a drunken slumber, his 
 breath was stopped. 
 
 Among the other melancholy stories, there is one of a 
 peculiarly touching description, which Burke, remorseless 
 as he has been, often talks of, and deplores as the one that 
 hangs heaviest upon his conscience. It is that of the poor 
 Irishwoman, and her deaf and dumb grandson, which has 
 been already ^noticed, though incorrectly, in the newspapers. 
 The poor woman, with her helpless charge, had been met 
 by Hare on the street, and though her circumstances as a des- 
 titute country woman, and the protectress of the helpless boy, 
 might have melted the hardest heart, he does not seem to 
 have felt any compunction in marking her and her child 
 out for slaughter. She was invited to the house, and 
 to her seeming, hospitably entertained. She seemed 
 perfectly well pleased, and even expressed to them the 
 satisfaction she felt at her good fortune in meeting with a 
 kind countryman, who behaved so generously to her, and in 
 whose house she could repose safe from the dangers of this 
 wicked town. But their feelings could not be touched by 
 such appeals, and the unfortunate woman was put to 
 death at night, and allowed to remain in bed as if sick or 
 asleep. The youth did not comprehend what had taken 
 place, but seemed to imagine that his grandmother was 
 unwell. Next morning he was, almost charitably, dispatch- 
 ed also. Burke took him upon his knee, and broke hw 
 back. He describes this murder as the one that lies most 
 heavily upon his heart; and says that he is constantly haunted 
 by the recollection of the piteous manner in which the boy 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 looked in his face. The lad .was laid in the bed alongside 
 
 & 
 
 of his grandmother ; and when the time arrived for con- 
 veying them to the dissecting-rooms, the bodies were tum- 
 bled into an old herring barrel. 
 
 A curious incident happened in connection with this 
 murder which had well nigh put a stop to their career, 
 and, in looking back upon the circumstances now, it ap- 
 pears astonishing that it should not have led to a complete 
 discovery of their infamous transactions. The herring 
 barrel containing the two bodies was placed on a cart. An 
 old horse which Hare possessed, and which he used in his 
 tralfic in fish and crockery-ware was yoked to it, and the 
 two set out at darkening to Surgeons' Square with their 
 cargo. They proceeded along the West Port, without 
 any thing remarkable happening, but when they reached 
 the market-place at the entrance to the Grassmarket, the 
 horse stopped, and, notwithstanding all their efforts, would 
 not proceed a step farther. It may be easily conceived 
 that they were in a sad quandary, with nothing before them 
 hut instant exposure. As Burke has since said, they 
 " thought the poor old horse had risen up in judgment 
 against them." Unfortunately for the public, though 
 luckily for them, as it gave them a respite for some time 
 longer, the assembled crowd were so much engaged in at- 
 tending to the horse, that none of them thought of inquir- 
 ing into the contents of the cart ; and when it was ascer- 
 tained that nothing could induce the horse to move forward, 
 two porters were allowed to bear off his burden without 
 attracting particular observation, and, like M'Culloch, they 
 bore their load to the dissecting rooms without being 
 troubled with any scruple upon the subject, or once ven- 
 turing to ask either themselves or their employers what it 
 was composed of. The miserable horse, which it is pro- 
 
WEST POUT MURDERS. 195 
 
 bable age ; and hard usage, and insufficient diet, had ar- 
 rested in its progress, rather than any suspicions or un- 
 willingness to comply with the assigned task, was, in re- 
 venge for the fright it had given its masters, and the trou- 
 ble it had put them to, led to a neighbouring tannery and 
 shot. 
 
 
 The subjects, however, reached their destination, and, 
 
 notwithstanding this untoward event, and the imminent 
 risk the guilty pair had incurred, the next opportunity 
 found them as eager fo-r slaughter as if no cause of terror 
 or subject for reflection had occurred : indeed, by this time 
 probably any feeling of compunction, which appears if 
 such ever existed- to have been of a very evanescent de- 
 scription, had disappeared. They had tasted the sweets of 
 an abundant supply of money, and ample means of grati- 
 fying their sensual appetites, without the irksome operation 
 of working for the necessary means; and it was not like- 
 ly that any temporary alarm would divert them from prac- 
 tices which supplied all their wants. With their hearts 
 seared, if such an operation ever was requisite, by the ha- 
 bitude which former crimes had given them, and assured 
 by the impunity which had hitherto attended their specu- 
 lations, it was unlikely that any scruples should assail, or 
 any dread dismay them. Reflection was quite out of the 
 question. Hare seems to have been both mentally, 
 from original organization, and physically from his inces- 
 sant use of ardent spirits, incapable of it; and Burke, 
 though possessing a more active and acute mind, was 
 yet endowed with an unstable rambling disposition, which 
 incapacitated him from any continuous mental exertion, 
 and besides, at this time he was in the constant habit 
 of u steeping his senses in forgetf ulness," and at the same 
 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 time banishing reflection and the warnings of conscience, 
 by the indulgence of his inordinate appetite for stimulants. 
 
 Whatever might be their feelings, or whether they felt 
 at all or not, the next opportunity found them actively 
 engaged in what had now assumed the character of a regu- 
 lar trade. The narration must be proceeded in, and the 
 disgusting catalogue gone through, however revolting to 
 humanity, and we hasten to lay before our readers the 
 remainder of the intelligence we have obtained respecting 
 these murders. 
 
 Another one was effected upon the body of a poor old 
 woman who had unhappily drank too freely, and not 
 being in a condition to behave discreetly, had subjected 
 herself to the surveillance of the police, who, as a last re- 
 source, were in the act of conveying her to the office ; 
 Burke happened to be in the way, and apparently com- 
 miserating the situation of the unfortunate woman, prof- 
 fered his good offices in taking charge of her and furnish- 
 ing her with a night's lodgings. The officers were doubt- 
 less glad to get their troublesome charge so easily off their 
 hands, and readily acceded to his request ; she was con- 
 d ucted to the ordinary slaughter-house, Hare's, and speedily 
 put out of a condition to give any further annoyance to the 
 police. 
 
 Another victim was a cinder gatherer, whose occupation 
 caused her to wander about the streets at all hours, and 
 while Burke prowled abroad at the early hour we have 
 mentioned, many opportunities must have occurred to 
 form an acquaintance with her, and we may suppose that 
 little inducement would be requisite to cause her to leave 
 
WEST PORT MUllDEItS. 197 
 
 her wretched employment for a season, and partake of his 
 good cheer : she was destined never to return to it. 
 
 If there be any gradation in their wickedness it ap- 
 pears more incredible and unnatural that a near relation 
 of the one, and connection of the other, should have been 
 selected as a sacrifice ; yet it is well ascertained and ad- 
 mitted by Burke, that a young woman, a cousin of M'Dou- 
 gal's was also put to death, after having been intoxicated. 
 Some relations, we believe her mother and sister, after the 
 nefarious system was developed, came to Edinburgh in 
 fearful apprehension, endeavouring to ascertain the fate of 
 her whom they had long anxiously mourned over, and 
 applied at the house of Constantine Burke, when her rela- 
 tive Helen M'Dougal v/as present. She, in answer to their 
 agonised inquiries, replied, that they need not trouble 
 themselves about her, as she was murdered and sold long 
 before. 
 
 One of the remaining murders was perpetrated on the 
 body of a woman who came from the country, and took 
 up her lodgings also in Hare's. 
 
 We have already given, at page 125-137, a description of 
 the murders of Mary Paterson and James Wilson, or Daft 
 Jamie, and it will be unnecessary here to repeat what has 
 already been inserted. Burke has admitted, that he was 
 intoxicated when he suffocated Paterson, and that it was 
 done in the presence of Hare, while she was in a slumber, 
 which the excessive quantity of spirits he induced her to 
 swallow had produced. All legal proceedings regarding 
 her may be considered to be at an end. Should it be re- 
 solved upon, however, to indict and try Hare for the mur- 
 der of Daft Jamie, a farther development of some of the 
 
198 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 circumstances connected with him may be anticipated. 
 As it stands at present, we may assert that no additions 
 can be made to the narrative formerly given. It is sin- 
 gular that he was the only individual murdered who had 
 sense enough to refuse the liquor that was pressed upon 
 him, and apparently the only one that they found any 
 difficulty in dispatching. Burke has latterly, in allusion 
 to this, remarked. ** that they found more trouble with 
 a sober fool than a drunk one." 
 
 During the progress of this wholesale butchery. Burke 
 and M'Dougal removed from Harems, or as it was more 
 commonly culled Mrs. Log's house, to that of a relation or 
 connection of theirs, named Broggan, the father of the 
 witness of that name. We cannot determine whether 
 there had really occurred such a quarrel between Hare 
 and them as to induce them to separate in, disgust, ae has 
 been asserted, or whether it was imagined that another 
 establishment would furnish additional opportunities for 
 accomplishing their designs ; but if a disagreement actu- 
 tually did take place, it had been of short continuance, 
 and their operations appear to have suffered no interrup- 
 tion in consequence. It has been already stated, that 
 Broggan's house presented admirable capabilities for car- 
 rying on the work, provided the inmates could be relied 
 upon, but as it only consisted of one small apartment, this 
 was indispensable. There was also the dark passage, fur- 
 nishing a place of retreat for the women, when that should 
 be considered convenient. 
 
 Previously to occupying their new lodgings, however, 
 they seem to have spent a short time in Constantine Burke's 
 house in the Canongate, as they were residing there when 
 Paterson and Brown were enticed into it in April. Soon 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 199 
 
 after Whitsunday they removed to Broggan's house, and 
 not long after commenced using it for the purpose that 
 Hare's had been formerly applied to. A decent woman, 
 the widow of a porter, named Ostler, who lived in the 
 Grassmarkef, and who had died shortly before, was the 
 first victim in it. She gained her living in an indus- 
 trious laborious way, mainly by washing and dressing, 
 and eked it out by any sort of work she might be 
 employed in, and during harvest engaged in country 
 work. She had been accustomed to frequent Brog- 
 gan's house in her vocation of a washer-woman, and was 
 well known to the neighbours from her long resi- 
 dence about the neighbourhood, and from her often com- 
 ing to Mrs. Law's, where she got her clothes mangled. 
 One day she was observed to enter Broggan's house, and 
 was noticed afterwards singing " Sweet Home" in com- 
 pany with Burke. This was the last time that she was 
 seen. After having been persuaded to drink, she was dealt 
 with in the usual manner. 
 
 Those who lived in the neighbourhood cannot divest 
 themselves of the idea that Broggan, or at least his wife, was 
 cognizant of this affair. Their characters 'were not good, 
 he being a rude, brutal anddiunken personage, who made 
 the place the scene of a continued series of brawls ; his wife 
 also was not held in good estimation. The time of the mur- 
 der, they argue is pretty well ascertained by the fact of Mrs. 
 Ostler's having been known to enter the house, and never 
 seen to depart, and her disappearance from her usual places 
 of resort, as well as Mrs. Law's mangle, a place which her 
 occupation required her often to visit ; and it is alleged, 
 that at that period, though Broggan might be out of the 
 house, his wife could not, as she had lain in about the time. 
 It is but justice, however, towards the Broggans to state, 
 that Burke has never implicated them in any knowledge of 
 
200 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 his nefarious proceedings, find in this particular case, he 
 says, that the accouchment had taken place some time before 
 the murder, and that Mrs. Broggan, as well as her hus- 
 band, was absent from the house at the time. 
 
 Some time after Burke's coming as a lodger to this 
 house, he became the sole occupier. Broggan had been 
 unable to pay his rent at Martinmas, and Burke and Hare, 
 who were cautioners for it, were under the \,^cessity of sa- 
 tisfying the landlord. Broggan immediately after this 
 decamped with his family, though it could not be to evade 
 the landlord's claim, or from inability to meet it, as we 
 have seen that the rent was already paid by his sureties. 
 He left Burke in undisturbed possession of the house, and 
 furniture. 
 
 After his removal, it might have been supposed that no 
 inmate would have been admitted whose presence could 
 possibly prevent the accomplishment of their designs ; 
 yet with strange inconsistency they shortly after invited 
 Gray and his wife to lodge with them. It could scarcely 
 have been with the hope of mastering them, as Gray ap- 
 pears too stout a man to have been attempted single- 
 handed, even by both of the villains, and the notion of his 
 being an accomplice is equally out of the question. It is 
 true that when a <fc a shot" as their abominable cant term- 
 ed it, was obtained, they were sent out of the way, but this 
 must have been inconvenient, and after being felt so, it is pro- 
 bable that they would not have occupied their lodgings long. 
 The girl that Hare murdered, when Burke was absent in 
 the country, completes the number of sixteen ; and this, 
 according to Burke's confession, makes up the whole num- 
 ber. The amount is sufficiently horrifying, and the details 
 abundantly fearful. 
 
WEST PORT MUKDKKS 201 
 
 The account of the trial, furnishes ample details of the 
 murder of Margery Campbell, or Docherty. It was the 
 last committed, and afforded the means' of detecting and 
 putting an end to their wicked career. It is fearful to con- 
 template to what lengths it might otherwise have gone, or 
 how long it might have continued. 
 
 To the notices which have been given, we may subjoin 
 a list of the whole ; and although, as we have already pre- 
 mised, we cannot vouch for the order in which they hap- 
 pened being strictly observed, we believe that it will be 
 found otherwise perfectly accurate. 
 
 The first subject sold was, 
 
 The pensioner who died a natural death. 
 
 The murders were, 
 
 The old woman from Gilmerton. 
 
 The English pedlar. 
 
 The old man Joe the miller. 
 
 Mary Haldane. 
 
 Her daughter. 
 
 The old Irishwoman. 
 
 Her grandson. 
 
 The Cinder Gatherer. 
 
 The old woman taken out of the police officer's 
 
 hands. 
 
 Mary Paterson. 
 The woman from the country. 
 The girl M'Dougal. 
 Mrs. Ostler, the washerwoman. 
 Daft Jamie. 
 
 The woman Campbell, or Docherty. 
 The girl murdered by Hare alone. 
 
202 WKIT PORT MUMDERS. . 
 
 Of these, nine were murdered in Hare's house, and two 
 in the cellar adjoining to it, which was used by him as a 
 stable. Four or five of them were effected in what was 
 first Broggan's, and afterwards Burke^s house, and one in 
 Constantine Burke's, in Gibb's Close. 
 
 We have frequently had occasion to advert to the insi- 
 nuating manners, and mild deportment of Burke ; and the 
 same character attended him in his last place of residence 
 in the West- Port : Though seldom occupied at work, and 
 almost continually drinking, he was still considered a quiet 
 inoffensive man. The frequent squabbles that took place 
 between M'Dougal and he, and the beastly orgies of Hare 
 and his wife, did not change the opinion of their neigh- 
 bours. His character rather stood out favourably, when 
 contrasted with his associates; and a scuffle in the family 
 of Irish people of his rank, is not such an uncommon oc- 
 currence, as to excite much attention. Indeed, so little 
 was this regarded, that the cries of murder, on the night 
 in which Campbell was suffocated, were passed over with 
 this single remark by one of their near neighbours, that 
 " Nelly would surely be murdered to-night, as she was 
 making such a noise ;" but without, any idea that there 
 was any thing more serious than usual going on. 
 . 
 
 On ordinary occasions, if he chanced to meet any person 
 in the passage when intoxicated, he would pass on with the 
 observation of, " I am fou to-night ; but I will not disturb 
 you," 
 
 His fondness for music has been formerly noticed, and 
 this distinguished him to the last. It was his practice to 
 engage some wandering minstrel a young Savoyard, or 
 Italian boy who plays about the streets on a hurdy-gurdy 
 
WEST PORT MURDKKS. 203 
 
 iKiost frequently, and with his assistance to get up in his 
 
 house a concert and dance amontj the children that could he 
 
 
 
 collected about the neighbourhood ; and such was his po- 
 pularity, that his assemblies were generally well attended. 
 He appears to have displayed considerable affection towards 
 children, and to have secured their good will by joining 
 them in such harmless sports as these dancing parties. 
 Those who were too young to participate in the amuse- 
 ments were propitiated by gifts of sweetmeats, &c. 
 
 Many anxious mothers have found out since the trial, 
 that their children were objects of regard to the murderer 
 Burke; and in the plenitude of their parental affection, have 
 congratulated themselves upon their escape from his clutches. 
 Nothing could now convince them that a plqt was not laid 
 to kidnap their beloved offspring, and that if he had not 
 been detected, they would ere this time have furnished 
 subjects for dissection. Burke, however, alleges that he 
 never meddled with children, and never intended to do 
 so. There is little room to doubt, however, that had the 
 supply of full-grown and higher priced victims failed, he 
 would not have scrupled much to betake himself to younger 
 ones ; we cannot allow any tenderness of feeling to one who 
 could go on butchering so unconcernedly and for such a 
 length of time. He states, indeed, that he would have 
 abandoned it long before, had it not been for the entice- 
 ments of the monster Hare, who, whenever he proposed 
 stopping short, incited him on by threats and fresh tempta- 
 tions ; but although Hare may have been, and, we believe, 
 was the greater delinquent of the two, if any distinction 
 can be made, still Burke must be allowed to have possessed 
 free-agency enough to have withdrawn himself, or even to, 
 have arrested the progress of his partner when he pleased, 
 and we fear that this excuse will scarcely serve to paliiate 
 his conduct. He was all the time a sharer in the imhal- 
 
204) WEST POKT MUIIDEHS. 
 
 lowed gains, and an active co-operator, and seems to have 
 prowled about as ruthlessly in search of miserable wretches 
 to practise upon, as if no feeling of remorse ever entered 
 his mind. 
 
 He has even stated, that Hare and he intended 
 taking a journey in the way of their business next spring, 
 they were to proceed westward from Edinburgh, and 
 after visiting the intermediate places, travel on to Glasgow, 
 where they expected to find a rich harvest. They were to 
 proceed thence to Belfast, by way of Greenock, which was 
 also to be attempted on the route, and after doing what they 
 could in the north of Ireland, were to journey on to Dub- 
 lin. They had little fear about rraking a successful spe- 
 culation ; and in all probability, with such a fine field be- 
 fore them, they would not have been disappointed. 
 
 It is evident from all this that a year's impunity had 
 produced the effect of making them consider themselves 
 as engaged in a species of profession which had indeed, 
 like illicit distillation, or any contraband traffic, to be con- 
 cealed from the authorities, but which, except for this an- 
 noying accompaniment, was pursued with nearly as little 
 compunction as any other profession would have been; 
 and after some practice, they must have found it a lucra- 
 tive one. The commencement was made in December 
 1827, about Christmas it is stated, and the woman Docher- 
 ty was murdered on the 31st October 1828. Their bar- 
 gain was to receive eight pounds for each subject during 
 the summer season, and ten pounds in the winter. While 
 novices in the profession, in the course of ten months they 
 had massacred sixteen individuals, which must have pro- 
 duced about one hundred and fifty pounds, or seventy- 
 five pounds to each, without counting the price of the 
 first subject; no small sum for persons in their condition. 
 
WEST PORT MUKDKK*. 205 
 
 Their eviUgot gains seem, however, to have departed as 
 readily as they came, and all that either of them possessed 
 when arrested, was about two pounds received on the same 
 day as part of the price of the corpse of Campbell. Burke's 
 money was upon his person, and Hare's was hid under the 
 door of his inner closet, where it was got and delivered 
 to him in the jail. 
 
 Upon the evening of the day on which the body of Do- 
 cherty was detected lying among the straw, and before the 
 neighbours were apprised of it, Hare was discovered lurk- 
 ing in the stair leading to Burke's room, about the time 
 when the body was to be conveyed away, and upon being 
 questioned as to who he was, and what induced him to lounge 
 about in that manner, he replied that he was waiting for 
 William Burke. By this time he was recognised, and as 
 he was an universal object of dislike, was desired to go 
 away. Mrs. Connoway adding, " that he would frighten 
 the lasses from coming to Mrs. Law's mangle." Some time 
 after he was still found loitering along the passage, and 
 again interrogated about his remaining so long. This time 
 he took an effectual mode of relieving himself from his 
 troublesome inquirers by commencing to retch and vomit. 
 Mrs. Law shut her door violently in his face, exclaiming, 
 " what an ill-bred fellow," and Mrs. Connoway also followed 
 her example. This was apparently the signal they waited 
 for, and immediately afterwards M'Culloch the porter car- 
 ried out the tea-chest containing the body. 
 
 When the alarm was given by Gray and his wife that a 
 dead body had been seen in the house, and that it was now 
 removed, a great sensation was naturally created, and people 
 flocked about the place; none of the suspected individu- 
 als, however, could be found, and the police officers, who by 
 
206 
 
 WEST POUT 1IUKUE1U. 
 
 this time had been informed of it, and had visited the house, 
 left the place in search of them, and the tumult iri some 
 degree subsided. After a short while, Burke and M'Dou-. 
 gal were heard coming down the stair and along the pas- 
 sage. By this time they must have been aware of the dis- 
 covery, as M'Dougal had been informed by the Grays of 
 their suspicions, and had made an unsuccessful attempt to 
 tamper with them ; yet there was no flurry nor precipita- 
 tion perceptible in their manner, and, instead of proceed- 
 ing directly into their apartment, M'Dougal observed, " I 
 have a candle but no light," and entered Connoway's 
 house to procure one, as if there was nothing wrong. 
 Burke leaned unconcernedly against the door-post, without 
 speaking until Connoway said, " We have been speaking 
 about you William ;" he then replied, indifferently, " That 
 he hoped they had not been speaking ill of him ;" and 
 upon Connoway's answering that It was not good they 
 had to speak about him, 1 ' he inquired, " What ill they 
 had to say ?" After being informed that it was about a 
 body that had been found, he affected to make light of the 
 affair, under the pretence that it was one of their old sto- 
 ries about lifting the dead. He was then informed that it 
 was not such a surmise now, but that he was suspected of 
 murdering the little old woman with whom they all were so 
 happy the night before, and that the police were after 
 him. He replied with more asperity, u That he de- 
 fied all the country to prove any thing against him ; that 
 he had not been long about these doors, and this was the 
 second time such a story had been raised upon him." Mrs. 
 Connoway remarked, that she had heard of his being a re- 
 surrection man, but never had known of any murder being 
 laid to his charge. 
 
 He entered into an explanation of his meaning, which 
 
WEST FORT MURDERS. 207 
 
 as much as any thing else tends to show the cool design- 
 ing nature of the man. " Do you recollect the old wo- 
 man that came from the country ?" he said, describing an 
 elderly woman who had been introduced as a country 
 friend of M'Dougal, and had lived with them for three or 
 four days some time before. Mrs. Connoway answered, 
 " That she did." " Then do you recollect," he rejoined, 
 " her coming in to you and shaking hands, and bidding 
 you farewell ?" Mrs. Connoway replied, " That she re- 
 membered it perfectly well." " I made her come in and 
 do so on purpose," he added, " as Broggan told me that 
 you said I had murdered her." Whether Broggan had 
 actually said so, or whether Burke had devised this blind 
 to screen him when another occasion required it, we can- 
 not say, but Mrs. Connoway had never heard of the cir- 
 cumstance before. The officers immediately after this col- 
 loquy entered, and seized the culprits. They were convey- 
 ed to the police office, and after examination by the sheriff', 
 were transferred to the Calton Hill Jail, and placed among 
 the untried prisoners. Burke's conduct before trial was 
 decorous, and corresponded with what has been previously 
 said of him. His behaviour during the trial, and imme- 
 diately after it, has also been described, and little remains 
 to be added, save some short account of his demeanour 
 since conviction. 
 
 On the first morning after his removal from the Lock-up- 
 house to the condemned cell, which, in the Calton Jail, is 
 under the women's cells, and adjoining the stair which leads 
 to them, he mentioned to the jailor who attended him, that 
 he had heard a woman lamenting, and inquired if it would 
 be Hare's wife. He was informed that it could not be 
 she, as she was confined in a distant part of the house. 
 He asked, if there were any women in the same quarter, 
 
208 WEST FOR-T MURDERS. 
 
 for lie was sure that it was a woman he heard mourning. 
 The jailor then told him that it must have been his own 
 wife, who was kept among the women for protection. " Is 
 the place convenient,"" he said. The jailor answered, 
 " That it was quite near." " Poor thing," he replied, " she 
 has lost her only earthly provider." On the evening be- 
 fore M'Dougal left Edinburgh, she called at the jail with 
 Constantine Burke, both requesting to see Burke, and 
 upon this being denied them, M'Dougal sent a message, 
 informing him that she wanted money. He sent all that 
 remained of his money, and a common old watch, to her. 
 He has since expressed great affection for her, and a strong 
 desire to see her before he suffers. 
 
 Shortly after he came to the jail, it was observed by 
 some one that he would receive absolution from the priest, 
 which would make all right. He answered in a serious 
 tone, " that there was only one absolution for sin, and 
 that it had already been made." Any account of the spi- 
 ritual conversion of a great criminal has frequently been 
 complained of by many, under the supposition that it has 
 a tendency to encourage sinners to continue in their ini- 
 quity, in the hope that a tardy repentance may place them 
 in a state of grace at last. We question much the justice 
 of their conclusions. Men engaged in a career of crime 
 do not reason in this way, nor reason at all upon the sub- 
 ject ; and, though they did, it would require great hardi- 
 hood in a fellow-sinner to endeavour to deprive them of 
 v < the hope set before them in the Gospel." Though we 
 certainly do not imagine that these objectors would for a 
 moment contemplate fettering the operation of the Spirit. 
 We, at the same time, hold the opinion, that the utmost 
 caution should be used in promulgating such accounts, and 
 that the state of mind of the individual should be tho- 
 
 3 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 209 
 
 roughly sifted and rigidly inquired into before a conver- 
 sion be announced. It is with some pain, therefore, that 
 we have heard it given forth that Burke has become a true 
 penitent. Happy should we have been had we been en- 
 abled to proclaim that " the wicked had forsaken his ways, 
 and the unrighteous man his thoughts," and glad should 
 we still be to learn that it was so ; but truth compels us to 
 state, that no symptom has hitherto occurred to warrant 
 such a conclusion. We know well that he has expressed 
 contrition for his misdeeds, but we fear that it is rather 
 sorrow for punishment having overtaken him, than a sense 
 of the magnitude of his sin against God ; and as for saying 
 that he has sinned, a man who has committed fifteen cold- 
 blooded murders, if he speaks on the subject at all, can 
 scarcely say any thing else. He is said to be perfectly re- 
 signed to his fate, and to express himself quite calmly on 
 the subject. We believe it all. He is a man of that 
 stamp that would resolutely bring himself to suffer calmly 
 what he could not avoid. As to his announcing that he 
 would not now accept of pardon though it was offered 
 to him, it appears to us to be a mere fiction. We 
 would not wish to speak irreverently upon such a solemn 
 subject, but surely we may be allowed to say, that conver- 
 sion to the faith of the Gospel, and to a firm belief in the 
 truths of Christianity, does not and ought not to bring 
 along with it a predilection for being hanged ; that while' 
 it alone prepares a man for death, it also capacitates him 
 for worthily continuing in life. We fear if Burke has 
 made use of such an expression, it can only be accounted 
 for by wrong-headed ness or hypocrisy. He must know well 
 that a pardon is not likely to be granted, and if it were, that 
 his consent would not be asked ; and any observations upon 
 the subject may therefore be spared. We repeat that we 
 shall be happy to be assured that we are mistaken in the 
 9. 2E 
 
210 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 view we have taken of his state, but there is much fear that 
 though a melancholy it is a just one. 
 
 Since his conviction he has been very strictly watched, 
 lest he should find means to destroy himself, though he 
 has never shown the slightest inclination to do so. A man 
 sits with him night and day, and to those engaged in this 
 duty, as well as others who are necessarily employed about 
 him, he has been very communicative and garrulous. 
 
 As illustrative of the freedom with which he converses 
 with those who are about him, we may mention an instance 
 which, were it not for the melancholy and awful situation 
 in which he is placed standing on the brink of eternity 
 would bear an irresistibly ludicrous aspect. His mind 
 seemed to have been engaged in a train of reasoning upon 
 some subject, and at last he gave vent to it by saying, that 
 he thought he was entitled to, and ought to get, the five 
 pounds from Dr. Knox, which was still unpaid, on the body 
 of the woman Docherty. It was observed to him, that 
 Dr. Knox had lost by the transaction, as the body was ta- 
 ken from him. He replied, " That was not my business : 
 I delivered the subject, and he ought to have kept it." It 
 was then said to him, that if the money was paid, Hare 
 ought to get half of it. He pondered a little upon this 
 view, and then answered, " No; that Hare had cleared 
 himself by becoming king^s evidence, and he thought that 
 he had justly forfeited his share of it, and that all the five 
 pounds should go to him. 1 " It turned out that his anxiety 
 for the five pounds proceeded from a desire to appear in a 
 reputable manner on the scaffold. " Since I am to ap- 
 pear before the public," he said, " I should like to be re- 
 spectable. I have got a tolerable pair of trousers, but 
 have not a coat and waistcoat that I can appear in ; and if 
 
WEST POUT MURDEKS. 211 
 
 I get the five pounds I would buy them." Though it is 
 not likely that he will receive the money, his wish will be 
 gratified in respect to the clothes, a topic which he has 
 frequently adverted to. We understand that the priest 
 who attends him has provided him with what he desires ; 
 and if he had not done so, the Magistrates would have 
 supplied the want. 
 
 His disease has now got worse, and gives him great 
 uneasiness. In consequence of the surgeon's request some 
 change has been made on his food, and in addition to the 
 meagre diet formerly hinted at, a little soup has been al- 
 lowed him daily. This day, (Tuesday) he will receive the 
 sacrament according to the rites of the Romish church. 
 He was removed to the Lock-up-house previous to the aw- 
 ful ceremonial of a public execution, at five o'clock this 
 morning. 
 
 Since his condemnation, all intercourse with him has 
 been strictly prohibited, except by those whose duties re- 
 quired their attendance, or the authorities who might wish 
 to see him upon public business ; or, finally, those who 
 had, from their situation, the privilege of the entree, and 
 could extend the same privilege to a few of their immediate 
 friends ; but, with the exception of their visits, they seem 
 to have been actuated by the laudable desire, that the un- 
 happy man should riot be annoyed from motives of curio- 
 sity, and the public has been rigidly excluded. Still a 
 sufficient number found their way into his cell, to harass 
 and tease him about confessions ; and to be rid of the an- 
 noyance, as it is stated, he addressed a letter to the Lord 
 Provost, requesting that a professional gentleman, whom 
 he named, might be allowed access to him, for the purpose 
 of, once for all, giving through him an authenticated con- 
 fession, which might satisfy the public mind. 
 
212 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 The public authorities appear all along to have been 
 actuated by a decided reluctance to disclose to the public 
 any thing connected with these transactions beyond what 
 must necessarily appear on the regular trials ; and in doing 
 so, we have no doubt have been anxious to secure to official 
 persons the exclusive knowledge of such circumstances as 
 might be necessary for the ends of justice, as well as, in 
 their opinion, to prevent the public mind being unneces- 
 sarily excited. 
 
 TOWN-COUNCIL OF EDINBURGH, 
 WEDNESDAY, JAN. 21. 
 
 The Lord Provost stated to the Council, that they were 
 perhaps aware that a written application had been made to 
 him, signed by Burke, the individual at present under 
 sentence of death, for permission to be visited by a Writer 
 in town, to whom he was desirous of making some disclo- 
 sures regarding the crimes with which he had been con- 
 nected, and that, acting upon the advice of the Lord Ad- 
 vocate, he had deemed it right to refuse the application in 
 question. That advice had been given by the Lord Advo- 
 cate in a letter, which, of course, was not written with the 
 view of publication ; but as much misrepresentation had 
 gone abroad regarding the matter, the Lord Provost deem- 
 ed it right that the letter should be laid before the public, 
 that they might know the true grounds on which the re- 
 quest had been refused. His Lordship further stated, 
 that he had waited upon Burke, and explained to him the 
 reason for refusing access to the individual whom he had 
 mentioned in his letter, and by whom that letter was writ- 
 ten, though it was certainly signed by Burke when the 
 unfortunate man mentioned to the Lord Provost, that he 
 was perfectly indifferent as to the matter, and that he did 
 not conceive that the narrative of his life, which the person 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 already mentioned had wished to prepare for publication, 
 was of a nature calculated to interest any one. The Lord 
 Advocate's letter is of the following tenor : 
 
 " Edinburgh, January 15, 1829. 
 
 " MY LORD PROVOST I had the honour to receive your 
 Lordship's letter of yesterday's date, transmitting a com- 
 munication to you from William Burke, which is here- 
 with returned. 
 
 " Your Lordship is perhaps not aware that, on the 3d 
 instant, Burke intimated to the Sheriff, through the Go- 
 vernor of the Jail, that being harassed by inquiries, he 
 wished once for all to make a full confession of every thing 
 he could say in regard to the atrocious transactions in which 
 he had been engaged, to the end that he might afterwards 
 be allowed to remain undisturbed, and apply his mind to 
 things fitted to his situation. In consequence of this com- 
 munication, the Sheriff, on that same day, repaired to the 
 jail, and took from Burke a full and voluntary confession, 
 which was drawn up in the shape of a declaration, con- 
 sisting of 19 pages. This declaration is now in my pos- 
 session, and I sometime ago sent a copy of it to the Secre- 
 tary of State. 
 
 " It appears to me of importance both to the individual 
 himself, and to the public, that no second statement, which 
 might be contradictory of, or inconsistent with, the first, 
 (so solemnly and deliberately given) ought now to be im- 
 petrated from this man by irresponsible parties, with the 
 avowed object of its publication ; and that the proper an- 
 swer for your Lordship in return is, that Burke having 
 himself most properly already selected such a mode of 
 making his confession as was best calculated to secure its 
 
214? WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 accuracy, and to render it truly authentic, no deviation 
 from that mode of proceeding can now be sanctioned ; but 
 that the Sheriff will wait upon Burke, for the purpose of 
 reading over to him the confession made on the 3d current, 
 and that that magistrate will then take down whatever 
 additions or alterations Burke may desire to have made 
 upon it. 
 
 " I have the honour, &c. 
 (Signed) WM. RAE." 
 
 " Right Honourable the Lord Provost 
 of Edinburgh, &c. &c. &c." 
 
 It is difficult, however, to see how " it is of impor- 
 tance to the individual himself, and to the public, that no 
 second statement, which might be contradictory of, or in- 
 consistent with, the first," should be given. To us it 
 seems of great importance, that all he is willing to confess 
 ought to be received and given to the public. So far from 
 his wishing to remain undisturbed, it is at his own request 
 conveyed in a letter, signed with his name, that that per- 
 mission for the gentleman to visit him was asked ; and his 
 second statement could only be important, in as much as 
 it differed from the one previously given to the Sheriff 
 It could only be with a view of giving a fuller account, 
 and more minute in its details, that he was desirous of 
 being troubled further in the matter. It is not an impos- 
 sible supposition, that the declaration the Sheriff received 
 is altogether a tissue of lies ; and is the immaculacy of it 
 still to be upheld, and all correction denied, because it 
 would be contradictory of, or inconsistent with, the former 
 document ? Neither does it seem to us, that the avowed 
 object of its publication makes any difference. It is only in 
 as far as this object is concerned that the public cares a 
 straw upon the subject. And if the Sheriff's document is 
 
WST PORT MURDERS. 215 
 
 not intended to be immediately published, but is to be 
 shut up in the archives of his office, until some future Sir 
 Walter Scott grubs it out, and weaves for other genera- 
 tions a romance of thrilling interest out of the horrifying 
 confessions of Burke, the public perhaps would have been 
 as well pleased had all this official activity been spared. 
 
 We cannot believe that these very respectable func- 
 tionaries can feel in common with those who use the silly 
 cant, that the public mind may be contaminated by an ac- 
 count of his crime. The public mind has been, and is 
 strongly excited. Some information the public requires, 
 and will get, and it surely is better to have a correct and 
 authentic statement than garbled and exaggerated reports. 
 Were it a detail of the clever tricks of an ingenious and 
 adroit rogue, there might be some colour for the above 
 opinion ; but no one is likely to be so enraptured with 
 Burke's narrative as to engage in such a revolting trade in 
 imitation of him. 
 
 But while their Lordships have been deliberating upon 
 this subject, and ultimately resolving that he should not 
 be allowed to give an account to any but themselves, 
 the poor man has been confessing all the time ; and it is 
 well known that several have had access to him, whose 
 mouths cannot be stopped, and whose pens have not been 
 idle. We are assured that not one, but several " authen- 
 tic confessions of Burke" will be made public ; and we have 
 reason to know, that a duly authenticated one will appear, 
 whether the Lord Advocate's be published or not. What- 
 ever is interesting, our readers may rely upon receiving. 
 
 For the present, with the exception of the following 
 
216 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 " confessions" which first appeared in the Caledonian 
 Mercury, and which, we are assured, are perfectly authen- 
 tic, we will leave the unfortunate man until the last act in 
 the singular drama of his life closes. 
 
 CONFESSIONS OF BURKE. 
 
 The information from which the following article is 
 drawn up, we have received from a most respectable quar- 
 ter, and its perfect correctness in all respects may be confi- 
 dently relied on. In truth, it is as nearly as possible a 
 strict report, rather than the substance, of what passed at 
 an interview with Burke ; in the course of which the un- 
 happy man appears to have opened his mind without 
 reserve, and to have given a distinct and explicit answer 
 to every question which was put to him relative to his 
 connection with the late murders. 
 
 After some conversation of a religious" nature, in the 
 course of which Burke stated that, while in Ireland, his 
 mind was under the influence of religious impressions, and 
 that he was accustomed to read his catechism and his 
 prayer-book, and to attend to his duties, he was asked, 
 " How comes it, then, that you who, by your own account, 
 were once under the influence of religious impressions, 
 ever formed the idea of such dreadful atrocities, of such 
 cold-blooded, systematic murders, as you admit you have 
 been engaged in how came such a conception to enter 
 your mind ?" To this Burke replied, that he did not ex- 
 actly know ; but that becoming addicted to drink, living 
 in open adultery, and associating continually with the 
 most abandoned characters, he gradually became hardened 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 He was them asked, how loti?; he had been engaged in 
 this murderous traffic. To which he answered, "-From 
 Christmas- 1827 till the murder of the woman Docherty 
 .in October last." " How many persons have you mur- 
 .dered, or been concerned in murdering, during that time? 
 Were they thirty in all ?" " Not so many ; not so many, 
 I assure you." " How many ?" He answered the ques- 
 tion ; but the answer was, for a reason perfectly satisfacto- 
 ry, not communicated to us, and reserved for a different 
 quarter. 
 
 . 
 
 " Had you any accomplices ?" " None but Hare. We 
 always took care, when we were going to commit a murder, 
 that no one else should be present that no one could 
 swear he saw the deed done. The women might suspect 
 what we were about, but we always put them out of the 
 way when we were going to do it. They never saw us 
 commit any of the murders. One of the murders was 
 done in Broggan's house, while he was out, but before he 
 returned the thing was finished, and the body put into a 
 box. Broggan evidently suspected something, for he ap- 
 peared much agitated, and entreated us 6 to take away 
 that box,' which we accordingly did. But he was not in 
 any way concerned in it. 
 
 " You have already told me that you were engaged in 
 these atrocities from Christmas 1827 till the end of October 
 1828 ; were you associated with Hare during all that time ?" 
 *' Yes. We began with selling to Dr. the body of a 
 woman* who had died a natural death m Hare's house. 
 We got ten pounds for it. After this we began the mur- 
 
 * This is a mistake, it was the body of a man, as will be seen in the pre- 
 vious memoir. 
 
 10. 2 F 
 
218 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 ders, and all the rest of the bodies we sold to him were 
 murdered." 
 
 " In what place were these murders generally commit- 
 ted ?" " They were mostly committed in Hare's house, 
 which was very convenient for the purpose, as it consisted 
 of a room and a kitchen. Daft Jamie was murdered there. 
 The story told of this murder is incorrect. Hare began 
 the struggle with him, and they fell and rolled together 
 on the floor; then I went to Hare's assistance, and we 
 at length finished him, though with much difficulty. I 
 committed one murder in the country by myself.* It was 
 in last harvest. All the rest were done in conjunction 
 with Hare." 
 
 te By what means were these fearful atrocities perpetrat- 
 ted ?" " By suffocation. We made the persons drunk, 
 and then suffocated them by holding the nostrils and 
 mouth, and getting on the body. Sometimes I held the 
 mouth and nose, while Hare went upon the body and 
 sometimes Hare held the mouth and nose, while I placed 
 myself on the body. Hare has perjured himself by what 
 he said at the trial about the murder of Docherty. He 
 did not sit by while I did it, as he says. He was on the 
 body assisting me with all his might, while I held the 
 nostrils and mouth with one hand, choked her under the 
 throat with the other. We sometimes used a pillow, but 
 did not in this case." 
 
 . 
 
 " Now, Burke, answer me this question Were you 
 tutored and instructed, or did you receive hints from any 
 
 * This also is a mistake, it was Hare who committed the rmjirder alone, 
 whe Burke was in tfie country. 
 
WEST POUT AIUIUJKJIS. 219 
 
 one as to the mode of committing murder ?" " No, except 
 from Hare. We often spoke about it, and we agreed that 
 suffocation was the best way. Hare said so, and I n greed 
 with him. We generally did it by suffocation.'' [Our infor- 
 mant omitted to interrogate him about the surgical instru- 
 ments stated to have been found in his house ; but this 
 omission will be supplied.] 
 
 *' Did you receive any encouragement to commit or per- 
 severe in committing these atrocities?" " Yes; we were 
 frequently told by Faterson that he would take as many 
 bodies as we could get for him. When we got one, he 
 always told us to get more. There was commonly another 
 person with him of the name of Falconer. They generally 
 pressed us to get more bodies for them." 
 
 " To whom were the bodies so murdered sold .?" " To 
 
 Dr. . We took the bodies to his rooms in 
 
 , and then went to his house to receive the money 
 
 for them. Sometimes he paid us himself; sometimes we 
 were paid by his assistants. No questions were ever asked 
 as to the mode in which we had come by the bodies. We 
 had nothing to do but to leave a body at the rooms, and 
 go get the money." 
 
 I 
 
 " Did you ever, upon any occasion, sell a body or bodies 
 to any other lecturer in this place ?" " Never. We knew 
 no other." 
 
 " You have been a resurrectionist (as it is called) I un- 
 derstand ?" .' No. Neither Hare nor myself ever got a 
 body from a churchyard. All we sold were murdered 
 save the first one, which was that of the woman (man) 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 who died a natural death in Harems house. We began with 
 that : our crimes then commenced. The victims we se- 
 lected were generally elderly persons. They could be 
 more easily disposed of than persons in the vigour of 
 health." 
 
 Such are the disclosures which this wretched man has 
 made, under circumstances which can scarcely fail to 
 give them weight with the public. Before a question was 
 put to him concerning the crimes he had been engaged in, 
 he was solemnly reminded of the duty incumbent upon 
 him, situated as he is, to banish from his mind every feel- 
 ing of animosity towards Hare, on account of the evidence 
 which the latter gave at the trial ; he was told, that, as a 
 dying man, covered with guilt, and without hope, except 
 in the infinite mercy of Almighty God, through our blessed 
 Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, he, who stood so much 
 in need of forgiveness, must prepare himself to seek it by 
 forgiving from his heart all who had done him wrong; 
 and he was most emphatically adjured to speak the truth, 
 and nothing but the truth, without any attempt either to 
 palliate his own iniquities, or to implicate Hare more deep- 
 ly than the facts warranted. Thus admonished, and thus 
 warned, he answered the several interrogatories in the 
 terms above stated ; declaring, at the same time, upon the 
 word of a dying man, that every thing he had said was 
 true, and that he had in no respect exaggerated or extenu- 
 ated any thing, either from a desire to exculpate Hare, or 
 to spare any one else. The unhappy man is, moreover, 
 perfectly penitent, and resigned to his fate. He never 
 deluded himself with any hopes of escape or of mercy . 
 and he is now accordingly preparing himself for confession, 
 
WEST POUT MUllDEJtS. ^.~ 
 
 and for receiving absolution, by a perusal of such books as 
 his spiritual guides have put into his hands, and by listen- 
 ing with the most devout attention to their religious in- 
 structions. He fully acknowledges the justice of his sen- 
 tence ; nay, he considers it in some measure as a blessing, 
 the certainty of his approaching fate having brought back 
 his mind to a sense of religion, from which it had been long 
 estranged. At first he expressed deep regret that Hare, 
 whose guilt he conceives as of a still deeper dye than his 
 own, should have escaped the vengeance of the law ; but 
 by the exertions of his spiritual monitors, who have been 
 indefatigable in their efforts to impress him with a strong 
 sense of the dreadful enormity of his own guilt, as well as 
 to bring him to a right frame and temper of mind, he no 
 longer gives expression to such feelings, and now only 
 breathes a wish to die at peace with all mankind. As often 
 as the subject of the late trial is mentioned, however, he 
 never fails to assert that Hare perjured himself in the ac- 
 count he gave of the murder of the woman ; repeating the 
 statement we have already given, that, so far from sitting 
 by, a cool and unconcerned spectator of the crime, Hare 
 actively assisted in the commission of it, and was upon the 
 body of the woman co-operating with himself in his efforts 
 to strangle her. 
 
 PREPARATIONS FOR THE EXECUTION. 
 
 We are now drawing near a termination of the earthly 
 career of the wretched man who has lately occupied sq 
 large a place in the public mind. At the time that his 
 atrocities were first brought to light, a deep and genera^ 
 
WEST TOUT MURDERS. 
 
 sensation of horror and astonishment was produced. The 
 fresh disclosure of new crimes which were announced from 
 da\ to day, kept alive this feeling, until at last it was 
 wound up to a pitch of interest which can scarcely be ima- 
 gined. All classes seemed actuated by a common feeling 
 of indignation against the ruffians who could perpetrate 
 such enormities; while the disappointment of the public, 
 that the vengeance of the law had hitherto overtaken only 
 one of the murderous gang, was strongly expressed. There 
 was manifested, at the same time, great satisfaction that 
 one at least of the miscreants had not also escaped his 
 merited fate; and, as the time appointed for his execution 
 drew near, an universal interest was exhibited to learn the 
 progress of the preparations, and the state of mind of the 
 unhappy man. The magistrates and authorities, however, 
 seem purposely to have adopted a line of conduct calcu- 
 lated directly to disappoint the very natural anxiety so 
 unequivocally exhibited ; and up to the moment when he 
 appeared on the scaffold, all knowledge of what was passing 
 was withheld, and all access to the condemned cell or to 
 the Lock-up-house denied ; while those, whose duty re- 
 quired that they should be brought in contact with Burke, 
 were repeatedly cautioned against divulging such intelli- 
 gence as their situation might enable them. to obtain. So 
 rigidly was this injunction enforced, that one of the turn- 
 keys in the Calton-hill jail, an individual who was very 
 generally respected in his station, and who, we believe, 
 heretofore conducted himself with much propriety, has, 
 notwithstanding his previous character, been dismissed for 
 revealing some of the secrets of the prison-house. 
 
 In despite, however, of all this well-preserved mystery, 
 some particulars of the last hours of the doomed man have 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 transpired, and we now are enabled to lay before our 
 readers an account, as complete as it can be made, of the 
 awful ceremony which terminated his mortal existence. 
 
 REMOVAL TO THE LOCK-UP-HOUSE. 
 
 
 At four o'clock on the morning of Tuesday the 27th, 
 (the day previous to that appointed for the execution), 
 Burke was taken off the gad, and conveyed in a coach from 
 the Calton-hill Jail to the Lock-up-house in Libberton's 
 Wynd. The time was purposely fixed at this unusual 
 hour to prevent any annoyance from the crowd, which 
 would undoubtedly have assembled had it been delayed ta 
 a later time of the day. From this cause, the only persons 
 present, and indeed the only individuals acquainted with it, 
 except the coachman, were Captain Rose and one of his 
 assistants. The criminal was strongly ironed, and secured 
 with shackles of unusual magnitude and strength. 
 
 He maintained on this trying occasion, both imme- 
 diately before leaving the jail, and during the time he was- 
 in the coach, the same composure of mind which he has 
 displayed ever since his conviction, 
 
 On reaching the Lock-up-house, he was supported into 
 in a state of extreme exhaustion ; so much so, as to lead 
 e who witnessed it to imagine that the gallows might 
 
 still lose its deserved victim, by his deaih taking place 
 
 before the next morning. 
 
 In the course of the last day of his existence, his com- 
 posure or insensibility still continued unshaken, excepting' 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 when the dead-clothes, a suit o f sables, were presented to 
 him. On receiving them he exhibited deep emotion, 
 and- by his own confession he felt it. We have mention- 
 ed before that his thoughts had been frequently occupied 
 about the dress he was to appear in. He remained per- 
 fectly unmoved, with the exception of this transient indica- 
 tion, throughout the rest of the day. In the course of the 
 day, he was visited by the Rev. Messrs. Reid and Stewart, 
 Catholic priests, and the Rev. Mr. Marshall, whom he 
 requested to attend him to the scaffold, as well as the 
 Rev. Mr. Porteous, which he promised to do. He said to 
 those in attendance that he had committed no more mur- 
 ders than those which were comprised in the declaration 
 he made to the sheriff since his conviction. For two or 
 three nights previously, he had enjoyed sound sleep, and 
 it is extraordinary that such was his state of dogged 
 tranquillity, that his rest was sound and unbroken, for five 
 hours, from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning. This, 
 we believe, has however been observed to be frequently 
 the case with criminals on the evening previous to execu- 
 tion. 
 
 At length, he manifested some impatience for the arrival 
 of the time when he was to leave this world. In tlie course 
 of the night, he said with much apparent earnestness, 
 "' Oh that the hour were come which is to separate me 
 from the world !" About half-past five o'clock on Wed- 
 nesday morning, he expressed a desire to be relieved from 
 his chains, complaining much of the weight of them. This 
 desire was readily complied with. .; He held out his leg to 
 the smith employed to perform this service, and when the 
 fetters fell from his limbs, he exclaimed, turning up his 
 
WEST POKT MULDERS. 225 
 
 eyes towards Heaven, " So may all earthly chains fall 
 from me !" 
 
 About half-past six o'clock, the two Catholic clergy- 
 men (the Rev. Messrs. Reid and Stewart) entered the 
 Lock-up-house : The former immediately waited upon the 
 criminal in his cell, and was absent for a considerable time 
 with him. 
 
 At seven Burke walked with a firm step into the keeper's 
 room, followed by his confessor ; and at this moment no 
 appearance of agitation or dismay was discernible in his 
 countenance or manner. He took his seat on an arm 
 chair at the side of the fire, and twice or thrice he was re- 
 marked to sigh heavily. There were present at the time 
 Bailies Child, Crichton, and Small, and one or two official 
 persons besides; who were shortly afterwards joined by 
 the Reverend Mr. Marshall and Mr. Porteous, chaplain to 
 the Caltonhill Jail. Before the latter gentleman arrived, 
 however, Burke and his spiritual assistants of the Catholic 
 persuasion had commenced their devotions ; he engaged in 
 them with much apparent fervour. The Reverend Messrs. 
 Reid and Stewart followed up their prayers with some se- 
 rious exhortations. In the course of these devout and 
 pious admonitions, Mr. Reid used the words, " You must 
 trust in the mercy of God ;" upon which the unhappy 
 wretch heaved a long, deep-drawn suspiration, or rather 
 suppressed groan, which too plainly betrayed the anguish 
 and despair that lurked about his heart. He seemed to 
 have a secret feeling that he was too deeply sunk in crime 
 to be entitled even to hope in the infinite mercy of Hea- 
 ven : his mind acknowledged the truth of the observation, 
 
 10. 2 G 
 
2 WEST PO'RT MURDERS. 
 
 while his guilty and perhaps awakened conscience bade 
 him doubt of that mercy being extended to him. 
 
 What is somewhat singular, he exhibited no emotion on 
 the executioner making his appearance. After this portion 
 of his religious exercises had been gone through, he was on 
 his way to an adjoining apartment, when he was accidently 
 met by Williams, who stopped him rather officiously; upon 
 which he said, " I am not ready for you yet." The exe- 
 cutioner followed him, and in a very short time both re- 
 turned, Burke with his arms tightly pinioned behind his 
 back^ but without any change in his demeanour. While 
 Williams was discharging this part of his duty, no con- 
 versation took place ; indeed he rather appeared disinclin- 
 ed to hold conversation with any. 
 
 He was then invited to take a glass of wine, which he 
 accepted of, and before putting it to his lips, bowing to 
 the company, he drank " Farewell to all present, and the 
 rest of his friends." He then entered into conversation for 
 a few minutes with Mr. Marshall and Mr. Porteous upon 
 religious subjects. The Magistrates, Bailies Crichtori and 
 Small, who had previously gone out, now appeared in their 
 robes, with their rods of office, and Burke took the oppor- 
 tunity, before he went forth to meet his doom, of express- 
 ing his gratitude to the Magistrates generally, and parti- 
 cularly to Bailie Small, for the kindness he had experienced 
 from them, as well as from all the public authorities. He 
 likewise made similar acknowledgments to Mr. Rose, the 
 Governor of the Calton-hill Jail, Mr. Fisher, the Deputy- 
 Governor, and Mr. and Mrs. Christie, who have the charge 
 of the Lock-up-house, for their unremitting and kind at- 
 tentions. 
 
WEST 1'ORT MURDERS. 227 
 
 Precisely at eight o'clock, Burke was upon his feet, 
 as if eager to have the ceremony proceeded in, and im- 
 mediately after the melancholy procession began to move 
 towards the scaffold. He was supported by the two Ca- 
 tholic priests, more from the difficulty of walking, owing 
 to the circumstance of his arms being pinioned than from 
 any inability, or any faltering in his steps. When proceed- 
 ing up Libberton's Wynd, he seemed perfectly cool and 
 self-possessed, turning from side to side, and conversing 
 with the Rev. Messrs. Reid and Stewart, and the Rev. 
 Mr. Marshall. In crossing from the Lock-up-house to the 
 postern entrance in Libberton's Wynd, to where the path- 
 way was wet from the rain and thaw of the morning, he 
 was observed picking his steps with the greatest care. 
 When he arrived at the head of Libberton's Wynd, his 
 face had an expression of wistfulness and anxiety, as if he 
 were uneasy and uncertain of his reception from the mob, 
 and he hurried on with his eyes half closed, eager appa- 
 rently to bring the fatal scene to a speedy close. 
 
 OCCURRENCES ON THE STREET. 
 
 We will now advert to what was passing in the mean 
 time out of doors. Here fortunately no individual " dress- 
 ed in a little brief authority" could interfere, to prevent all 
 the circumstances from being transacted under the public 
 eye, or from the press, causing the knowledge of them to 
 be widely extended far beyond even the countless multi- 
 tudes who thronged and blocked up the High Street. 
 
 On Tuesday many anxious spectators were collected 
 
228 WEST PORT MURDE&S. 
 
 near the ordinary place of execution at the head of Libber- 
 ton's Wynd, and the thoroughfare was kept up, notwith- 
 standing the inclemency of the weather, during the whole 
 day. The preparations commenced at an early hour in 
 the forenoon. Holes were dug in the pavement for the re- 
 ception of the upright posts, and a space surrounding the 
 place which it was intended the scaffold should occupy, 
 was enclosed with strong posts and chains, to prevent the 
 crowd breaking, in upon the scaffold. At ten o'clock on 
 Tuesday night, the ceremony of setting up the scaffold 
 commenced. Its progress was watched by a great many 
 eager beholders, although the rain still continued at inter- 
 vals to pelt upon them. The din of the workmen and 
 clanging of the hammers were mingled with the shouts 
 which were raised by the assembled populace, whenever 
 an important piece of the erection was completed, while 
 the torches used, shedding a lurid glare on the black appa 
 ratus and dusky countenances of the workmen, added great- 
 ly to the wildness and interest of the scene. When all was 
 finished, and the fatal beam placed transversely upon the 
 perpendicular one, and its dark outline visible through 
 the dim light, three tremendous cheers were given. To 
 show the feeling of the working classes, we may mention, 
 that notwithstanding the reluctance that is invariably ex- 
 hibited among the operatives of the carpenter employed 
 to set up the apparatus for an execution is such, that lots 
 have to be cast for those workmen in the employment who are 
 to fulfil the disagreeable task. On this occasion, one and all 
 volunteered their services, and performed the work with a 
 givsto and alacrity which would have been astonishing in 
 an ordinary case. It was completed about two o'clock in 
 the morning, and shortly after that hour the people dis- 
 persed, some few having delayed their departure until they 
 
WtST TORT MUU13EJIS. 
 
 witnessed the fitting and adjusting of the rope. It was af- 
 terwards removed, and replaced shortly before its services 
 were required. 
 
 Long before this time the closes and stairs near the spot 
 were blocked up by those who had resolved upon securing 
 a good view, by remaining all night on the ground. The 
 inclemency of the weather drove them to any shelter that 
 could be obtained, and morning found them in the com- 
 fortless lairs they had chosen overnight. 
 
 A constant bustle was also kept up by the arrival of 
 those individuals, who either from favour or for money, 
 had procured the conveniency of a window in the vicinity. 
 Many gave considerable sums for this accommodation, and 
 such was their desire to avail themselves of their good for- 
 tune in securing them, that they spent the night in the 
 apartment* 
 
 The streets were nearly perfectly quiet throughout the 
 morning after the erection of the gibbet ; the heavy and 
 almost incessant rain must have contributed greatly to pre- 
 vent any very early assemblage. As the morning advanced, 
 however, groupes were seen hastening to their windows, or 
 taking their station in as favourable a place as they could 
 fix upon for properly witnessing the approaching event. 
 
 About five o'clock the people began again to assemble 
 and take their station, principally in front of the gallows, 
 and above it towards the Castle Hill, while large parties 
 of policemen and patrole successively arrived, and were 
 judiciously posted in a strong line in front of the railing 
 which kept off the crowd. The space left free was larger 
 than is usually reserved upon such occasions. The Police 
 
2'JO WKST TOUT MURU&KS. 
 
 under the conduct of Captain Stewart and his Lieutenants. 
 Their services were not in a solitary instance required, 
 except it might be to prevent the great pressure of the 
 vast multitude from bursting the barrier ; indeed the mob 
 were in perfect good humour, and instead of their usual 
 animosity against the police officers being displayed, in 
 futile attempts to annoy or retard them in the execution 
 of their duties, one and all of the immense assemblage 
 would willingly have done any thing in their power to 
 aid the officers and further the arrangements. 
 
 From six to seven oY'lock a great concourse thronged 
 every avenue to the High Street, and the numbers pour- 
 ing, almost rushing into it from every quarter, gave the 
 immediate vicinity a very busy and animated appearance. 
 Among the arrivals, there were many whose appear- 
 ance betokened that they did not belong to the usual class 
 who attend such scenes. In this number were included 
 many well dressed ladies, who by and bye made their ap- 
 pearance at the windows of the lofty and sombre looking 
 lands in the Lawnmarket, as well as those of the county 
 buildings, and gave an unexpected variety to the pictur- 
 esque scene. We understand that windows commanding 
 a view of the place of execution were eagerly inquired 
 after, and engaged at prices varying according to their lo- 
 cality, from five to thirty shillings each, while some who 
 had engaged a window retailed a view at the rate of half a 
 crown a head. The great numbers who were constantly 
 arriving up before seven o'clock seemed principally to dis- 
 perse themselves in this manner, as no very sensible addi- 
 tion was made to the mass up to this hour. 
 
 About six o'clock the weather had become less inclement, 
 and though it was a cold raw disagreeable morning, the 
 
 6 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 231 
 
 showers were only partial and less violent than they had 
 been during the night. After seven o'clock, when the rain 
 almost entirely ceased, the crowd became rapidly larger 
 and more dense, and about eight o'clock the iirea contain- 
 ed between the West Bow and the Tron Church, present- 
 ed an aspect of such an immense and closely wedged mass 
 of human beings such a living and moving sea of un- 
 countable multitudes as could very seldom be witnessed, 
 and we should suppose has never been known on a si- 
 milar occasion, or perhaps on any other in the city, 
 excepting perhaps at the king's visit. All along the 
 street the people were packed more closely than could 
 have been conceived, and as far as the eye could reach, 
 every vantage ground that could command a view was 
 thickly studded. In the immediate neighbourhood of the 
 scaffold, looking downwards, the crowd presented a dark 
 appearance from the great proportion of males who com- 
 posed it, but few females, much under the number that 
 usually attends on similar scenes were present. Farther 
 out, however, where the pressure was not so great, the 
 usual proportions of the sexes seemed to be more nearly 
 maintained. Some few females were sprinkled even in the 
 most dense parts of the crowd, and their screams and un- 
 availing efforts to extricate themselves, sometimes gave a 
 painful interest to their appearance. We noticed one boy 
 who was with great, difficulty preserved from being trampled 
 under foot. Another unlucky youth had by some chance 
 got elevated above the heads of the crowd, and cut a gro- 
 tesque figure as sprawling on the top of the mass, he was 
 tossed by its movements from side to side ; at last he was 
 cast up against the houses and secured a more stable sta- 
 tion on a lamp iron. At the movement of any part of the 
 mob, a correspondent and simultaneous motion seemed to 
 be imparted to it in nearly all its parts, and some action 
 
WEST PORT MURDEltS. 
 
 continually happening, imparted an appearance of a vast 
 substance continually waving to and froT 
 
 The numbers collected at this time have been computed 
 at from twenty to thirty thousand individuals ; we were 
 disposed at first to consider this calculation excessive, but, 
 upon consideration, we are inclined to believe that the 
 amount has been under rather than overrated. Any idea of 
 counting is quite out of the question, and guessing by the 
 appearance in such a case, is nearly equally fallacious. 
 The only way that tolerable accuracy can be obtained, is 
 by calculating the superficial extent of the space occupied 
 by the crowd. 
 
 We believe that we are not far wrong in assuming, that-* 
 the High Street, from the West Bow to the Tron Church, 
 is about three hundred yards in length, and averages about 
 thirty yards in breadth. This would give for the super- 
 ficial contents of the area, nine thousand square yards. 
 The people did not quite extend to the Tron Church, but 
 they were higher than the West Bow, and some standing 
 on the Castle Hill ; and taking the number in Bank Street, 
 and those pushed out of the line in front of the Advocates' 
 Library, and into closes and stairs, and throwing off one 
 thousand square yarus, as an ample compensation for the 
 deficiency about the church, there is still left eight thou- 
 sand square yards. The mean density cannot be taken at 
 less than four individuals to the square yard, indeed, from 
 the close packing for a considerable way round the scaffold, 
 we are convinced that this is rather under than over the 
 mark. This computation will give thirty-two thousand 
 persons standing on the streets. We imagine that it is 
 reckoning within the number when we calculate five thou- 
 sand additional for the crammed windows, and those ad- 
 
WKST POET MURDERS. 
 
 venturous individuals who occupied the house tops. In 
 all, we arrive at the enormous number of thirty-seven thou- 
 sand persons. We do not give this calculation as strictly 
 correct. It cannot under these circumstances be so, but 
 we believe that it is nearer the tfuth than any guess, and 
 that the whole number approximated more nearly to forty 
 thousand souls than to thirty-five thousand. 
 
 This immense multitude presented certainly nothing of 
 the appearance of having come for the purpose of witness- 
 ing, a sad solemnity, and differed very widely in demeanour 
 from that which is usually exhibited by the spectators of 
 an execution. In ordinary cases, a great degree of sym- 
 pathy for the sufferer is usually manifested, and even in 
 the worst a respectful and solemn deportment is observed, 
 as if it was recognised that they were met upon a melancholy 
 occasion. In this it was totally different. Every coun- 
 tenance bore an expression of gladness that revenge was so 
 near, and the whole multitude appeared more as if they 
 were waiting to witness some splendid procession or agree- 
 able exhibition. Rude jokes and puns were bandied 
 about, and any opportunity for fun and frolic to while 
 away the time was immediately seized upon. Even the 
 disagreeable and almost suffocating pressure was borne 
 with equanimity, and the glances that were cast at St. 
 Giles* clock rather betokened an impatient desire to glut 
 their vengeance by the spectacle of the arch-fiend's death- 
 struggles, than an anxiety to be released from their uncom- 
 fortable situation. 
 
 Eight o'clock at last struck solemnly, and commanded 
 universal attention ; all eyes were directed towards the 
 scaffold. It now remains for us to describe what took 
 place there, and 
 
 10- 2 H 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 
 
 THE EXECUTION. 
 
 We left the cortege proceeding up Libberton's Wynd, the 
 windows of which were also filled with spectators. When 
 Bailies Crichton and Small, who were foremost in the pro- 
 cession, reached the top of the wynd, and were observed by 
 that part of the crowd who were in a situation to see them, 
 a loud shout was raised, which was speedily joined in by 
 the whole mass of spectators. When the culprit himself 
 appeared ascending the stair towards the platform, the 
 yells of execration were redoubled, and at the moment 
 that he came full in view, they rose to a tremendous 
 pitch, intermixed with maledictions, such as " the mur- 
 derer \ Burke him ! choke him, hangie !" and other ex- 
 pressions of that sort. The miserable wretch, who looked 
 thinner and mjore ghastly than at his trial, walked with a 
 steady step to the apparatus of death, supported between 
 his confessors, and accompanied by the Rev. Messrs. 
 Marshall and Porteous, and seemed to be perfectly cool 
 and self-possessed. 
 
 When he arrived on the platform of the scaffold, his 
 composure seemed entirely to forsake him, when he heard 
 the appalling shouts and yells of execration with which he 
 was assailed : He cast a look of fierce and even despe- 
 rate defiance as the reiterated cries were intermingled with 
 maledictions, such as we have already described. His face 
 suddenly assumed a deadly paleness, and his faculties ap- 
 peared to fail him. Deafening cries of " hang Hare too," 
 " where is Hare?" " hang Kriox," were mingled with 
 the denunciations against Burke. 
 
 
 
 His appearance betrayed considerable feebleness, whe- 
 ther from disease or emotion we cannot say. 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 235 
 
 He was dressed in the suit of black that we have already 
 noticed, which was rather shabby in appearance. The 
 coat had been made for a man of a much larger size, and 
 from the looseness gave a look of weakness to his person. 
 His appearance was that of a short man, narrow about the 
 shoulder and chest ; this proceeded from the dress, as he 
 was really a well formed muscular man. His head was 
 uncovered, and his hair, which was of a light sandy colour 
 approaching nearly to white, along with his dress, gave 
 somewhat of a reverend aspect to him. The resemblance 
 to the portrait which was given in our third number, was 
 universally acknowledged by those who were around us, 
 and we cannot give a better idea of the man at this time 
 .to those who did not see him than by referring to it, allow- 
 ing for the colour of the hair, the cadaverous hue, and 
 some alteration which disease, confinement, and the mur- 
 derer's fare, had produced. He wore a white neckcloth, 
 and boots which seemed to have lain uncleaned for a length 
 of time in some damp place .until they had become 
 mouldy. 
 
 
 It was precisely five minutes after eight o'clock when 
 ihey ascended the scaffold. Having taken his station in 
 front of the drop, he kneeled with his back towards the 
 spectators, his confessor on his right hand, and the other 
 Catholic clergyman on bis left, and appeared to be repeating 
 a form of prayer, dictated to him by one of these reverend 
 persons ; the position called forth new shouts and clamours 
 of " stand out of .the way," <5 turn him round." Mr. Mar- 
 shall, in the meanwhile, offered up a fervent supplication to 
 Heaven in his behalf. The bailies, and other persons on 
 the platform, stood round and joined in the devotions, with 
 the exception of Williams the executioner, and his assist- 
 ant, who kept their .station all the time at the back of the 
 
WEbT PORT MUKDKUS. 
 
 drop. During the prayer a partial silence was obtained, 
 although there was still considerable confusion and uproar, 
 which Bailie Small in vain endeavoured to repress, by turn- 
 ing repeatedly and waving his hand. Mr. Marshall's 
 prayer occupied exactly five minutes, when he and the 
 others, excepting the Catholic clergyman, retired from 
 around him, Burke and the priests still continuing to 
 kneel. His prayers seemed to be very fervent, and he 
 mentioned to one of the priests, that he died in the full 
 assurance that he would be saved through the mediation of 
 our Saviour. 
 
 When he arose from his kneeling posture, he was ob- 
 served to lift a silk handkerchief on which he had knelt, 
 and carefully put into his pocket. He then cast his eyes 
 upwards towards the gallows; and took his place on the 
 drop, the priest supporting him, though he did not seem 
 to require it from any bodily weakness. There was some 
 hesitation displayed in his manner, as if loath to mount; 
 one of the persons who assisted him to ascend, having 
 rather roughly pushed him to a side, in order to place 
 him exactly on the drop, he looked round at the man with 
 a withering scowl which defies all description. While 
 the executioner, who was behind him, was proceeding 
 with his arrangements some little delay took place, from 
 the circumstance of his attempting to unloose the hand- 
 kerchief afc his breast. Burke, perceiving the mistake, 
 said, " the knot's behind," which were the only words, not 
 devotional, uttered by him on the scaffold, and the only 
 time he spoke to any one excepting the priests. 
 
 When the hangman succeeded in removing the neckcloth, 
 he proceeded to fasten the rope round his neck, which he 
 pulled tightly, and after adjusting it, and affixing it to the 
 
taken on ih& spot . 
 
 Published ly Thomas Ireland Jim rJ 
 
WEST POET MUJIDERS. 237 
 
 gibbet, put a white cotton night cap upon him, but with- 
 out pulling it over his face. 
 
 While this was going on, the yells, which had been almost 
 .uninterrupted, became tremendous, accompanied with cries 
 of " hang Hare too ;" " where is Hare." ** Burke the 
 
 , do not waste rope upon him ;" " give him no 
 
 rope." " You , you will see Daft Jamie in a mi- 
 
 nute." He seemed somewhat unsteady ; whether from 
 terror or debility, we cannot say. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Reid then advanced, and conversed with 
 him shortly, but earnestly. It was then, we presume, that 
 he directed him to say the creed, which he did. 
 
 His countenance continued to present a death-like pale- 
 ness, but appeared composed, and he stood unflinching and 
 motionless. When Mr. Reid retired, the executioner 
 advanced, and offered to draw the cap over his face. He 
 manifested some repugnance to its being done ; but, with 
 some little difficulty, this part of the fatal preparations was 
 also completed. 
 
 When every thing was ready, and the assistants with- 
 drawn, he uttered an ejaculation to his Maker, beseeching 
 mercy, and immediately gave the signal, throwing the 
 handkerchief from him with an impatient jerk, as violently 
 as his pinioned arms would permit, and was instantly 
 launched into eternity. 
 
 Before his removal from the jail, he had said that he 
 would make short work on the scaffold ; and, though evi- 
 dently disconcerted, and his ideas scattered by the appalling 
 shouts of the mob, he kept his word. The whole pro 
 
238 .WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 ceedings on the:scaffold occupied only ten minutes, and 
 precisely at a quarter past eight o'clock the drop fell. The 
 fall was very slight, and certainly could not dislocate his 
 neck. It was nearly so imperceptible, that at one instant 
 he seemed standing, and engaged in an active operation ; 
 on the next, with almost no charge visible, he was hanging 
 helplessly . suspended only by the cord that, was suffocating 
 him. 
 
 . 
 
 Though no sympathy could be felt for such a despicable 
 and cold-blooded monster, it is still a fearful sight to wit- 
 ness death snatching his victim with such circumstanve. 
 If any feeling of pity could be aroused by this, it must have 
 been heightened by the terrific huzza raised at the moment 
 he was thrown off, and the populace saw their enemy in 
 the death struggle. 
 
 " One universal cry there rushed, 
 
 Louder than the loud ocean like a crash 
 Of echoing thunder." 
 
 In all the vast multitude there was not manifested one so- 
 litary expression of sympathy. " No one said, God bless 
 him ;" but each vied with another in showing- their exul- 
 tation by shouting, clapping of hands, and waving of hats. 
 
 This universal cry of satiated vengpance for blood as- 
 cending to heaven, rung through the city, and we are as- 
 sured was distinctly heard by the astonished citizens in its 
 niost remote streets. Never perhaps was such a noise of 
 triumph and execration heard, and we may safely say ne- 
 ver on a similar occasion. It was followed by a more par- 
 tial and savage cry of ' Off with the cowl ;" " let us see 
 his face ;" and many appeared desirous of glutting their 
 revenge by gloating on the disgusting spectacle of Jus dis T 
 torted features. 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 239 
 
 The magistrates, clergymen, and executioners immedi- 
 ately upon the drop falling retreated from the scaffold, and 
 left it under the charge only of about half a dozen city-offi- 
 cers, who walked about to keep them from the cold, and 
 looked as if they would willingly have followed the exam- 
 ple of their superiors. 
 
 There was nothing which could be called struggling ob- 
 servable on the now apparently lifeless body. It seemed 
 as if, slight as was the jerk given by the fall, instantaneous 
 death had been produced, although the neck could not 
 have been dislocated, yet the body swung motionless ex- 
 cept from the impetus given by the fall, until about five 
 minutes after the suspension, when a slight convulsive mo- 
 tion of the feet and heaving of the body indicated that vi- 
 tality was not entirely extinguished. Upon observing this 
 another cheer was raised by the crowd who were anxiously 
 watching the body. It wa repeated at intervals as the 
 motions were renewed. This happened we think perhaps 
 twice after the first, each time diminishing in force until 
 the last seemed merely a slight tremulous motion of the 
 feet, imperceptible except to those who were gazing intent- 
 ly upon the body. Notwithstanding that the criminal was 
 now obviously dead, and nothing visible but his wretched 
 carcass hanging at the end of a cord, a disgusting spectacle 
 of the pitch of degradation that guilt and crime can reduce 
 a human being to, the populace showed no disposition to 
 disperse, and comparatively few left the place. They 
 seemed to wait for the purpose of gloating their eyes with 
 the spectacle of the last agonies of this object of their im- 
 placable dislike, but after the occurrence of what we have 
 mentioned, there were no indications of sensation, and the 
 very gradual swinging round appeared to be produced by 
 the action of the wind : The head also, as usual, leaned a 
 
240 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 little to one side, which added a more miserable character 
 to the scene. 
 
 At a particular part of the crowd a cry of " to Surgeons' 
 Square," was now raised by some individuals, and a large 
 body detached themselves from the mass and proceeded in 
 that direction. The signal was not imparted to any other 
 part, and the movement confined to the quarter in which it 
 originated. We are informed that the detachment which 
 thus broke off, though large when it left the Lawnmarket, 
 was gradually diminished by stragglers who dropped off 
 in its progress, until upon reaching its destination it was 
 not able to cope with the party of policemen who were 
 stationed there in anticipation of such an attack. Though 
 they removed from the thickest part of the crowd, their 
 defalcation did not produce a sensible difference in the ap. 
 pearance. At this time a baker had the hardihood to at- 
 tempt a passage down the street with a board on his head 
 and a few rolls in it, and, contrary to expectation, succeed- 
 ed in accomplishing it. At one time his board was nearly 
 capsized, but an escort of fellow tradesmen quickly rallied 
 round him, and guarded him safely past the danger. A 
 chimney-sweeper with his ladder was not so fortunate as 
 the baker, as his brethren probably did not muster so strong, 
 and he had to retreat without accomplishing his purpose. 
 With such incidents the mob were amused, while the me- 
 lancholy spectacle was exhibited before them, and their 
 laughter and glee continued unabated up to their disper- 
 sion. 
 
 At the time this was passing we observed a person 
 dressed in a drab great coat hallooing and encouraging 
 the mob to persevere in these manifestations of their 
 feelings, from a window on the second floor of a house, 
 a li.ttle to the eastward of the scaffold, on the opposite 
 
 5 
 
WEST PORT MURDfcUS. 
 
 side. This individual, who seemed anxious to render 
 himself conspicuous by prompting fresh ebullitions of the 
 popular sentiment, persevered indefatigably in his exer- 
 tions until the body was cut down ; but the vengeance of 
 the mob appeared to have been satiated with the death of 
 the criminal, and the shouts, though renewed at intervals, 
 gradually became fainter and fainter. 
 
 After hanging a considerable time, some individual from 
 below the scaffold, the under part of which was boxed in for 
 the reception of the body when it should be cut down, gave 
 the bodv a whirl round, but no motion except what was thus 
 given was observable. From the same place was handed 
 up to the town-officers on the platform shavings and chips 
 taken out of the rude coffin underneath. These were held 
 up to the populace, and some chips thrown over among 
 them ; conduct which did not appear very decorous from 
 the official attendants upon such a solemnity. At five 
 minutes to nine o'clock, Bailies Crichton and Small again 
 came up Libberton's Wynd, still habited in their robes and 
 with their staffs, but did not ascend the scaffold. The 
 executioner mounted it and immediately commenced low- 
 ering the body, which was done by degrees and rather 
 leisurely. Again the people made the welkin ring with 
 three hearty cheers when they saw their vengeance com- 
 pleted. A few cries of * Let us have him to tear him in 
 pieces" were heard, but there was no colour for what has 
 been said in a newspaper account, that there appeared in- 
 dications of a riot 'to effect this. There was perhaps never 
 a tithe, or a twentieth part of the same number collected in 
 Edinburgh who showed less disposition to disturb the pub- 
 lic peace. So far from the bold front of the policemen de- 
 terring them from their purpose, the policemen stood all 
 the time with their backs to the crowd, and we believe had 
 not to interfere in a single instance. Had the purpose of the 
 mob been evil, and had they acted simultaneously, ho bold 
 11. 2 i 
 
242 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 front of the detachment of police, though it was strong, could 
 have prevented them attaining their object : the physical 
 force and pressure of such a mass would have overwhelmed 
 all the officers present. But the crowd were in perfect 
 good humour, and never was there one that thought less of 
 rioting. Their desires were gratified their aspirations 
 were answered, the arch-criminal had met with his doom, 
 and there was for the present nothing to ruffle their 
 tempers. Accordingly after the body was lowered, the 
 people commenced dispersing quietly, and in an orderly 
 manner, until the streets were perfectly cleared. The 
 body was lowered precisely at five minutes before nine 
 o'clock, having hung exactly forty minutes. Upon its 
 falling into the space under the scaffold, which was boxed 
 in, a scramble took place among the operatives for relics, 
 consisting of pieces of the rope, shavings from the coffin, 
 &c. Sec. The body was placed in a shell and almost imme- 
 diately carried down on men's shoulders to the Lock-up- 
 house. 
 
 The populace, upon seeing this winding up of the busi- 
 ness, quietly dispersed. All Wednesday, however, large 
 groupes visited the scene. 
 
 Instantly after the tragedy was closed, the men who 
 were to remove the scaffold and other erections appeared 
 and commenced operations; such was their celerity that 
 by half past eleven o'clock all traces of it were removed. 
 
 We have abstained in the foregoing account of the exit 
 of this notorious criminal, from expressing any opinion up- 
 on the very remarkable and unusual display of feeling 
 which was manifested by the immense majority of the 
 spectators present, but have contented ourselves simply 
 .with describing these ebullitions along with the other inci- 
 dents attendant on it, conceiving that to our readers who 
 
WEST-PORT MURDEKS. 243 
 
 did not witness it, they would form part and parcel of the 
 transactions, aye, and a more important part than either 
 some of the actions of the culprit, or the doings of the offi- 
 cials engaged in it. No one who witnessed the unprece- 
 dented conduct of the crowd, could have hindered him- 
 self from being impressed with it : and assuredly we did 
 not survey it with indifference, nor refrain from forming 
 an opinion. Some of the journals who record such events, 
 appear to have felt very wrathful upon the occasion, and 
 to have lavished every term of vituperation upon those 
 whose conduct ran counter to their tine drawn sentiment- 
 ality. We confess that we cannot see any reason for in- 
 dulging in such excessive sensibility. It is not customary 
 certainly to behave so ; and this departure from the eti- 
 quette of an execution is probably what has shocked them ; 
 but then we must recollect that ordinary executions are 
 very different things from what this was, and that in them 
 the expression of feeling . and sympathy for the sufferer is 
 genuine and heartfelt ; and if those who exhibit it are en- 
 titled to any praise for honesty and sincerity in that case, 
 they have not forfeited it in this, as there can be no doubt 
 that the behaviour complained of was an unpremeditated 
 and simple expression of detestation for the crime, and ex- 
 ultation that punishment had overtaken it. 
 
 No comparison can be drawn between a man who is exe- 
 cuted for some petty theft, whom the frequenters of 
 executions cannot bring themselves to consider as a very 
 desperate felon, and a monster who is most justly hanged 
 for one execrable murder, when there are fifteen behind as 
 abominable. The sentiments and opinions of the mob 
 cannot be the same in the one case, as in the other ; they 
 cannot enter into nice legal distinctions if indeed legal 
 distinctions would blame them ; but they see one man suffer 
 for stealing a few shillings, and they pity him, and another 
 for murdering sixteen individuals, and they execrate him. 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 There is nothing extraordinary in all this, though it is 
 unusual, almost unprecedented, that an opportunity should 
 occur to call it forth. To show any thing else than an 
 implacable aversion to such great moral turpitude, would 
 have been to manifest a slight perception of evil, and we 
 suspect that those who, blame the shouters, were themselves 
 actuated by equally honourable feelings, though they 
 wouJd not permit them to operate in the same way. 
 
 We will concede to them, that people of very refined 
 feelings and cultivated minds- would not triumph over the 
 last moments of the most depraved man who ever lived, 
 and that Burke was that man, perhaps with the exception 
 of Hare, there can be no question; but then we must re- 
 collect that those who jostled each other upon the High 
 Street of Edinburgh on the morning of the execution, 
 make no pretensions to such high refinement. We must 
 also bear in mind, that many of the populace were of the 
 same rank in life as the massacred victims, and that 
 they naturally felt more deeply^ on the subject than those 
 whose station, and habits removed them from the risk of 
 being butchered. Also, that a notion had gone abroad 
 among these people that their bodies were mangled for be- 
 hoof of a science which is to benefit more peculiarly the 
 rich, and that those obnoxious individuals who exercise 
 the inhuman trade of resurrectionists, are screened by 
 them from the punishment they merit. They believed 
 also that there was a desire to deal too leniently towards 
 this ruthless gang, and that although one of them had been 
 sacrificed, others of the delinquents had been snatched 
 from a deserved fate, because their blood was little ac- 
 counted of. It had, been even imagined that a disposition was 
 cherished of saving the life of Burke, and that he was un- 
 willingly consigned to his fate ; now all this is very erro- 
 neous, and some of it very absurd, but still these opinions 
 were conscientiously held by numbers, and would be as 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 245 
 
 operative in dictating an expression of their feelings, as 
 more rational ideas could have been. 
 
 
 
 It is not wonderful, then, that when they witnessed the 
 preparations for the ceremony, they should indulge in 
 expressions of satisfaction ; and that when the culprit him- 
 self was exhibited before them, an uncontrollable and si- 
 multaneous shout of triumphant exultation should burst 
 forth, and that execration for his enormous guilt should 
 have led the vast multitude, without concert or premedita- 
 tion, to repeat again and again their acclamations. 
 
 The law in such cases justly and wisely, but relentlessly, 
 consigns the perpetrators to death, and the public voice 
 also relentlessly adds to it obloquy and reproach. Nay 
 more, the Lord Justice Clerk, before passing sentence, 
 mentioned that he was prevented only by a sense " that 
 the public eye would be offended by so dismal a spectacle," 
 from ordering also, " that to satisfy the violated laws of 
 his country and the voice of public indignation, his body 
 should be exhibited in chains, to bleach in the winds, in 
 order to deter others from the commission of similar of- 
 fences." His Lordship, so far from having any aversion to 
 posthumous vengeance, adds, " I trust, that if it is ever 
 customary to preserve skeletons, yours will be preserved, 
 in order that posterity may keep in remembrance your a- 
 trocious crimes." And he could scarcely have used other 
 terms in animadverting upon what he justly characterized 
 in the following words: " A crime more atrocious, a more 
 cold-blooded, deliberate, and systematic preparation i'ot 
 murder, and the motive so paltry, was really unexampled 
 in the annals of this country." His Lordship's colleagdes 
 also expressed themselves in similar terms, and still the 
 people are blamed for acting in unison with their declared 
 sentiments. 
 
246 WEST POET MURDERS. 
 
 Even the hangman seemed to share in the general feel- 
 ing. His instructions to the porter who assisted him were 
 conveyed in the following petty sentence, " Hold him till 
 
 I get the rope adjusted, and then let the kick." 
 
 When fastening the rope about his neck, he did give it an 
 unmerciful tug, so as nearly to strangle him. 
 
 It is admitted by those who complain of the violation of 
 decency and good taste, that he was a cold-hearted mis- 
 creant, towards whom a spark of sympathy could not be 
 extended, and his atrocities are denounced in eloquent 
 and indignant terms, and yet it appears to have been 
 anticipated that the public, on the only occasion they had 
 of publicly manifesting their sentiments, should have met 
 him with a semblance of pity and forgiveness. They 
 could not have done so without doing violence to every 
 feeling that agitated them, and it would have been an 
 unaccountable piece of hypocrisy to have attempted it. 
 Public detestation unequivocally expressed, is always an 
 important, and sometimes the most important auxiliary of 
 punishment, and the scorn and contumely that is heaped 
 upon a guilty head may be the best ally of the repressers 
 of immorality, and if there was in that assemblage one in- 
 dividual whose sordid soul could contemplate the commis- 
 sion of enormities which might outrage humanity, and 
 bring on, him similar manifestations of disgust, it must 
 have acted as a solemn warning when he made the terrible 
 discovery, that " when it goeth well with the righteous 
 the city rejoiceth, and when the wicked perish there is 
 shouting." 
 
 Our sentiments concerning the character of the unhappy 
 wretch, and his crimes, has been explicitly state- 1 in the 
 foregoing part of this narratire, but it may not be unac- 
 ceptable to our readers that a brief view of the opinions of 
 others should be furnished. We subjoin, therefore, the 
 
WEST TORT MURDERS. 
 
 following observations, the merit of which may well justify 
 their insertion. 
 
 The atrocious murderer, Burke, whose hands were more 
 deeply dyed in innocent blood than those of any other ho- 
 micide recorded in the calendar of crimes, has undergone 
 the sentence of the law ; and from the narrative of the 
 concomitants of the tragedy, it will be seen that the cir- 
 cumstances attending his exit were as extraordinary as his 
 guilt was transcendant and unprecedented. Essentially 
 and in his real character an ignoble, base, mean-spirited 
 wretch, this wholesale assassin, by the mere extinction or 
 obliteration of every moral principle and feeling of his 
 nature, and by a consequent abandonment of the faculties 
 bestowed upon him to the commission of crime, has suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining " a bad pre-eminence," even among those 
 who had prostituted and degraded far higher endowments 
 to the ways of iniquity ; and a name which ought never to 
 have been heard of beyond the precincts of the lowest and 
 meanest compartment of society, is now damned to im- 
 mortal infamy, and stands out in strong relief from the 
 long and black catalogue of those who have most signalised 
 themselves by their daring violation of the laws both of 
 God and of man. In fact, it was reserved for this incre- 
 dible monster and his associate fiends to reduce murder to 
 a system, and to establish a regular traffic in the bodies of 
 their victims. Ordinary homicides slay from passion or re- 
 venge ; the murders they commit are the product of an. 
 ungovernable and overmastering impulse, which hurls rea- 
 son from her seat, and, in the wild conflict of guilty pas- 
 sion, precipitates them into the commission of acts which 
 are no sooner done than they would perhaps give the uni- 
 verse were they undone. But Burke and his crew possess 
 the horrid and anomalous distinction of having, without 
 
248 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 the palliation of passion, or of any other motive which a 
 just view of human infirmity can admit in extenuation, and 
 from a base and sordid love of gain, and of acquiring the 
 means of rioting in profligacy and iniquity of every sort, 
 established a traffic in blood upon principles of cool cal- 
 culation, and an utter recklessness of either God or man, 
 which would have done no discredit to Mammon himself. 
 Hence it is, that Burke is perhaps the only criminal who 
 has died, not only without exciting an emotion of pity in a 
 human bosom, but amidst the curses, both loud and deep, 
 of the assembled thousands who witnessed the ignominious 
 termination of his guilty career. The wild shouts of ex- 
 ultation which saluted him upon his appearance on the 
 scaffold, and which rung in his ears with still fiercer ac- 
 clamations when the world was closing on him for ever, 
 must have appalled even the heart of ice within his worth- 
 less bosom, and sounded as the knell of a judgment to 
 come, where the spirits of the slain would rise up before 
 him to demand a just retribution. Yet at that awful mo- 
 ment, when his deeds of blood must have arisen before him, 
 and when the unknown future must have presented itself 
 to his mind as the past was about to close, the wretch 
 seemed almost calm, and looked defiance, nay, scorn at 
 those who, yielding to their overpowering sense of his 
 crimes, blasted his last moments with their shouts of wild 
 triumph and exultation. 
 
 It will be long ere such a scene as this occur again, un- 
 less, indeed, as is the devout wish of every one, a similar 
 spectacle be produced by the execution of Hare. There 
 never, perhaps, was such a signal and appalling expression 
 of a whole populace's indignation as on this occasion. The 
 nature of the feeling by which they were actuated, indeed, 
 could only be estimated by looking at the species of crime, 
 
 5 
 
WEST POUT MURjJER*. 249 
 
 at once so novel aud so aggravated, of which the wretch 
 has been convicted. History, even in its blackest record, 
 the Newgate Calendar, has disclosed nothing similar or 
 equal in atrocity to the late transactions at the West Port, 
 if we except one or two straggling and doubtful cases, 
 which the progress of inquiry, stimulated by the recent 
 events, has since elicited. The commission of such hor- 
 rors, and the state of mind and feeling which could bend 
 to their commission, formed, as it were, a new era in the 
 history of human nature and of human crime. A propor- 
 tionate impression was communicated to the multitude, 
 who literally stood for a season " in pitiless horror fixed." 
 Found guilty of a tissue of enormities, at the very least, 
 of which one would require to be something more or less 
 than human to refrain from shuddering, the execution of 
 this monster was anticipated by thousands without any of 
 those sentiments of commiseration which usually accom- 
 pany such spectacles. After all was granted that the ad- 
 vocates of science could demand, still the bare species Jucti, 
 and no sophistry could pervert or soften that, was nar- 
 rowed and nailed down to this, that Burke had done a 
 deed which stands highest in the code of crime, by the 
 laws both of God and man, that he had done so, not 
 from any of these various motives or temptations which 
 the indulgence of mankind is often apt to admit as pallia- 
 tives to guilt, but from the basest of all considerations, the 
 procurement of a paltry pittance, and that he had con- 
 tracted this heavy villany, not onc.e or twice, or from sud- 
 den or casual impulses, but coolly and deliberately had 
 gone about exercising the work of murder as a trade 
 - dealing with human creatures as a butcher deals with 
 cattle shedding their blood and selling their flesh for 
 bread. 
 
 11. K 
 
PORT MUKDER*. 
 
 It is impossible, without adverting to all these facts, to 
 form any conception of the popular fury on this occasion. 
 It might be possible to imagine a case in which a criminal, 
 although exhibiting the very highest depravity, might yet 
 be not improperly looked upon with the eye rather of pity 
 than of condemnation, as one whom nature had given in- 
 stincts and passions such as she gives alike to man and 
 brute, but for whom subsequent events had done worse 
 than nothing. In fact, such is the strong tendency of man- 
 kind to revolt from the idea of such unnatural enormities 
 being committed in aught of human shape, that when the 
 system of traffic which had been practised by Burke and 
 his associates first flashed in a full disclosure on men's un- 
 derstandings, not a few were inclined to search, in some 
 extenuating circumstances of this kind, for a cause of pal- 
 liation of this unparalleled felon's iniquity. It was at least 
 not an impossible supposition, that the wretched man might 
 have been labouring under a total insensibility of moral and 
 even of intellectual feeling, arising from an entire want of 
 education from a mind dull and inert in its perceptions 
 originally, and not only in after life allowed to lie waste, 
 but rendered still more callous and impassive every day by 
 a constant contact with scenes of infamy. Could we indeed 
 imagine that Burke had been left to have his character 
 formed under an accumulation of influences fatal and awful 
 to contemplate as these are that his life had been always 
 spent in profligate habits and profligate haunts that he 
 had been born with a ferocious and indocile nature, and 
 bred in situations which barred all progressive movements 
 to good that, in short, he had never had ideas poured in- 
 to his intellect, or any humane feelings generated in his 
 bosom then perhaps it might furnish matter of curious 
 investigation to the metaphysicians, whether he was not, 
 after all, a case which called for deep sympathy. But 
 
WEST rOBT MUKDKR8.. 251 
 
 enough has transpired of the history of this extraordinary 
 man, to show that he at least was placed in no such deploy 
 able predicament. His education and rank in life, instead 
 of having been by any means of the lowest order, were such 
 as, in the judgment of the world, and on the authority of 
 experience, are held of necessity to humanize and inform 
 the mind, and to communicate perfectly just conceptions of 
 moral distinctions. In addition to this, many people hold 
 it to have been made out that Burke was a man of strong 
 mind, of an understanding much superior to his condition. 
 When, therefore, he stood convicted before his country as 
 one who, for his livelihood, had been a wholesale dealer in 
 human slaughter, he stood without the benefit of one single 
 mitigating circumstance, to weaken the profound sense of 
 horror and indignation which pervaded all hearts. He had 
 known the full measure and enormity of the guilt which he 
 was perpetrating, and the whole practical amount of hu- 
 man suffering which he was inflicting day by day on be- 
 reaved families and friends ; and, appearing in this light, 
 every one felt that it was idle to talk of mercy, and the 
 most charitable were 'disposed to say, Let the law take its 
 course. 
 
 During the whole of Wednesday the College was beset 
 by numbers anxious to catch a glimpse of the body as it was 
 conveyed to Dr. Monro's Anatomical Theatre. It was re- 
 solved, however, that the removal should not take place 
 upon that day, but should be effected in the subsequent 
 night, when there was no probability of a crowd collecting. 
 Still, however, the people continued to stand and gaze at 
 the building in which they believed him to be, as if they 
 expected the inanimate body to appear to them. 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 Early on Thursday rriorfimg the corpse was remov- 
 ed from the Lock-up-house to the College, and placed in 
 one of Dr. Monro's rooms. Several scientific gentlemen 
 attended at an early hour to examine .the appearances be* 
 fore the promiscuous entry of the students should prevent 
 their undisturbed examination ; among others we noticed 
 Mr. Liston, Mr. .G.eorge Combe, arid his philosophical 
 opponent Sir William Hamilton ; Mr. Joseph the eminent 
 sculptor, was also present, and took a bust of the criminal. 
 Sketches were likewise taken by more than one young gen- 
 tleman. 
 
 The body was that of a man you might call stout or 
 sturdy. The neck was one of those that are usually-deno- 
 minated a bull- neck. The chest and the upper part of the 
 arms were extremely muscular. The lower parts were so 
 also, but not in the same proportion. The lower part of 
 his body was thin, but his thighs were extremely large, the 
 leg and foot small. Altogether he exhibited any thing but 
 tKe appearance of an emaciated body, and every one was 
 astonished to find it display such plumpness and stoutness, 
 differing very materially from the aspect he had upon the 
 scaffold, but then, as we have already noticed, the size of 
 the clothes making them hang loosely upon him, gave a 
 look of feebleness and narrowness to the chest which it did 
 not possess. 
 
 The countenance was not so much altered after death as 
 is usuaUy the case, or as was generally expected. It pre- 
 sented the appearance of great placidity, without the 
 slightest thing which could indicate that he had suffered a 
 violent death, excepting the discoloration of the neck 
 where the cord had surrounded it and made a livid mark; 
 nor was there that fulnes of the features generally attend- 
 ant on those who have suffered a similar death, owing, 
 
WEST I'OUT MUAJJKRS. 
 
 perhaps ta his head having been supported in a perpendi- 
 cular position after being cut down. The countenance be- 
 tokened the same meanness and low wickedness which it 
 exhibited at the trial. 
 
 Iri the course of the forenoon the body was inspected by 
 a number of individuals, though the public were not ad- 
 mitted generally. 
 
 Professor Monro, in pursuance of the sentence of the , 
 Court, gave a public dissection of the body at one o'clock 
 to a numerous audience ; indeed the class-room was quite 
 crowded. The learned lecturer was received with every 
 mark of respect, accompanied by the usual demonstrations 
 of welcome. We observed among the audience many highly 
 respectable professional gentlemen anxiously waiting to hear 
 Dr. Monro upon the particular subject of the day's lecture, 
 as it was known that it was to be the brain, a portion of 
 the anatomy of the human body on which the professor 
 has bestowed particular attention, and on which, in conse- 
 quence, his lectures are particularly valued. He has also* 
 some new views regarding the brain, the correctness of 
 which we are assured the result of the lecture sufficiently 
 proved. Previously to commencing, the professor did 
 every thing in his power to satisfy the curiosity of those 
 who wished to have a view of the features, by exposing 
 him in the most favourable position. In the dissection he 
 was aided by his able assistant, Mr. M'Kenzie. It was 
 commenced by first taking off the scalp to show the muscles 
 of the upper part of the head ; these being removed, the 
 skull was sawn through, and the brain with its covering 
 exposed. The quantity of blood that gushed out was 
 enormous, and by the time the lecture was finished, which 
 was not till three o'clock, the area of the class-room had 
 
254 WEST roKT MURDERS. 
 
 the appearance of a butcher's slaughter-house, from its 
 flowing down and being trodden upon. 
 
 The anxiety to obtain a sight of the vile carcass of the 
 murderer was exceedingly great, particularly after the dis- 
 missal of Dr. MonroY class ; and the Doctor, in the most 
 obliging manner, accommodated every one to the utmost 
 extent the apartments would admit of. About half past 
 two o'clock, however, a body of young men, consisting 
 chiefly of students, assembled in the area, and becoming 
 clamorous for admission en masse, which of course was 
 quite impracticable, it was found necessary to send for a 
 body of Police to preserve order. But this proceeding 
 had quite an opposite effect from that intended. Indig- 
 nant at the opposition they met with, conceiving them- 
 selves to have a preferable title to admission, and exasper- 
 ated at the display of force in the interior of the Universi- 
 ty, where they imagined no such interference was justifi- 
 able, the young men made several attempts, in which they 
 had nearly succeeded, to overpower the Police, and broke 
 a good deal of glass in the windows on either side of the 
 entrance to the Anatomical Theatre. The Police were in 
 feet compelled to use their batons, and several hard blows 
 were exchanged on both sides. The Lord Provost was 
 present for some time, but was glad to retire with whole 
 bones, amidst the hootings of the obstreperous youth, who 
 lavished oppobrious epithets on the Magistrates, particu- 
 larly on Bailie Small, the College Bailie, who displayed 
 considerable activity, and harangued the assemblage from 
 time to time with apparently very little effect. Attempts 
 were made to convey some prisoners the Police had made 
 across the square, but they were speedily rescued on at- 
 taining the open space. Those captured afterwards were 
 lodged in one of Dr. Monroes rooms, but this scarce- 
 
WEST PORT MURDER*. 
 
 lv afforded more secure custody. It was also attempted 
 to clear the yard with but indifferent success ; indeed the 
 Police were overmatched, and could only stand their 
 ground by avoiding the open area. The disturbance last- 
 ed from half past two till nearly four o'clock, when an end 
 was at once put to it by the good sense of Professor Chris- 
 tison, who announced to the young men that he had ar- 
 ranged for their admission in parties of about fifty at a 
 time, giving his own personal guarantee for their good con- 
 duct. This was received with loud cheers, and immedi- 
 ately the riotous disposition they had previously manifest- 
 ed disappeared. We cannot conceive why this expedient 
 was not thought of earlier ; for if it had, there would have 
 been no disturbance of any kind. Several of the more vio- 
 lent of the youths were taken into custody by the Police, 
 but were very properly liberated on their parole by the 
 Magistrates. The whole fracas, indeed, was a mere ebul- 
 lition of boyish impatience, rendered more unruly by their 
 extreme curiosity to obtain a sight of the body of the mur- 
 derer. Several of the policemen were severely hurt ; but 
 en revanche, we believe not a few of the young men have 
 still reason to remember the weight of their batons, and 
 some severe contusions were received. South Bridge 
 Street, in front of the College, was kept in a continued 
 uproar, and almost blocked up by the populace who were 
 denied access to the interior, and had the approaches not 
 been guarded fresh accessions of rioters might have given 
 it a more serious aspect. In fact, the body of Police on 
 duty were too weak for the rioters, small parties being sent 
 from the office as they came in from other quarters ; a cir- 
 cumstance which rendered it necessary for them to use 
 harsher means than they would otherwise have employed. 
 On Friday, however, matters were better arranged. An 
 order was given to admit the public generally to view the 
 
WEST JPORT MU11DERS. 
 
 body of Burke, and of course many thousands availed 
 themselves of the opportunity thus afforded them. Indeed 
 so long as day-light lasted, an unceasing stream of persons 
 continued to flow through the College Square, who, as 
 they arrived, were admitted by one stair to the Anatomi- 
 cal Theatre, passed the table on which lay the body of 
 the murderer, anil made their exit by another stair. By 
 these means no inconvenience was felt except what was oc- 
 casioned by tjie impatience of the crowd to get forward to 
 .the Theatre. 
 
 On that day we again paid the College a visit, and 
 formed part of the immense multitude who pressed on 
 .anxious to see the remains of the wretch. Having made 
 our way to the stairs leading to the class-room, we moved 
 up without much exertion of our own being required. 
 The progression alone of the dense body which kept contin- 
 ually advancing, almost supplying the place of our usual lo- 
 comotive powers. After a sufficiency of squeezing, we found 
 ourselves in the room, where we tarried for awhile, that we 
 might have sufficient time to make more minute observa- 
 tions than those who were hurriedly carried past in the 
 continuous stream that moved along. The body was lying 
 on the black marble table, which is usually in the. class- 
 room, on one side of the area, so as to allow free ingress 
 and egress. 
 
 . 
 To give a better idea of what the countenance had been, 
 
 the skull cap which had been sawn off the preceding day 
 was replaced, and the outer skin brought over it, so as to 
 retain it in the proper situation. The face, however, was 
 much altered. We understand that an immense quantity 
 of blood had flowed from the body during the night, pro- 
 ducing doubtlesB the paleness which was now its principal 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 257 
 
 characteristic. The features had entirely lost that decid- 
 edness and sharpness they yesterday possessed. The nose 
 was thickened, as the lips likewise were, producing that 
 bloated appearance usually seen in the faces of those who 
 have died from strangulation. It altogether no longer 
 presented the countenance of Burke. 
 
 It was really amusing to observe the different emotions 
 displayed in those approaching and passing the body. They 
 presented as great a variety effaces, both in old and young, 
 as the most zealous physiognomist could have wished for 
 in his studies. Some hesitated at the entrance, half in- 
 clined to retrace their steps, as if appalled at their own 
 audacity in venturing so nearly into the presence of a corpse. 
 The crowd behind, however, and their own curiosity urged 
 them on, and they were almost borne past with uncovered 
 head and pallid lip. Others walked boldly forward, view- 
 ing the body with a malicious smile, which spoke plainly 
 their disgust at the crimes of the individual, and that this 
 aversion overcame every sentiment of horror they might 
 have felt at another time in looking on a similar spec- 
 tacle. 
 
 ' 
 
 The immense concourse of people whose curiosity in- 
 duced them to visit this sad and humiliating spectacle of 
 fallen and degraded man may be judged of, when it is men- 
 tioned, that by actual enumeration it was found that up- 
 wards of sixty per minute passed the corpse. This con- 
 tinued from ten o'clock until darkening, and when we left 
 at nearly four o'clock the crowd was increasing, we cannot 
 compute the number at Jess than twenty-five thousand per- 
 sons, and counting the other days on which many saw him, 
 though the admissions were not so indiscriminate, the 
 amount cannot be reckoned under thirty thousand souls. 
 
 2 L 
 
258 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 A. greater number of males probably than was present at 
 the execution, and a far greater concourse perhaps than 
 ever paid homage to the remains of any great man lying 
 in state. 
 
 We understand, though we did not witness it, that some 
 women whose curiosity presented a stronger impulsive mo- 
 tive than could in them be counteracted by the character- 
 istic grace of a female, modesty, found their way with the 
 mob into the room where the naked body was exposed. 
 It is not likely, however, that their curiosity will, in such 
 a case, again get the better of their discretion, as the males, 
 who reserve to themselves the exclusive right of witnessing 
 such like spectacles, bestowed such tokens of their indig- 
 nation upon them as will probably deter them from again 
 visiting an exhibition of the sort ; seven in all is said to be 
 the number of females in Edinburgh so void of decency ; 
 but in justice even to them we may presume that they did 
 not anticipate such an exposure. Several more however 
 cast a longing look into the University, and even ascended 
 the steps, but had the prudence again to retire. 
 
 Next day, Saturday, all ingress was denied, and again 
 the front of the College presented a scene of confusion suf- 
 ficiently annoying to those in the neighbourhood, and to 
 passers by. Long after they had ascertained that no ad- 
 mission was allowed, the people continued gazing at the 
 outer walls, and when their curiosity was abundantly gra- 
 tified by this, or their patience exhausted, fresh arrivals of 
 unwearied spectators arrived. 
 
 The phrenologists have, as a matter of course, seized 
 with avidity this opportunity of, as they imagine, through 
 it exhibiting the advantage of their favourite science, and 
 thereby advancing it in public estimation. We will, out 
 
WEST 1'OUT MUKUE11S. 259 
 
 of the descriptions of the number given forth, confine our- 
 selves to the two following. 
 
 PHRENOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS OF 
 BURKE. 
 
 For the following measurement of the head of Burke, 
 with the development deduced from it, we are indebted to 
 an ingenious friend who has taken some interest in the 
 science of Phrenology, without, however, becoming a con- 
 vert to its doctrines. The measurement was taken with 
 the greatest care, in the presence and with the assistance 
 of an able Phrenologist : so that its accuracy may, we be- 
 lieve, be confidently relied upon : 
 
 MEASUREMENT. 
 
 Inches* 
 
 Circumference of the head - 22.1 
 
 From the occipital spine to lower Individuality 7.7 
 
 From the ear to lower Individuality - 5 
 
 From ditto to the centre of Philo-progenitiveness 4.8 
 
 From ditto to Firmness - 5.4 
 
 From ditto to Benevolence - - 5.7 
 
 From ditto to Veneration - - 5.5 
 
 From ditto to Consciousness - 5 
 
 From Destructiveness to Destructiveness - 6.125 
 
 From Cautiousness to Cautiousness * 5.3 
 
 From Ideality to Ideality - - 4.6 
 
 From Acquisitiveness to Acquisitiveness 5,8 
 
 From Secretiveness to Secretiveness 5.7 
 
 From Combativeness to Combativeness - 5.5 
 
WEST POUT MURDERS. 
 
 DEVELOPMENT. 
 
 Amativeness, very large. Philo-progenitiveness, full. 
 Condentrativeness, deficient. Adhesiveness, full. Coin- 
 bativenes, large. Destructiveness, very large. Construc- 
 tiveness, moderate. Acquisitiveness, large. Secretive- 
 ness, large. Self-esteem, rather large. Love of approba- 
 tion, rather large. Cautiousness, rather large. Benevolence, 
 large. Veneration^ large, Hope, small. Ideality, small. 
 Conscientiousness, rather large. Firmness, large. Indi- 
 viduality, upper, moderate. Do. lower, full. Form, full 
 Size, do. Weight, do. Colour, do. Locality, do. Order, 
 do. Time, deficient. Number, full. Tune, moderate. 
 Language, full. Comparison, full. Casualty, rather large. 
 Wit deficient. Imitation, full. 
 
 . The above report, it may be necessary to observe, was 
 taken a few hours after the execution. In consequence of 
 the body having been thrown on its back, the integuments 
 not only at the- back of the head and neck, but at the pos- 
 terior lateral parts of the head were at the time extremely 
 congested ; for in all cases of death by hanging, the blood 
 remaining uncoagulated, invariably gravitates to those 
 parts which are in the most depending position. Hence, 
 there was a distension in this case over many of the most 
 important organs which gave, for example Amativeness, 
 CombativenesS) Destructiveness^ fyc. an appearance of size 
 which never existed during life, and, on the other hand, 
 made many -of the moral and intellectual organs seem in 
 contrast relatively less than they would otherwise have ap- 
 peared. In this state, a cast of the head was taken by Mr. 
 Joseph ; but although for Phrenological purposes it may 
 4o very well, yet no measurement either from the head 
 
WEST-PORT MU11DEKS. 2()1 
 
 itself ill that condition, or a cast taken from it, can afford 
 us any fair criterion of the development of th-j brain it- 
 self. We know that this objection applies to the busts of 
 all the murderers which adorn the chief pillars of the Phre- 
 nological system, and in no case is it more obvious than in 
 the present. 
 
 Our able Professor, Dr. Monro, gave a demonstration 
 of the brain to a crowded audience on Thursday morning, 
 and we have, from the best authority, been given to under- 
 stand, that it presented nothing unusual in its appearance. 
 We have heard it asserted, that, the lateral lobes were enor- 
 mously, developed, but having made inquiry on this subject, 
 we do not find they were more developed than is usual. 
 As no measurement of the brain itself was taken, all re- 
 ports on this subject must be unsatisfactory ; nor could 
 the evidence of an eye-witness in such a matter prove suffi- 
 cient to be admitted as proof either in favour of or against 
 Phrenology. 
 
 The question which naturally arises is, whether the above 
 developments correspond with the character of Burke ? It 
 is not our intention to enter into any controversy on this 
 subject ; yet we cannot help remarking, that it may be 
 interpreted, like all developments of a similar kind, either 
 favourably or unfavourably for Phrenology, as the inge- 
 nuity or prejudices of any individual may influence him. 
 We have the moral organs more developed certainly than 
 they ought to have been ; but to this it is replied, that 
 Burke, under the benign influence of these better faculties, 
 lived upwards of thirty years, without committing any of 
 those tremendous atrocities which have so paralysed the 
 public mind. He is neither so deficient in Benevolence 
 nor Conscientiousness as he ought to have been, ph re no- 
 
WEST-FORT MUlvWERS. 
 
 logically speaking, and these organs, which modified and 
 gave lespcctability to his character for as many as thirty 
 years, all of a sudden cease to exercise any influence, and 
 Acquisitiveness and Destructiveness, arising like two arch- 
 fiends on both sides, leave the state of inactivity in which 
 they had reposed for so long a period, and gain a most 
 unaccountable control over the physical powers under 
 which they had reposed for so many years succumbed. 
 But, is the size of the organ of Destructiveness in Burke 
 larger than it is found in the generality of heads ? and 
 are his organs of Benevolence and Conscientiousness less 
 developed than usual ? We hope to have it in our power, 
 at an early period, to adduce sufficient evidence to deter- 
 mine these questions ; and in the mean time, leave our 
 readers, who have the inclination and leisure, to amuse 
 themselves, like the astrologers of old, with the above phre- 
 nological horoscope of this atrocious criminal. 
 
 . 
 
 It is an old saying that Doctors differ ; nor has our re- 
 cent experience tended, in any degree, to abate our confi- 
 dence in this maxim. As it is desirable, however, to show 
 both sides of a question at once, we insert the following 
 " Observations on the Head of William Burke," from the 
 pen of a distinguished Phrenologist : 
 
 Public attention has been so strongly attracted by the atro- 
 cious crimes of Burke, that the other incidents of his life, 
 and his general character as a man, are liable to be altoge- 
 ther overlooked. In viewing his character, however, with 
 a philosophic eye, the whole mental qualities manifested by 
 him in the different situations in which he was placed, must 
 be taken into account. 
 
WEST PORT MURDE11S. 263 
 
 Burke was born in the parish of Orrey, county of Ty- 
 rone, in Ireland, in the spring of 1792. When at school, 
 he was distinguished as an apt scholar a cleanly, active, 
 good-looking boy ; and though his parents were strict Ca- 
 tholics, he was taken into the service of a Presbyterian 
 clergyman, in whose house he resided for a considerable 
 time. He was recommended by the minister to a gentleman 
 in Straban, in whose employment he remained for several 
 years. 
 
 He subsequently tried the trade of a baker, at which he 
 continued only for five months. He thereafter became a lin- 
 en-weaver, but soon got disgusted with the close application 
 that was essential to earn a livelihood at that poorly-paid, 
 irksome employment, and he enlisted in the Donegal mili- 
 tia. He was selected by an officer as his servant, and we 
 are told that he demeaned himself with fidelity and proprie- 
 ty. While in the army, he married a woman in Ballinha, 
 in the county of Mayo, and after seven years' service, the 
 regiment was disbanded, and he went home to his wife, 
 He shortly afterwards obtained the situation of groom and 
 body-servant to a gentleman in that vicinity, with whom he 
 remained three years, 
 
 He subsequently came to work at the Union Canal in> 
 Scotland, and there formed an acquaintance with the wo- 
 man M'Dougal, who became remarkably fond of him, de- 
 serted her paternal roof for his society, and attached herself 
 to him, partaking of his various fortunes during the last ten 
 years of his life. It is mentioned that Burke treated her 
 with kindness, and acknowledged her as his wife ; and that 
 she was passionately fund of him in return. 
 
 Being reduced to much wretchedness and proverty, 
 3 
 
8()4- WEST POUT MURDERS. 
 
 Burke and M'Dougal lodged for a few nights in Hare's 
 house, and during his stay, a fellow-lodger died, whose 
 body was sold by Hare and Burke for dissection. At 
 this point, his career of villany commenced. The price of 
 the body being expended, Burke decoyed a woman into 
 Hare's den and murdered her, and sold her body. He 
 and Hare repeated similar tragedies twelve or thirteen 
 times during the course of a year, till at last they were de- 
 tected. 
 
 Nothing can exceed the intense selfishness, cold-blooded 
 cruelty, and calculating villany of these transactions ; and 
 if the organs of Selfishness and Destructiveness be not 
 found in Burke, it would be as anomalous as if no organs 
 were found for the better qualities which he had previously 
 displayed. 
 
 Phrenology is the only science of mind which contains 
 elements and principles capable of accounting for such a 
 character as that before us ; and it does so in a striking 
 manner. We have seen a measurement and development 
 of the head of Burke, taken by an experienced Phrenolo- 
 gist from the living head ; also a very accurate cast of the 
 head with the hair shaven, taken by Mr. Joseph after the 
 execution ; and we have conversed with a medical gentle- 
 man who saw the brain dissected. The head was rather 
 above than below the middle size. The middle lobe of the 
 brain, in which are situated the organs of Destructiveness, 
 Secretiveness and Acqusitiveness, was very large ; at De- 
 structiveness, in particular, the skull presented a distinct 
 swell, and the bone was remarkably thin. The cerebellum, 
 or organ of Amativeness, was large, and Burke stated that, 
 in some respects, his ruin was to be attributed to the 
 abuses of this propensity, because it had led him into ha- 
 bits which terminated in his greatest crimes. The organs 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 265 
 
 of Self-esteem and Firmness were also largely developed. 
 It is mentioned in all the Phrenological works, that Self- 
 Esteem and Acqusitiveness are the grand elements of Sel- 
 fishess. The anterior lobe, or that in which the intellect 
 is placed, although small in proportion to the middle lobe, 
 was still fairly developed, especially in the lower region, 
 which is connected with the perceptive faculties. In ac- 
 cordance with this fact, Burke displayed acuteness and 
 readiness of understanding. He could read and write with 
 facility, and his conversation was pertinent and ready. The 
 upper part of the forehead, connected with the reflecting 
 organs, was deficient. The organ of Ideality, which gives 
 refinement and elevation, was exceedingly small; that of 
 Wonder, which promps to admiration, is. also deficient ; 
 and the organ of Wit is small. 
 
 Here we find the organs, which, when abused, lead to 
 selfishness, cruelty, cunning, and determination, all large ; 
 but we have still to account for the faculties which en- 
 abled him to act a better part in life. Accordingly, Com- 
 bativeness is considerably inferior to Destructiveness in 
 size, and Cautiousness is large. These, acting in combi- 
 nation with great Firmness and Secretiveness, would give 
 him command of temper : and, accordingly, it is mention- 
 ed that he was by no means of a quarrelsome disposition, 
 but when once roused into a passion, he became altogether 
 ungovernable; deaf to reason and utterly reckless, he 
 raged like a fury, and to tame him was no easy task ; that 
 is to say, when his large Destructiveness was excited to 
 such an extent that it broke through the restraints of his 
 other faculties, his passion was elevated into perfect mad- 
 ness. Farther, looking at the coronal surface of the brain 
 the seat of the moral sentiments we find it narrow in 
 the anterior portion, but tolerably well elevated ; that is to 
 
 12 - 2 M 
 
266 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 say, the organ of Benevolence, although not at all equal 
 in size to the organs of the animal propensities before 
 mentioned, is fairly developed. Veneration and Hope are 
 also full ; while Conscientiousness is, in Phrenological lan- 
 guage, " rather full," or, in common speech, not remark- 
 ably deficient. Love of Approbation also is full. In these 
 faculties, .we find the elements of the morality which he 
 manifested in the early part of his life ; and also an ex- 
 planation of the fact, remarked by all who saw him, that 
 he possessed a mildness of aspect and suavity of manner, 
 which seemed in inexplicable contradiction with his cold- 
 blooded ferocity. If there had been no kindness at all in 
 Burke's nature, this expression would have been an effect 
 without a cause. 
 
 The organ of Imitation is well developed ; and it is men- 
 tioned in the Phrenological works that Secretiveness (which 
 in him is likewise large,) in combination with Imitation, 
 produces the power of acting, or simulation. It is curious 
 to observe that Burke possessed this talent to a consider- 
 able extent. He stated that he was fond of the theatre, 
 and occasionally represented again the acting which he had 
 seen. He also, and not Hare, was the decoder, who, by 
 pretended kindness, fawning, and flattery, or by acting 
 the semblance of a friend, inveigled the victims into the den. 
 This quality enabled him also to act a part in his inter- 
 views with the various individuals who visited him in jail. 
 He showed considerable tact in adapting himself to the 
 person who addressed him ; and from the same cause it 
 was sometimes difficult to discover when he was serious and 
 when only feigning. His great Self-Esteem, Firmness, 
 Cautiousness, and Secretiveness, produced that self-com- 
 mand and unshaken composure which never forsook him 
 .during his trial and execution. 
 
WliST PORT MUIIDKHS. 267 
 
 One of the most striking tests of the degree in which the 
 moral sentiments are possessed by a criminal, is the im- 
 pression which his crimes make upon his own conscience 
 when the deeds have been committed. In John Belling- 
 ham, who murdered Mr. Percival, the organ of Destruc- 
 tiveness is very large, while that of Benevolence is exceed- 
 ingly deficient ; and Bellingham could never be brought to 
 perceive the cruelty and atrocity of the murder. Burke, 
 in whom Benevolence is better developed, stated, that " for 
 a long time after he had murdered his first victim, he found 
 it utterly impossible to banish for a single hour the recol- 
 lection of the fatal struggle the screams of distress and 
 despair the agonizing groans and all the realities of the 
 dreadful deed. At night, the bloody tragedy, accompa- 
 nied by frightful visions of supernatural beings, tormented 
 him in his dreams. For a long time he shuddered at the 
 thought of being alone in the dark, and during the night 
 he kept a light constantly burning by his bedside." Even 
 to the last, he could not entirely overcome the repugnance 
 of his moral nature to murder, but mentioned that he found 
 it necessary to deaden his sensibilities with whisky, leaving 
 only so great a glimmering of sense as to be conscious of 
 what he was doing. He positively asserted that he could 
 not have committed murder when perfectly sober. 
 
 Burke was considerably muscular, and in the cast with 
 the hair shaven, taken after death, the measurement of 
 destructiveness is two-eighths of an inch larger than the 
 measurement taken during life, which must be abated in 
 the estimate of the organ. 
 
 We confess that we do not possess enough of science to 
 
208 WEST PORT MURDERS 
 
 enable us either to vindicate or refute the reasoning con- 
 tained in the above developments. It is understood that 
 a gentleman who has already distinguished himself as an 
 opponent of Phrenology, is to appear again as an impugn- 
 er of the dcctrine given forth in the above description, and 
 questionless he will be replied to by the amateurs of the 
 science. One thing must be apparent in the above ac- 
 count, that while Phrenology is pompously announced as 
 < c the only science of mind which contains elements and 
 principles capable of accounting for such a character as 
 that before us," the utmost that is attempted is to give a 
 Phrenological description of the head, and to explain some 
 traits of the character of Burke, and to endeavour to re- 
 concile some discrepancies in the development, which seem 
 not only inconsistent with each other, but which, taken in 
 connection with his character and actions, would appear to 
 any one but a Phrenologist to be positive contradictions, 
 
 It does not appear in this instance at least, that Phreno- 
 logy possesses any peculiar aptitude in accounting for such 
 a character ; as the knowledge that a man may commit at- 
 rocious crimes and bear a different semblance to the world ; 
 that he may be actuated by a powerful motive at one time 
 wh'ch gives place 'o another at a different season, and that 
 again yielding to a third, is a fact that was sufficiently 
 known before the science was promulgated, and would 
 have been as intelligible as Phrenology has made it though 
 we had never heard of the science, and merely telling us 
 that such and such protuberances on. the skull denote such 
 and such faculties, does not at all account for the character. 
 Many ignorant people also who cannot " view his character 
 with a philosophic eye," might inform us, that frequently 
 a man does not get desperately wicked all at once, and 
 that there is nothing very uncommon in a person behaving 
 
WJCST PORT AIUllDEilS. 269 
 
 tolerably well for a length of time, and afterwards aban- 
 doning himself to the most profligate courses, neither is it 
 unusual with an ignorant man, when once roused into a 
 passion, to become " altogether ungovernable." We 
 have seen such a thing occur where " large destructive- 
 ness" was never exhibited nor suspected. 
 
 The learned Phrenologist then goes on to reconcile what 
 has usually been accounted incompatible qualities, his 
 " full Benevolence and large Destructiveness." .It is ra- 
 ther too much to assume that the existence of the affection 
 benevolence is sufficiently proved, even for phrenological 
 purposes, by quoting the story that Burke himself told 
 of his horror after committing the first murder. Surely, 
 though this tale was implicitly credited, the mere fact of a 
 murderer's slumbers being haunted with the image of his 
 victim for a brief space, cannot prove the existence of be- 
 nevolence ; but we shrewdly surmise that the whole is a 
 fiction of BurkeX and that he narrated it at a time when 
 the well developed organ of Imitation, combined with his 
 large Secretiveness, was excited to such a degree as to 
 produce acting or simulation, and that it furnishes an il- 
 lustration of " the tact he showed in adapting himself to 
 the person who addressed him. 11 We happen to know that 
 he spoke quite freely about this as well as his other mur- 
 ders ; that he went about it in the most cool and heartless 
 manner; that the two monsters not only enticed the poor 
 old woman into the house, and allured her with a show of 
 kindness, but that they actually, in this their first essay, 
 when they were just about to perpetrate it, jested upon 
 the subject. Hare asking Burke " to go ben and see how 
 his mother-in-law was this morning," surely then was the 
 time for benevolence to exhibit itself, but we presume that 
 his u large Destructiveness was excited to such an ex- 
 tent, that it broke through the restraints of his other fa- 
 
270 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 cullies," and forced him to suffocate a helpless and infirm 
 female, without even the miserable palliation of having 
 previously intoxicated himself for the purpose, and on 
 the next opportunity they could discover to perform the 
 same bloody tragedy, without being ever troubled with 
 compunction or remorse, until his organ of Imitation, in 
 combination with Secretiveness, produced the power of 
 acting, or simulation, in the condemned cell in the Calton- 
 hill Jail. 
 
 We suppose that this acting or simulation, of which so 
 much is made by the eminent Phrenologist, means neither 
 more nor less than that he was an accomplished liar, and 
 that faculty seems to have been in full operation when he 
 averred, " that he could never entirely overcome the re- 
 pugnance of his moral nature to murder, but that he found 
 it necessary to deaden his sensibilities with whisky, leaving 
 only so great a glimmering of sense as to be conscious of 
 what he was doing." " His moral nature" rriust have been 
 of a very accommodating description, if it could without 
 repugnance allow him to prowl about continually literally 
 seeking whom he might devour, and " by pretended kind- 
 ness, fawning and flattery, or by acting the semblance of a 
 friend, to inveigle the victims into the den," and when 
 there, to entertain them with a show of kindness and hos- 
 pitality, and then prompt him " to deaden his sensibilities 
 with whisky" before it could permit him to complete the 
 cene. But perhaps it was his benevolence that induced 
 him to behave in this kind manner until the whisky should 
 excite his destructiveness at the moment that the sacrifice 
 was prepared. 
 
 But the truth is that there was neither " ungovernable 
 
 fury " nor intoxication to excuse or account for his mur- 
 8 
 
WEST POUT MUKUEUS. 271 
 
 ders; they were all committed in cold blood, and without 
 one palliating circumstance ; and although he might have 
 been drunk when some of them were concluded, he. was 
 generally sober during the preparatory process of kidnap- 
 ping, and instigating them to drink. 
 
 He was continually drunk, because from his seldom 
 working he had leisure for drinking, and an abundant 
 supply of money, and with these he would have indulged 
 in the same vice although there had been no reason for 
 " deadening his sensibilities." 
 
 The smallness of the organ of Wit is in direct opposi- 
 tion to the notoriety for humour and drollery he ha,d ac- 
 quired among his acquaintance. 
 
 While we allow that Burke was not such a reprobate all 
 his life, as he was towards the close of it, we ques- 
 tion whether he ever possessed much of " the elements 
 of morality," even in his youth. An account has been 
 adopted which gives some colour to the opinion that h s 
 morality was purer than the actual fact would warrant us 
 to allow. We have already stated in a former number, 
 that he served only one gentleman before entering the mi- 
 litia. This is on his own authority, and we believe also, 
 from the same source, he was never either a baker or a 
 weaver, so far from being three years a groom after his 
 discharge from the Donegal militia, he did not remain one 
 year in Ireland, which the dates will abundantly testify. 
 He first proved unfaithful to his wife, and as we have seen, 
 afterwards deserted her and his children, on discovering 1 
 that his father-in-law properly appreciated the selfishness 
 and .worthlessness of his character, and refused to trust 
 him too. far. His living in adultery with the woman 
 
272 WEST-PORT MURDERS. 
 
 M-Dougal, does not display great attainments in morality, 
 as in like manner, his unfaithfulness even to her, and fre- 
 quent brutal usage of her, cannot exhibit his benevolence 
 in a very favourable light. It is altogether too much to 
 elevate this unnatural and anomalous monster into a. being 
 possessing some of the best and noblest attributes of hu- 
 manity, merely that the dogmas of a favourite pursuit 
 should be supported. We opine, that the lauders of the 
 immaculate science must content themselves with the fame, 
 it has acquired from the developments of former murder- 
 ers, or alter the whole systems of metaphysics heretofore 
 received, should they not be able to discover a new desig- 
 nation for the bumps they may find on a murderer's cra- 
 nium. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS AGAINST HARE. 
 
 After the trial and conviction of Burke, some very. in- 
 teresting proceedings were instituted by .the mother and 
 sister of James Wilson or Daft Jamie, the object of which, 
 was to bring him to trial for his participation in the mur- 
 der of their relative. These proceedings have issued in 
 the liberation of Hare after an argument and determina- 
 tion in the High Court of Justiciary. This question, has 
 been regarded by some persons as really of no material 
 importance, because whatever might have been the issue 
 of it, means would have been adopted by the public au- 
 thorities for obtaining a pardon for Hare if he had been 
 found guilty under the contemplated prosecution. This 
 circumstance does not, in our apprehension, lessen the im- 
 portance of the question, inasmuch as the conviction and 
 punishment of any single criminal, however atrocious, is a 
 matter of trivial moment when compared with the. great 
 

 AM JLVKI'! 
 
 a* Tir appeared in the \vitrvefs l>ox 
 taken in Court. 
 
 Irelfi iid i/it 72 ':c?ii i&ut-t/A 
 
WEST PORT MUitDEKS. 273 
 
 and constitutional principles of law which constitute the 
 code of our criminal jurisprudence. Viewing these pro- 
 ceedings therefore in this light, there has rarely, if ever,, 
 been a question raised in our Courts of Law, involving 
 principles of more paramount interest, as it relates, on the 
 one hand, to the rights and powers of. the Public Prosecu- 
 tor, which are, in other words, the rights and powers of 
 the public ; and on the other hand, the rights and privi- 
 leges of individuals aggrieved by the perpetration of crimes, 
 which affect their property and their feelings. It became 
 a matter of serious concernment to have it clearly and well 
 decided by the highest legal authorities, what are the ex- 
 tent and limits of the Lord Advocate's powers as Public 
 Prosecutor, to enter into compacts with associates in crime, 
 whereby he may afford them an immunity from punish- 
 ment for participation in crimes, on condition of their af- 
 fording such evidence as may be requisite for the discovery 
 and punishment of offences, in cases, which from their very 
 nature, can neither be traced out nor established to convic- 
 tion of the delinquents, without such information and evi- 
 dence ; and how far such compacts may be carried, without 
 infringing the privileges of private parties, who are by law 
 entitled to sue in their own name, and for their own inter- 
 ests, for redress of their individual wrongs ? This is the 
 question which has been raised in the present instance, and 
 which has now been solemnly decided by the Supreme 
 Criminal Court of this country. 
 
 The proceedings referred to originated in an application 
 for Hare, to the Sheriff of Edinburgh, on the 20th of Jan. 
 1829. His petition was to the following effect : 
 
 That of this date (November 10, 1828) he was appre- 
 hended on a warrant of the Sheriff-Substitute, granted on 
 the application of the Procurator Fiscal of the county, and 
 was committed to the jail of Edinburgh a prisoner, on a 
 
 12. 2 N 
 
274 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 charge of murder : That the petitioner was examined be- 
 fore the SherifflSubstitute of the county in relation to va- 
 rious acts of murder alleged, or suspected to have been 
 committed by William Burke, then in custody, and other 
 persons : That in the course of these examinations, the 
 petitioner was assured by the Public Prosecutor, that if he 
 made a full disclosure of all he knew relative to the several 
 alleged murders which formed the subject of inquiry, no 
 criminal proceedings would be instituted against the peti- 
 tioner himself in relation thereto, whatever might be the 
 circumstances of suspicion or apparent participation or 
 guiltiness appearing against him : That the petitioner was 
 examined as a witness, and without the caution and warn- 
 ing which it is the duty of the Judge-examinator to giye 
 to a party accused, every time he is brought up for exami- 
 nation; and the petitioner made a full and true disclosure 
 of all he knew, and gave every information he possessed, 
 in relation to all the alleged murders as to which he was 
 examined ; and this he did under the assurance of personal 
 and individual safety : That one of the alleged murders, 
 as to which the petitioner was so examined, was that of a 
 person described as James Wilson, commonly known by 
 the name of Daft Jamie ; and in relation to that matter, as 
 -well as in relation to all the others, the petitioner made a 
 full and true statement, and gave .every information he pos- 
 sessed, whether relative to the alleged act of murder itself, 
 or the means of obtaining or tracing any circumstances of 
 evidence in relation thereto ; and all this he did, relying 
 on the assurance of personal and individual safety above 
 mentioned, and the compact and transaction thence arising : 
 That, in consequence of the statement and information 
 thus elicited from, and procured through the petitioner, 
 the said William Burke was indicted to stand trial before 
 the High Court of Justiciary in the month of December 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 275 
 
 last, on a libel setting forth three charges of murder, as to 
 all of which the petitioner had been precognosced as afore- 
 said : That one of these three charges was the foresaid 
 alleged murder of James Wilson, alias Daft Jamie : That 
 the petitioner was included in the list of witnesses for the 
 prosecution, annexed to the said libel ; and he was cited 
 to attend as a witness for the prosecution, in relation to all 
 the charges therein contained. The libel was found rele- 
 vant to infer the pains of law ; and the Public Prosecutor 
 having proceeded to lead evidence against William Burke, 
 and another prisoner, as to one of the charges, (being the 
 murder of Mary Docherty), the petitioner was called in, 
 sworn, and examined as a witness for the prosecution. On 
 that occasion the petitioner stated many things in evidence 
 which he would not have stated, and could not have been 
 required to state, but for the perfect assurance of personal 
 security given him by the Public Prosecutor, not only as 
 to the murder of Mary Docherty, but likewise from any 
 prosecution as to the murders charged in that indictment, 
 and which was laid down and confirmed from the Bench 
 on the said trial. It was then stated from the chair of the 
 Court, as the decided opinion of the whole Bench present, 
 that the petitioner was fully protected by law against either 
 trial or punishment for any of the charges contained in 
 that indictment : That notwithstanding the compact with 
 the Public Prosecutor, under which the petitioner was in- 
 duced to make disclosures of great importance to the pub- 
 lic interest, and to the administration of justice, but which 
 were calculated to involve himself in circumstances of sus- 
 picion and hazard, in which he could not otherwise have 
 been involved ; and notwithstanding the assurance of per- 
 sonal safety held out to the- petitioner from the bench, 
 criminal proceedings have, within these few days, been 
 instituted against the petitioner, at the instance of Janet 
 
WEST tfORT MURDERS. 
 
 Wilson alleged sister, and Janet .Wilson alleged mother^ 
 of the said James Wilson, alias Daft Jamie, but who, the 
 petitioner is informed, and has reason to believe, 'do not 
 truly possess these characters, and have produced no evi- 
 dence thereof; and he has been examined before the 
 Sheriff-Substitute as a party accused of that offence, and 
 is now si close prisoner in the jail of Edinburgh, committed 
 for further examination as to .that charge of murder : That, 
 under the circumstances above detailed, the petitioner is 
 advised that the proceedings thus instituted against him 
 are incompetent, irregular, oppressive, and illegal; and 
 that the warrant on which he is committed at the instance 
 of the said Janet Wilson is illegal, and that he is entitled 
 to immediate liberation: That the petitioner has been 
 informed, that the said Janet Wilson, alleged mother, 
 and Janet Wilson, alleged sister, have applied for and 
 obtained the authority of your Lordship to lead a precog- 
 niticn and examine witnesses as to the petitioner's alleged 
 guiltiness of the said charge. And that an en' parte exa- 
 mination of witnesses is actually going on under the 
 authority and force of your Lordship's power and compul- 
 sitor, in absence of the petitioner, who is shut up a dose 
 prisoner as aforesaid. The petitioner has been advised that 
 this proceeding also is incompetent, irregular, and illegal, 
 and highly oppressive and injurious. 
 
 The petitioner prayed the Sheriff', inter alia, to recal 
 the warrant on which the petitioner is committed, and to 
 ordain him to be set at liberty; also to put a stop to the 
 foresaid precognition or examination of witnesses, and to 
 ordain the same, in so far as it has already proceeded, to 
 be delivered to the clerk of Court. 
 
 Upon which the Sheriff pronounced an order for service 
 immediately on Mr. . George JVlonro, solicitor, Supreme 
 Courts, agent for Janet Wilson ; and appoints to-morrow, 
 
WEST-PORT MURDERS. 277 
 
 at two o'clock afternoon, for hearing counsel or agents for 
 the petitioner, and for Janet Wilson in the Sheriffs Office ; 
 and, in the mean time, sists farther proceedings in the pre- 
 cognition at the instance of the said Janet Wilson. 
 
 The case was accordingly heard by the Sheriff, when 
 Mr. Jeffrey opposed the liberation, and Mr. M'Neill sup- 
 ported the petition. After hearing counsel, 
 
 The SHERIFF said, this is a new point. I have always 
 understood the right of the private party to be as great as 
 that of the Public Prosecutor. I do not think the private 
 party is prevented from investigating by any guarantee 
 given by the Public Prosecutor ; and therefore refuse the 
 petition for Hare, reserving his right to apply to the 
 Court of Justiciary, for which purpose I shall sist proceed- 
 ings for two days. The question is new and delicate, but 
 I see no reason for stopping proceedings. 
 
 Mr. MILLER then stated that the respondent's agent had 
 got authority from the Lord Provost to examine Burke, 
 but just as he was about to enter the prison, a note was 
 put into his hand by the Governor from the Magistrates, 
 stating that until the judgment of the Sheriff was known, 
 access could not be given. The urgency of the case, and 
 the inapplicability of the objections to his examination were 
 represented, and the Sheriff thought proper to provide for 
 Burke's examination by a note to his interlocutor, which 
 was as follows : 
 
 " Edinburgh, Zlst January 1829. The Sheriff having 
 resumed the consideration of the petition for William 
 Hare, and having heard counsel for W T illiam Hare and the 
 respondents, Janet Wilson, senior and junior : In respect 
 that there is no decision finding that the right of the pri- 
 vate party to prosecute, is barred by any guarantee or 
 promise of indemnity given by the Public Prosecutor, 
 Refuses the desire of the petition, but in respect of the no- 
 
278 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 velty of the case supersedes further proceedings in the pre- 
 cognition before the Sheriff^ at the instance of the respond-* 
 ents, till Friday night at seven o'clock, in order that Wil- 
 liam Hare may have an opportunity of applying to the 
 Court of Justiciary." 
 
 " Note. The application which has been made to the 
 Lord Provost for liberty to see Burke, by the private pro- 
 secutors, is not before us, but remains to be disposed of by 
 the Lord Provost." 
 
 This judgment of the Sheriff was brought under review 
 of the Court of Justiciary by a bill of advocation, and of 
 suspension and liberation for Hare, which came on for 
 discussion before the Court on the 26th of the same 
 month, when 
 
 The LOUD JUSTICE CLERK said, After having heard 
 the counsel, I have now to state, that the Court have re- 
 Solved, before giving their opinions, in the first place to 
 make an order on the Lord Advocate to make any answer 
 to this bill that he may see necessary. The Court desire 
 to decide this question in the gravest manner, after seeing 
 informations ; and the counsel will make arrangements for 
 giving them in as speedily as possible. 
 
 Informations were then ordered to be lodged on Satur* 
 day following. 
 
 In obedience to this order of Court, answers for the Lord 
 Advocate, and Informations for Hare and the relatives of 
 Wilson were accordingly lodged ; and their Lordships, on 
 the 2d February, proceeded to pronounce judgment on the 
 very nice and important points of law embraced in the 
 discussion. 
 
 The Lord Advocate's Answer is as follows : 
 
 The Respondent has not failed to observe the guarded 
 terms in which this order is conceived, calling upon him 
 only to give such information as he shall deeril proper. 
 
WEST POJJT MURDERS. 
 
 and thus relieving him from the necessity of questioning 
 the power, even pf this Court, to require, in this shape, a 
 disclosure of the grounds on which the Public Prosecutor 
 has been guideol in the exercise of his official discretion. 
 Influenced, however, by those feelings of respect which the 
 respondent has ever endeavoured .to evince towards this 
 High Court, he readily submits the following statement 
 in deference to their wishes, on so extraordinary a case. 
 
 The murder of Mary Docherty took place on the night 
 pf Friday the 31st October last ; and on the evening of 
 the following day, William Burke, Helen M'Dougal, 
 William Hare, and Margaret Laird, his wife, were taken 
 into custody. On Monday the 3d of November, Burke 
 and M'Dougal were examined before the Sheriff'. These 
 persons, as your Lordships have had occasion to know, 
 denied all accession to the crime. 
 
 On the 4th of November, William Hare and Margaret 
 Laird were examined by the Sheriff. In the declarations 
 then emitted by them, they both positively denied all acces- 
 sion to the murder, and stated that Docherty had not re- 
 ceived any violence from any person in their presence. 
 
 Hare and his wife were agajin examined by the Sheriff 
 on the 10th of November. 
 
 They were a third time examined on the 19th. of No- 
 vember. 
 
 . At these examinations they firmly persevered in their 
 former denial. 
 
 The precognition having been completed, was laid before 
 the respondent, in order to be finally disposed . of. A 
 month had now elapsed since the date of the murder; dur- 
 ing which .period the four prisoners had been kept sepa- 
 rately from each other, but no disclosure had been made by 
 any of them, either as to the alleged murder, or as to the 
 participation of any of the persons accused, in offering via- 
 
280 WEST PORT MUHDERS. 
 
 lence to the deceased. After repeated and most anxious 
 consideration of .this extraordinary case, it appeared to 
 the respondent that the evidence, including the exami- 
 nation of medical gentlemen, was defective, both as to the 
 fact of Docherty having been murdered, and as to who 
 was the perpetrator of the deed. Conceiving it of the 
 greatest importance, for the satisfaction and security of the 
 public, that a conviction should be ensured, the respondent 
 did not feel justified in hazarding a trial, on evidence which 
 appeared to him to be thus defective. He well knew, from 
 long experience, how scrupulous a Scottish Jury uniform- 
 ly is, in finding a verdict of guilty where a capital punish- 
 ment is to follow ; and he deemed it hopeless to look for a 
 conviction, where the fact of a murder having been com- 
 mitted was not put beyond the possibility of question. 
 
 The only mode by which the information essentially 
 awanting could be procured, was by admitting some of the 
 accused persons as witnesses against the others. Another 
 consideration of still greater importance rendered this 
 course indispensable. 
 
 . Some circumstances about this time transpired, which 
 led the respondent to dread, that at least one other case of 
 a similar description had occurred. In such circumstances 
 he felt it to be his imperative duly, not to rest satisfied 
 without having the matter probed to the bottom ; and that 
 he should, for the sake of the public interest, have it as- 
 certained what crimes of this revolting description had 
 xeally been committed who were concerned in them 
 whether the whole persons engaged in such transactions 
 had been taken into custody, or if other gangs remained, 
 whose practices might continue to endanger human life. 
 Compared with such knowledge, even a conviction for the 
 murder of Docherty appeared immaterial. But such in- 
 formation could not be obtained by bringing to trial all 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 281 
 
 the four persons accused. A conviction: might lead to 
 their punishment, but it could not secure such a disclo-r 
 sure. 
 
 After deliberately weighing all these matters it appear- 
 ed to the respondent then, as it does to him now, that in 
 the exercise of a sound discretion, and in the performance 
 of his public duty, embracing equally the interest of the 
 community at large, and of the relatives of injured parties, 
 he had no choice left but to follow that course he had 
 adopted. 
 
 The only matter for deliberation regarded which of the 
 four should be selected as witnesses. 
 
 M'Dougal positively refused to give any informa- 
 tion. 
 
 The choice, therefore, rested between Hare and Burke ; 
 and from the information which the respondent possessed, it 
 appeared to him then, as it does now, that Burke was the 
 principal party, against whom it was the respondent's duty 
 to proceed. Hare was therefore chosen, and his wife was 
 taken because he could not bear evidence against her. ; 
 . This course having been resolved upon, an overture was 
 made to Hare by the authority of the respondent, with the 
 view to his becoming a witness, and the proposal which 
 was so made to him (and which did not proceed from 
 him) was accepted. He was in consequence brought to 
 the SheriiTs office on the 1st of December for examination, 
 when, by the authority of the respondent, he received an 
 assurance from the Procurator Fiscal, that if he would dis- 
 close the facts relative to the case of Docherty, and to such 
 other crimes' of a similar nature committed by Burke, 
 of which he was cognisant, he should not be brought 
 to trial on account of his accession to any of these 
 crimes. 
 
 This assurance had no reference to one case more than 
 I*. 2 o 
 
282 WEST FORT MURDERS. 
 
 another. It was intended for the purpose of receiving the 
 whole information which Hare could give, in order thnt 
 the respondent might put Burke, and all others concerned, 
 on trial for all the charges which might he substantiated. 
 In giving it, the respondent acted under the impression, 
 and on the understanding, that when offences are to be 
 brought to light in the course of a criminal investigation 
 carried on at the public instance, such assurance altogether 
 excluded trial at the instance of any private party. , In 
 its nature this assurance was thus of an unqualified de- 
 scription, and was calculated to lead the party to believe 
 that the possibility of future trial or punishment was there- 
 by entirely excluded. The assurance was so meant to be 
 understood. 
 
 In consequence of this assurance, Hare emitted a de- 
 claration, detailing the circumstances connected with the 
 murder of Mary Docherty, and with similar crimes, in 
 which Burke had been engaged. Of these, the murder of 
 James Wilson, and of Mary Paterson or Mitchell, were 
 two; and it was from the facts which Hare so detailed, 
 that- evidence was obtained from unexceptionable witnesses, 
 of such a nature as enabled the respondent to bring for- 
 ward those two murders as substantive acts in the same in- 
 dictment which charged Burke with the murder of Mary 
 Ppcherty. By this proceeding, the respondent conceived 
 that he had fully satisfied not only the ends of p.ublic jus- 
 tice, tout the; rights and feelings of all those who were con- 
 nected with the unfortunate individuals thus referred 
 to. 
 
 In the indictment,; William :Hare and his wife were in- 
 serted in the list of witnesses, ,along with all those:persons 
 whose evidence the respondent had been able to obtain in 
 consequence of the disclosures which Hare had made. 
 When the respondent entered the Court on the day of 
 
WEST PORT MU11LMKRS. 
 
 83 
 
 trial, it was his full intention to examine Hare and his 
 wife as to each of the three murders set forth in the in- 
 dictment. How he was prevented from so doing the Court 
 is already aware. Had Burke been acquitted of Docherty'i 
 murder, the respondent must, in the discharge of his duty, 
 have proceeded to try him on the other two charges ; and 
 in proof of both, Hare and his wife must have been ex- 
 amined as witnesses. As it was, they were both adduced 
 on the trial, and it was from the. information obtained from 
 Hare> on the assurance of immunity, that the respondent 
 conceives he Was enabled to secure a conviction. 
 
 The warrant of imprisonment against Hare and httfivfife, 
 at the public instance, has since been withdrawn, in conse- 
 quence of its having turned out, after the most anxious in- 
 quiry, that no crime could be brought to light in which 
 Hare had been concerned, excepting those to which the 
 disclosures made by him under the above assurance re- 
 lated. 
 
 In regard to the crimes so disclosed, whether they were 
 included in the indictment against Burke or not, the re- 
 spondent having, in the conscientious discharge of his duty^ 
 authorised the assurance to be given which has now been 
 stated, apprehends that he is legally barred. from- prosecut- 
 ing either of those persons at his instance, and he will not 
 make any such attempt. He need 'not add that he -should 
 strongly feel such a proceeding, upon his part, as dis- 
 honourable in itself, unworthy of his office, and highly in- 
 jurious to the administration of justice. 
 
 Having thus, in compliance with the order of your 
 Lordships, given such information to the Court as he has 
 deemed proper, in regard to the situation in which the 
 Public Prosecutor stands, in reference to the murders set 
 forth in the bill of advocation, the respondent has only to 
 
284 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 add, that, upon perusing the said bill, be finds no statement 
 in it which requires any answer on his part. 
 
 The information put in for Hare states that the ques- 
 tion now to be resolved is. Wheiher the informant (Hare) 
 is protected from farther criminal process in order to pu- 
 nishment, for the murder of James Wilson alias Daft 
 Jamie ? It then narrates the facts and circumstances which 
 have given rise to the question, and states the legal grounds 
 on which Hare rests his application to the Court for libe- 
 ration from prison, and at great length proceeds to submit 
 the grounds of his plea, and concludes thus : 
 
 The principles of law, and the direct and recent author- 
 ity now stated are sufficient, it is submitted, to govern this 
 case. 
 
 Even if the principle of law and the authority referred 
 to had been le^s plain and satisfactory than they are, the 
 informant might, with great confidence, have rested his 
 case on the principles of -' humanity, justice, and policv," 
 which are said, on the other side, to be at the foundation 
 of the rule of law which secures protection to a witness 
 socius criminis, and which, indeed, pervade, and are inter- 
 woven with, every part of the criminal law of Scotland, 
 and may legally be appealed to in the absence of any other 
 guide. Every thing adverse to these principles, and cer- 
 tainly every novelty adverse to them, must be repugnant 
 to the spirit of the law. The proceedings which the infor- 
 mant now resists are of this character ; while the prayer he 
 has preferred to your Lordships is plainly in unison with 
 those great principles whi-ch are at the foundation of our 
 criminal code, and are intermingled with the administra- 
 tion of it. Your Lordships have before you the case of a 
 prisoner who has had the misfortune to be accused by the 
 Public Prosecutor of acts of murder, of which he may have 
 been innocent or guilty. Let it be taken either way. Sup- 
 

 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 pose him to be, as his adversaries describe him, a delinquent 
 polluted by crimes of the blackest die one of a fraternity 
 who conspired against the lives of the lieges, and who car- 
 ried on the work of blood with a secrecy and a success 
 which the firmest cannot hear without trembling, or the 
 hardiest without horror- let the prosecutors describe his 
 character and his crimes in any language they please still, 
 in his case, as in every other, justice must be observed, and 
 the law must be administered in the spirit of humanity, 
 and with a view to future consequences. If he has really 
 been a member of such a conspiracy as is alleged, the 
 greater is the benefit which he has conferred upon the pub- 
 lic, by laving open all the hidden acts and secret ramifica- 
 tions of that confederacy, and the greater the danger to 
 which, in the event of trial, he has exposed himself by 
 giving any information or any evidence whatever in re- 
 gard to any of its transactions and deeds. But he made a 
 compact with the representative of the interests of the pub* 
 he ; and he has given to the public, by their representa- 
 tive, the benefit of all his knowledge of these transactions, 
 in consideration of the community having released him 
 from all claim for punishment. This compact having 
 been acted upon-^every information which the informant 
 possessed having been drawn from himhe having been 
 publicly called upon to appear as a witness in regard to UK? 
 very murder now under consideration he having been 
 placed in the witness box, and having publicly given evi- 
 dence in relation to a part of those proceedings to which he 
 is said to have been accessary, and having thereby publicly 
 connected himself with the chief actor, whose conviction he 
 ensured ; and having exposed the system, and laid open 
 the sources of evidence, and thus furnished the means pt' 
 bringing himself to trial, if. that were competent 'borne 
 down with difficulties and surrounded by perils, by whi?h 
 
28() WEST PORT- MURDERS. 
 
 he would not otherwise have been environed the slreno-th 
 
 t^ 
 
 of his defence impaired or taken away -is it consistent 
 with humanity, or justice, or policy, that two individual 
 members of the community, who all the while lay by with- 
 out giving notice of such intention, should now come for- 
 ward, to violate public faith, and to turn the information 
 given for the benefit of the public against the life of him 
 who gave it; in reliance on the compact he had entered in- 
 to with thePublic Prosecutor? Every principle of humanity, 
 of justice, and of policy, is opposed to such a proceeding. 
 There is no precedent there is no authority for such a pro- 
 ceeding. The informant acted in the belief that he had 
 secured his protection. The Public Prosecutor acted in 
 the belief that he was entitled to secure, and had secured 
 to him, that protection, and had done so for the ultimate 
 benefit of the public, in securing the conviction and pun- 
 ishment of an offender. If both parties erred in their no- 
 tions of the law, they erred in common with a quorum of 
 your Lordships' number, discharging the most important 
 duty of the Supreme Criminal Court. If the law is now, 
 for the first time, to be declared against that understand- 
 in^ and opinion, let the operation of this new declaration 
 be confined to future cases but let not this new state of 
 things this alteration of a deliberate judgment of the Su- 
 preme Court, operate to the prejudice and injury of the in- 
 formant, when matters are, in respect to him, no longer entire. 
 To do otherwise would be productive of no good object. 
 The ends of justice would not be thereby promoted. The 
 public faith would be broken, and, above all, the informant 
 could not now have a fair trial. These considerations give 
 him a sufficient claim to the interposition of your Lordships 
 to prevent further proceedings against him. 
 
 The Information given in for the relatives of James 
 Wilson is also of g eat length. It is there stated 
 
WKbT J'OilT MUKDIvtlS. 287 
 
 1. That the right of the private party to prosecute is 
 not controllable by the Public Prosecutor, and is indepen- 
 dent of him. 
 
 The prosecutors state this as a fundamental and constU 
 tutional principle in the criminal jurisprudence of Scot- 
 land. It is not an antiquated right, as stated by the coun- 
 sel for the prisoner, but is recognised by the latest author- 
 ities, and is consistent with the most fundamental principles 
 of our practice. There can therefore be no question as to 
 the title of the prosecutors. They state themselves to be 
 " the nearest kinsmen of the deceased, demanding the 
 vengeance of the law on the body of the culprit if he is 
 found to be a murderer."" 
 
 Legally speaking, there are only two situations in which 
 a prisoner can actually plead indemnity in bar of trial, viz. 
 Previous acquittal by a Jury, or remission by the Crown. 
 These are the two constitutional modes of freeing an ac- 
 cused party from the consequences of alleged crime, and 
 either of them is an effectual bar to trial, whether at the 
 instance of the Public Prosecutor or of the private party* 
 But the . point which the prosecutors are anxious to esta- 
 blish is this, that whatever may be the nature .of the private 
 arrangement between the Public Prosecutor and the crimir 
 nal, and whatever may have been his inducement to give up 
 his right of calling upon him to answer at the bar of justice 
 for the crime of which he is guilty, that arrangement can- 
 not deprive the private party of his right to insist for the 
 full pains of law. If the law contemplated the power of 
 the Public Prosecutor to deprive. the private party of his 
 right to prosecute, by arrangements to which the latter is 
 no party, it had better declare at once, that the private in- 
 stance shall be at an end, because it virtually would be-so. 
 The assertion of the prosecutors, however is, that .their le- 
 gal right to investigate the circumstances attending the 
 
288 WEST POUT MURUEKS. 
 
 death of their near relation, and to indict the accused party, 
 if they shall find sufficient ground to do so, cannot be inter- 
 fered with by the proceedings of the Public Prosecutor, in 
 circumstances over which they have no control. They say, 
 that this doctrine must be held, because it flows as a neces- 
 sary and irrefragable consequence from the constitutional 
 right of prosecution, which has been proved to exist. If 
 the right be in the private party, how can it be wrested 
 from them, by the communications which pass between the 
 criminal and a third party over whom they have no control, 
 but to whom, on the other hand, the law gives no power of 
 depriving them of that right of demanding justice and 
 vengeance which it has vested in them ? 
 
 In point of form, indeed, it is required that the Lord 
 Advocate should grant his concourse to a prosecution be- 
 fore the High Court of Justiciary. But this form is es- 
 tablished, not for the purpose of showing that his permis- 
 sion to prosecute is necessary, but for the purpose of show- 
 ing that there is a public injury to be vindicated as well as 
 a private party to be satisfied. Accordingly, the Lord 
 Advocate has no right to refuse his concourse. If he 
 should refuse, he can be compelled to grant it, for this very 
 reason, that it is not in arbitrio of him to deprive the pri- 
 vate party of his legal right. The law was so stated by 
 Lord Alemore, on the complaint of Sir John Gordon 
 against his Majesty's Advocate, June the 21 st 1766, and 
 the same doctrine is laid down by our authorities. 
 [Here quotations in support of the above doctrine are in- 
 troduced from Burnet, p. 300 ; and from Hume, vol. ii. p. 
 
 123.] 
 
 The Prosecutors pleaded, II. That the socius criminis 
 is only protected by the indulgence of the Court with 
 regard to the particular crime as to which he gives evi. 
 
WEST FOJiT MURDERS. 89 
 
 Formerly a soclus criminis was not received as an evi- 
 dence in the criminal Courts of this country, because of 
 the interest which he was supposed to have in establishing 
 the guilt of the individual accused, and thus freeing him- 
 self from the imputation of the crime : arid the practice 
 which has lately crept in of affording an indemnity to the 
 witness, for the crime as to which he has given evidence, 
 does not appear to have been recognised until subsequent 
 to the case of Jameson in 1770. In the case, accordingly, 
 of Macdonald and Jameson in August 1770, when the 
 objection of a witness having been socius crimini$ was fully 
 debated, the Prosecutor in answer did not say that the 
 witness, by being examined, would thereby be exempted 
 from prosecution, but only that he might hope for impu- 
 nity ; while the usage, at that time, of granting special 
 pardon, to accomplices for enabling them to give evidence, 
 confirms what has been stated. At what period a differ- 
 ent rule came to prevail does not appear. Baron Hume 
 conceives that the practice may have commenced from the 
 rule introduced by 21st Geo. II. cap. 25, as to a particular 
 offence. 
 
 The doctrine maintained on the part of the prisoner is, 
 that he is relieved, not only from the consequences at- 
 taching to his participation in the crime as to which he has 
 been examined, but also as to others, in regard to which 
 the same parties may have been implicated, but which 
 have not been the subject of trial. This argument ex- 
 tends the doctrine of indemnity much farther than it has 
 yet been carried. For the question underwent grave dis- 
 cussion, and the practice, as then followed by Public Pro- 
 secutors and recognised by the Bench, is distinctly stated 
 by the Learned Judges in the case of Downie, who was 
 tried for high treason in the year 1794. The discussion 
 arose upon certain questions being put to a witness of the 
 
 13. 2 P 
 
290 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 name of Aitcheson, tending to criminate himself. The 
 danger had been pointed out by the Counsel for the pri- 
 soner, to which the course of the examination might lead, 
 as the witness might confess that which was sufficient to 
 convict him of the crime of treason. The doctrine laid 
 down by the whole of these Learned Judges is this, that 
 for what the individual told the Court as a witness, he 
 could not afterwards be questioned ; but they distinctly 
 state, that if the witness, after being put into the box, re- 
 fuses to answer, he would not have been entitled to any 
 protection. 
 
 [The information then goes on to narrate the trial of 
 Burke, the circumstances of which are already well 
 known : after which it proceeds to the examination of the 
 suspender, Hare, as a witness on the trial.] After admi- 
 nistering the oath to the prisoner, who was brought for- 
 ward as a witness upon the trial alluded to, Lord Meadow- 
 bank stated to him, " Now we observe that you are at 
 present a prisoner in the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, and 
 from what we know, the Court understands that you must 
 have had some concern in the transaction now under in- 
 vestigation. It is therefore my duty to inform you, that 
 whatever share you might have had in that transaction, if 
 you speak the truth, you can never afterwards be ques- 
 tioned in a Court of Law." Lord Justice Clerk " You 
 will understand, that you are called here as a witness re- 
 garding the death of an elderly woman of the name of 
 Campbell or M'Gonegal." " You understand, that it is 
 only with regard to her that you are now to speak ? v To 
 this question, the witness replied by asking, " T'ould wo- 
 man, Sir ?" Lord Justice Clerk, Yes. 11 But what is 
 perhaps of still greater importance, it will appear that he 
 was not permitted to answer questions which might other- 
 wise have been of importance to the individual then upon 
 
WKST PORT MUHDERI. 291 
 
 trial, upon the ground that he would not be protected up- 
 on so doing. 
 
 From all which these facts are indisputably established, 
 viz. 1st, That the witness was examined as to no other 
 murder than that of Docherty or Campbell. And 2dly, 
 That he was distinctly warned that he was not bound to 
 answer any question with regard to the other murders 
 contained in the indictment, because as to any other mur- 
 der except that under investigation, he was not protected 
 by the Court. 
 
 The present question therefore stands thus : Hitherto a 
 witness has only been protected from trial for the particu- 
 lar crime as to which he has given evidence. The prison- 
 er has given none as to the crime of which he is now ac- 
 cused, and therefore he has not been placed in that situa- 
 tion which entitles him to the protection of the Court. 
 
 When the Court met on 2d February, the Bill of Ad- 
 vocation for Hare against the nearest of kin of James Wil- 
 son was called. 
 
 Mr. Jeffrey, addressing the Court, said, their Lordships 
 would not suppose that he had any notion of resuming 
 the argument, but the case was brought to such a point 
 that he might be indulged in making one remark. It was 
 maintained on the part of the suspender, that the Public 
 Prosecutor was entitled to make a compact, to which com- 
 pact their Lordships were bound to give effect ; that their 
 Lordships had no discretion, but that it rested entirely 
 with the Lord Advocate to enter into any compact, and to 
 extend immunity to any number of cases without the con- 
 trol of the Judge; in short, that the Lord Advocate pos- 
 sessed the uncontrolled power of exercising the Royal Pre- 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 rogative ; and this he might do, not merely with respect to 
 the particular crime as to which a soclus criminis was to 
 be used as a witness, but might extend it to all other 
 crimes of which he may have been guilty. Whenever 
 the Lord Advocate stipulated an immunity, it seemed to 
 be maintained that a sufferer by house-breaking, fire-rais- 
 ing, or other crimes, was to be deprived of his right as a 
 private party to prosecute the guilty perpetrator of the 
 wrong, and that the Lord Advocate had a power to enter 
 into a compact by which he could grant immunity for of- 
 fences past and future, known or unknown. Such a pre- 
 rogative would be investing the Public Prosecutor with a 
 power of pardon, which only belonged to the Crown, and 
 this too without a tittle of authority, and totally different 
 from judicial authority, amounting to an assumption of the 
 prerogatives of Parliament. 
 
 Mr. M'Neill stated that he had no observations to 
 make. 
 
 Lord Gillies expressed his thanks to the Learned Gen- 
 tlemen who had argued this case. The papers were 
 drawn with much care, and with an ability and prompt- 
 ness which did them the highest honour. His Lordship 
 then alluded to the form in which the case came before the 
 Court, and the prayer of the Bill, and stated the ques- 
 tion to be, Whether they were to affirm the judgment of 
 the Sheriff and refuse the prayer of the petition to that 
 Judge for liberation, or to grant it and liberate the pri- 
 soner Hare? His Lordship considered the question of 
 law to be an undecided and open question. The facts 
 which gave rise to it were but too well known. They 
 were of the most atrocious character murders committed, 
 not from the ordinary motive of revenge, or of robbery, or 
 to escape from the punishment of other offences,- but its 
 object was indiscriminate murder for dissection, and cold- 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 blooded traffic, rendering the crime profitable in propor- 
 tion to the number of its victims. These atrocities seem 
 to have attracted the notice of the Lord Advocate, whose 
 conduct, in all these proceedings, he considered highly 
 meritorious. We were all much indebted to that high 
 officer for the wisdom and prudence with which he had 
 conducted the business. There can he no doubt that the 
 same feelings and wishes existed in his Lordship's mind 
 as in that of every other man ; and his Lordship thought 
 that if he could obtain the punishment of two, or even 
 one of the murderers, a great service would be rendered 
 to the public. The result too fully justified his Lordship's 
 measures. It became necessary to collect evidence of these 
 crimes, and a body of it had been collected such as could 
 not, perhaps, be obtained in any other part of the world ; 
 and what would the consequences have been if such crimes 
 had escaped altogether without punishment ? It was for 
 this purpose that he caused, the proposition to be made to 
 Hare, which was stated in his Lordship's answer. And 
 Lord Gillies expressed his entire approbation of his 
 Lordship's conduct. The Lord Advocate gave his assu- 
 rance of pardon. That assurance was properly given. 
 He had a power to promise remission, and Hare was en- 
 titled to ask and bargain lor it ; and no man can look into 
 the case without being satisfied that Hare was entitled to a 
 remission for the important information which he had af- 
 forded to the Public Prosecutor. On this very informa- 
 tion the indictment against Burke was raised, accusing 
 him of three different acts of murder. Annexed to that 
 indictment Hare's name was in the list of witnesses, and 
 he might have been examined on any one or all of the 
 three charges. The Court pronounced an interlocutor, 
 limiting the trial to one of these the murder of Docherty. 
 The only information Lord Gillies had as to the trial was 
 
XU* WJEST POJtT MURDERS. 
 
 derived from the papers, and these referred to opinions de- 
 livered at the trial, on which he could not venture to offer 
 an opinion, as he was not present. But in the informa- 
 tion for Hare, there was an explanation which was not sa- 
 tisfactory, of the opinions which were ^aid to be contra- 
 dictory. Those opinions must have had an effect upon 
 the witness Hare in giving his evidence, and persons in 
 his situation were not to be supposed qualified to judge of 
 the law. The impressions, therefore, made on Hare by 
 those opinions were more important than the abstract law, 
 as they must have regulated him in giving his testimony, 
 in as far as his belief that he was safe was concerned. He 
 would, therefore, without reference to what had passed at 
 the trial, express his own opinion whether or not the Court 
 was entitled and empowered by law to quash the proceed- 
 ings in consequence of what took place at the examination 
 on the trial ? His Lordship held the right of a private 
 party to prosecute for murder undoubted. The informa- 
 tion for Hare says it is an antiquated privilege. It was 
 not antiquated. He had himself been counsel in a case 
 from Aberdeen ; and there were many cases of trial for 
 forgery at the instance of Banks. In Captain Macdo- 
 noch's case from Aberdeen there was no objection hinted 
 at, either by counsel or the bench. It was a sacred right, 
 as much so as if exercised at the instance of the Lord Ad- 
 vocate. There are not many cases of trial for assythment; 
 and none are noticed in the informations. It is due in 
 three contingencies when remission is before trial when 
 the accused is tried by a Court Martial and when he is 
 fugitate or outlawed. His Lordship would not say if in 
 any other case assythment might be found due. What 
 prevents the relatives of the poor lad Wilson from sueing ? 
 The same principles apply in this case as if the person 
 murdered had been the highest in the land. Are his 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 relatives to be controlled by the Public Prosecutor ? 
 Though Hare was admitted as witness on the trial for 
 Docherty"s murder, and promised an immunity for his 
 participation in it, the Lord Advocate can neither de- 
 feat nor control the right of prosecution in Wilson's 
 relatives, nor unless in a case where the witness pro- 
 mised an immunity has been actually examined and 
 borne testimony. If a prosecution at the instance of 
 the Public Prosecutor for murder is followed by death, 
 that is conclusive, and shuts out process at the instance 
 of a private party. If there is a remission, assythment 
 is competent ; and if there be an acquittal, there can 
 be no process. There is nothing of this kind in the present 
 case. His Lordship stated that the avowed object was to 
 bring Hare to trial that the right to do so was clear, and 
 he did not know if the Court had any legal right to prevent 
 it or to defeat it. The practical result was important, as 
 Hare would not suffer death. He reprobated the plea that 
 this case should be decided on principles of humanity, jus- 
 tice, and policy. It was not what judges held to be such 
 principles but what the law lays down that is to regulate 
 them. The true question is, Whether the Court has 
 power to prevent the trial ; and he was satisfied that neither 
 the law nor the constitution authorised it. He went into 
 a view of the history of the law upon the subject of ad- 
 mitting socn criminis, and referred to the Act 21, Geo. II. 
 c. 31, as for the first time introducing what was previously 
 unknown in our law. He considered that act as a resting 
 place in the progress of the law upon the subject and the 
 only satisfactory one and it was given under limitations. 
 It was afterwards extended, and he was not sure if it was 
 well and wisely done. His Lordsh'p then referred to cases 
 since that time, and, after other illustrations, concluded by 
 
295 
 
 WEST POUT MLTIlDEitS. 
 
 expressing his opinion that the bill should be refused, and 
 the investigations allowed to proceed. 
 
 Lord PITMILLY approved of the manner in which the 
 cflse had been conducted. He did not consider it necessary 
 to take notice of the proceedings at examination on the 
 trial, of which there is no authenticated record. The 
 question was, whether they were to stop proceedings or not 
 - and he could not concur in Lord Gillies's views. As 
 there were two ways to the same object, and as he had the 
 consolation to think that the practical result would be the 
 same as to the individual concerned, he should have been 
 happy if he could have concurred ; but there was a princi- 
 ple involved which prevented him from doing so. His 
 Lordship took a view of the practice with regard to socius- 
 critninis in reference to the Public Prosecutor and to pri- 
 vate parties ; and stated that the old law of this country 
 excluded them. The law of England admitted them from 
 the first; but more recently our late decisions and practice 
 admitted them in every case. Such a system could only 
 be introduced gradually. His Lordship differed from 
 Lord Gillies in his view of the act Geo. II. c. 34, which 
 introduced a particular rule of law for a special case. It 
 was not a general act, and laid down no general rule, but 
 rather an exception. The 20th section enacted a rule dif- 
 ferent from that in 31, and the act could not be considered 
 as a resting place in the history of the law as to socii. His 
 Lordship then went into a review of the cases applicable 
 to this point, and the principle laid down in the case of 
 Smith and Brodie had now been uniformly acted upon for 
 a period of upwards of forty years. The Lord Advocated 
 statement was highly satisfactory, and every one must agree 
 in approving of the whole course of his proceedings. His 
 Lordship could not, after procuring all the information 
 which Hare afforded on the faith of the promised immunity, 
 
 7 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 897 
 
 turn round and proceed against him, because he had riot 
 been examined on the two cases not brought to trial. He 
 next considered the right of the private party, and held 
 that if it was competent to proceed against Hare in the 
 case of Wilson, it was equally competent to proceed against 
 him in the case of Doeherty, at the instance of private par- 
 ties ; yet it is admitted, that in the case of Docherty the 
 right of the private party is controlled, and must be con* 
 trolled. After a variety of other illustrations, which we 
 regret our limits will not allow us to repeat, in support of 
 these doctrines, Lord Pitmilly concluded by saying, that 
 the purity and integrity of the law and the faith of the 
 Public Prosecutor, which, for the public good, must not 
 be broken, required that the liberation of the prisoner 
 should be granted, and the proceedings against him 
 stopped. He felt most intensely for the relatives of James 
 Wilson he sympathised with the public in their feelinga 
 of detestation upon the subject of the murders which had 
 led to these discussions but he felt more for the honour 
 of the countrv, which was bound to vindicate the faith of 
 a great public officer acting for the public welfare. 
 
 Lord MEADOWS AMK considered this a very important 
 case as regarded the consistency of the Court, and also as 
 it affects the First Law Officer of the Crown and if he 
 were under the necessity of refusing to discharge the war- 
 rant of commitment against Hare, it would be to him a 
 subject of humiliation and endless regret. His Lordship* 
 differed from his brethren, who considered the admissi- 
 bility of a socius criminis as of modern introduction into 
 the law of Scotland. He referred to the authority of Lord; 
 Hailes, and the trials of Lord Morton, and the Gowrie 
 conspirators, to show that socii were received as witnessed 
 of old, and that remissions had been given for the purpose 
 of obtaining their evidence. His Lordship went into an 
 
 13. 2 Q. 
 
298 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 eloquent and learned illustration of the antiquities of our 
 criminal law in the days of the Justiciar, and previous to 
 the time that the Lord Advocate was invested with his 
 present power, and maintained that at no period in the 
 law of Scotland has a private prosecutor ever enjoyed the 
 power of sueing a criminal without being subject to control 
 by the Public Prosecutor and the Court ; and he held that 
 when the king created the Lord Advocate Public Prosecutor, 
 he also must be held to have invested him with all the 
 powers necessary for explicating the duties of his office. 
 Among these the power of remission of offences for the 
 purpose of obtaining information essential to the public 
 welfare must have been transferred. There never had 
 been a prosecution of a socius criminis at any period in the 
 history of the Court when he had obtained the promise of 
 indemnity from the Lord Advocate, and given information 
 and evidence. His Lordship was therefore for quashing 
 the proceedings. 
 
 Lord MACKENZIE said, although he had been anticipat- 
 ed in what he had to offer on this subject, he considered it 
 his duty to express his opinion. As to the matter of form, 
 he was of opinion that Hare was competently before the 
 Court and it was necessary to decide whether he had a 
 sufficient protection by the compact with the Lord Advo- 
 cate against farther proceedings. He held that the calling 
 of a witness who was a soc'ms gives an implied protection, 
 and this he held to be fixed by the cases of Brodie and 
 Smith, followed by all the cases ever since. He considered 
 that Hare had this protection both for the case of Docherty 
 and Wilson. The course of the Lord Advocate had been 
 most wise and expedient ; and this wretched man, Hare, 
 had acquired an immunity in all the three cases, in conse- 
 quence of the promise held out to him. Considering the 
 evidence adduced on the trial of Burke, it was impossible 
 
WEST TOUT MURDERS. 299 
 
 to contemplate Hare's escape without pain ; but he must 
 not die by a perversion of the law, which would shake all 
 confidence in the fair and steady administration of justice. 
 
 Lord ALLOWAY concurred in the views of Lord Gillies, 
 and expressed his opinion at considerable length. He ap- 
 plauded the Lord Advocate, who had acted in a manner 
 worthy of himself, and of the high office which he held. 
 His conduct had been distinguished for wisdom and firm- 
 ness, and he had not a doubt that the Lord Advocate was 
 bound to go to the Crown for a remission to Hare. The 
 Crown, he held, was the only source of mercy. His Lord- 
 ship could not approve of any authorities drawn from the 
 practice of periods in our history which were a disgrace 
 and abomination and he could not think of resting any 
 of our law on precedents drawn from the trials of Lord 
 Morton and the Gowrie conspirators. He heard that the 
 trial on which Hare was examined was only on the case of 
 Docherty, not of Wilson ; and if it was not the case of 
 Wilson, his examination in the other case afforded him no 
 protection. Ail other cases except Docherty's were ex- 
 cluded, and there was no other before the Jury. The 
 Statiue of Geo. II. was in viridi observantia. His Lord- 
 ship was for refusing the Bill. 
 
 The LORD JUSTICE CLERK said, that considering this 
 case as one of very great importance, he had prepared his 
 opinion upon it with great care and anxiety, and as he had 
 dictated it, he would now read it without any apology. 
 After some preliminary remarks, that opinion was express- 
 ed in the following terms : " From the statement of the 
 Lord Advocate, it is placed beyond all doubt, that, with 
 a view to the public interest alone, he resorted to the course 
 therein detailed, and considering the atrocious, extraordi- 
 nary, and unexampled nature of the crimes to which his 
 attention had been called, the infinite importance of avoid- 
 
300 WEST POUT MUKDK11S. 
 
 ing the risk of the escape from punishment of all who then 
 Appeared implicated in these crimes, and the immense ad- 
 vantage of a public example from a conviction, he did ex- 
 ercise a wise; and sound discretion in betaking 1 himself to 
 ihe evidence of. Hare and his wife, and giving the assurance 
 stated in his answers. It moreover appears to me, that 
 the propriety and wisdom of the conduct of the Public 
 Prosecutor hi regard to the important and delicate duty 
 he had to perform, have been most fully evinced by the 
 result of the trial and conviction of William Burke. If 
 instead of following the course he did, he had indicted Hare 
 and his wife along with the other prisoners for the murder 
 of Docherty, (the Public Prosecutor having then, accord- 
 ing to his own statement, no sufficient information regard* 
 ing the murders of Wilson and Paterson) and had .failed 
 to obtain a verdict, against the certainty of which nojt be- 
 ing the case no one will venture to give an opinion ; it may 
 be considered what would then Jiave been .the feeling of the 
 public in regard to such a proceeding. Keeping the above 
 circumstances in view, and attending particularly to the 
 nature and structure of the indictment exhibited against 
 Burke and M'Dougal, charging the single crime of mur, 
 der, in the three specific acts of Mary Paterson, James 
 Wilson, and Mrs. Docherty or Campbell, all alleged to 
 have been perpetrated in the same way and with the same 
 intent, viz. for the sale of the bodies for dissection, in the 
 list of witnesses subjoined to which Hare and his wife were 
 included the interlocutor of the Court finding the whole 
 indictment relevant to infer the pains of law, but upon the 
 motion of the prisoners, allowing the separation of the 
 charges, and the trial then to proceed as to the murder of 
 Docherty alone the subsequent direction, at the desire of 
 the prisoners, given to Hare, to confine his statement to the 
 ease of Docherty the examination which he then under- 
 
WEST POUT MURDEJU #01 
 
 went, both for the prosecution and the prisoners, is to be 
 Carefully attended to." 
 
 . [His Lordship then took a, most comprehensive and de- 
 tailed view of the law applicable to the case, which our 
 limits will not permit us to give at length, but the con- 
 clusion of it is so important that we must give it to the 
 public, as it affords explanations, which it is desirable that 
 every individual should be acquainted with in a case that 
 has excited so deep an interest.] 
 
 " If then, the prisoner Hare is legally exempted from 
 all prosecution at the instance of the Public Prosecutor for 
 any accession he may have had to the three acts of murder 
 charged in the indictment against Burke and MvDougal, 
 there seems no ground in law for, maintaining that he may 
 still be prosecuted at the instance of the relations of either 
 of the three parties alleged to have been murdered. .As 
 to the speciality attempted to be founded on as to his not 
 having been examined with regard to the actual murder of 
 James Wilson, it has already been sufficiently adverted to, 
 in reference to the supposition of the .Lord Advocate at- 
 lempting to prosecute for that offence.. The nature of the 
 indictment the interlocutor finding the whole charges re- 
 levantand the almost identity of the modes of slaughter 
 and intent with which the three acts were perpetrated, and 
 the general nature of Hare's evidence have already been 
 pointed out as demonstrating that without a total departure 
 from the fairness and justness that must ever characterize 
 judicial procedure, it is impossible to deny that Hare did 
 mix himself up with matter that had the closest affinity to 
 the other acts, the trial of which did .not proceed at the 
 time. It is farther to be recollected that, in the list of 
 witnesses, there stand included various persons connected 
 with the death of Wilson, the discovery of whom, we have 
 ihe assurance of the Public Prosecutor, was made through 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 the information of Hare alone, who did also make such 
 disclosures as led to the framing of that and the other 
 charge in the indictment. It is utterly impossible, there- 
 fore, to view Hare as a person who had not spoken out or 
 given any evidence, relative to the crime for which he is 
 now attempted to be tried. He can by no possibility be 
 replaced in the situation in which he formerly stood. 
 "Things are no longer entire with regard to him, as has 
 been justly said. The public has derived the benefit that 
 was expected from his evidence, by the conviction and ex- 
 ecution of this guilty associate ; and the public faith that 
 was pledged to him in the face of the country, and confirm- 
 ed by the intervention of the authority of this Court must 
 be preserved inviolate. Such is the deliberate opinion that 
 I have formed, after the most careful and anxious consi- 
 deration of all that has been urged, both in speaking and 
 in writing, upon this important question, and a careful re- 
 view of the authorities that appeared to bear upon it. 
 The same opinion I formerly delivered in a most impor- 
 tant stage of the trial of Burke and M'Dougal, with the 
 concurrence of my brothers who were then sitting with me. 
 -I am free however to admit, that ..notwithstanding this cir- 
 cumstance, it was my bounden duty to re-consider that 
 opinion with all due attention to the able and elaborate ar- 
 gument that was offered against it by the respondents' 
 counsel. I cannot, however, agree with them that the 
 opinion to which they objected, and were well entitled to 
 object, was one of an obiter, or passing nature, and not to 
 be considered of importance at this stage of the trial when 
 it was pronounced. It was, on the contrary, delivered to 
 the Jury, as the opinion of the Court, upon an objection 
 urged in point of law, in the most earnest manner by the 
 counsel for the prisoners, and which, if well-founded, must 
 have gone to the destruction of the credit of the accom- 
 
WEST PORT MUItDttRS. 
 
 plices who had given evidence. There can be no part of 
 the duty of the Judge who presides at a criminal trial 
 more sacred than that of expounding the law to a Jury, 
 in reference to such an objection ; and it is necessary, there- 
 fore, that the opinion of the Court should be given in the 
 most unequivocal terms. It was accordingly given to the 
 purport and effect that is stated in. the printed trial. As 
 no man can say what effect that statement of the law had 
 upon the minds of the Jury, as it may in fact have led 
 them to give such credit to Hare and his wife, as actually 
 brought about their verdict against Burke, and consequent- 
 ly that his fate had been decided by it, I have no hesita- 
 tion in declaring, that if I had, upon reflection, been con- 
 vinced that I had committed an error, and delivered an 
 erroneous opinion in law to the Jury, I should have felt it 
 to be my bounden duty, without the least regard to popu- 
 lar feeling or clamour, to have made such a representation 
 to the Secretary of State, as might have led to an altera- 
 tion of the sentence of the law upon Burke. The opinion, 
 however, which I did deliver, in my charge to the Jury, 
 so far from being shaken, has been strengthened and con- 
 firmed by all that I have since heard or read upon the 
 subject. I shall only add, that if the objection to the cre- 
 dit of the accomplices, upon the ground of their being ac- 
 tually liable to be tried for the two acts of murder con- 
 tained in the indictment, the trial of which had that day 
 merely been postponed, had been taken, as it ought to have 
 been, when Hare and his wife were offered as witnesses, the 
 point would have been fully argued, and solemnly determin- 
 ed by the Court. But as it was withheld till the addresses 
 to the Jury, every one knows that it could no otherwise 
 have been disposed of than by delivering an opinion up- 
 on it to the Jury. I have but one word more to add 
 with regard to the supposed inconsistency between the 
 
304 
 
 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 opinions expressed by myself and my brothers, in regard 
 to a question proposed to be put to Hare, and that which 
 I delivered to the Jury. I must beg leave, however, to 
 say, that when the real res gestae are attended to, no such 
 inconsistency can be found. I find from my notes, that 
 the argument of the counsel " was raised upon the ques- 
 tion, if' Hare ever was concerned in the commission of other 
 murders ?" Upon the competency of that question, the 
 opinions of the Court were delivered, and those opinions 
 must necessarily be viewed as havihg reference to the ques- 
 tion actually proposed, and the injunction which the pan- 
 nels 1 own counsel had themselves desired should be given 
 to Hare, to confine himself to the case of Docherty. And 
 I well recollect of putting it to the counsel, that the wit- 
 ness must be fairly dealt with, and of having stated, that 
 if asked in regard to the cases of Wilson and Paterson, his 
 whole statement must be given, whatever the consequences 
 might be. When the examination was resumed, I do not 
 find that the question is put in the precise terms on which 
 it had been argued j and it was only at a later period that 
 Hare was asked, if there was a murder committed in his 
 house in October last f but as to which the opinion of the 
 Court was not delivered. Whatever shade of difference 
 may therefore appear in the opinions regarding these 
 question?, and that which was advisedly delivered in the 
 charge to the Jury, and I am by no means surprised it has 
 so struck some of your Lordships, must fairly be ascribed, 
 either to the imperfections of the report of the trial, or to 
 the course of proceeding that was adopted at the sugges- 
 tion of the counsel for the prisoners. I am, upon the 
 whole, of opinion, that the prayer of the prisoner's bill 
 ought to be granted, and that it would be directly contrary 
 to the established practice of this Court, and the principles 
 of our law, merely to suspend the proceedings against him, 
 
VVKST POUT MURDE1U. 305 
 
 in order that a pardon should be obtained for his concern , 
 in the offences charged in the indictment, upon which he 
 was examined as a xvitness. Such would be the course 
 adopted by the judges of England ; but, respecting as I 
 do, that law and its institutions, I do not, as a Scottish 
 judge, feel myself warranted to follow it on the present 
 occasion. My opinion is, that it would be equally incom- 
 petent to the first officer .of the crown, as it is to the pri- 
 vate parties now before us, to institute any criminal proce- 
 dure against Hare, steeped in guilt although he be, in re- 
 ference to the acts contained in the indictment against 
 Burke, and I can allow that opinion in no degree to be in- 
 fluenced, civium ardore pravajubentium." 
 
 An interlocutor was then pronounced, passing the bill of 
 advocation, (thereby reversing the decision of the Sheriff), 
 ordaining the Magistrates and keepers of the jail of Edin.- ) 
 burgh to liberate the prisoner Hare from confinement,, 
 quashing the proceedings which had been instituted with 
 a view to bring Hare to trial at the instance of James 
 Wilson's nearest of kin, aqo 1 ordaining the precognitions 
 already taken for that purpose to be cancelled. 
 
 . . 
 
 Thus, in as far as Hare is concerned,, these prosecutions 
 connected with the late murders are closed; and whatever. 
 may be the opinions entertained out of doors with, respect, 
 to the conflicting views of the Judges upon the law of the 
 case, it must be satisfactory to the country to find, that: 
 although differing materially on many points in the dis- 
 cussion, the Court were unanimous in approving most 
 warmly and decidedly of the. Lord Advocate's proceedings. 
 And, however deeply every virtuous man may lament that 
 a wretch, who is so covered over with -crimes; should escape 
 the hands of justice, this .feeling ought to be controlled by. 
 the recollection that even the guilty must not suffer by 
 13- 2 R 
 
WEST PORT MUKBKUS. 
 
 stretches of the law, which might also be perverted in other 
 cases, to the ruin of the innocent -that, without the infor- 
 mation which Hare has afforded, not even one of the hor- 
 rid crew of murderers would have been convicted, or the 
 means afforded of checking a hideous system of murder 
 and that, by the course which the Public Prosecutor has 
 pursued, in giving one man immunity from punishment for 
 such information, a great benefit has been conferred upon 
 society, for which his Lordship is entitled to the gratitude 
 of his country. As to Hare himself, he is morally, and 
 in the eyes of all mankind, a self-convicted murderer. 
 He is liberated for the present from the jail and the 
 gibbet but he goes forth an outcast on the world, with a 
 brand on his forehead, that can never be effaced. Wher- 
 ever his name is heard by him, he will hear it amidst the 
 execrations of mankind. His doom hereafter it is not for 
 man to anticipate. 
 
 The delivery of their Lordships* opinions in this in- 
 teresting case occupied the Court upwards of seven hours. 
 The Court-room was crowded during the whole time. 
 
 In the former part of this account, we announced that 
 some particulars of the lives of each of the prominent actors 
 in the black dramas should be given. The press of mat- 
 ter that has since occurred, has hitherto prevented this, 
 but we now proceed to redeem our pledge, in so far as one 
 of them is concerned, by briefly mentioning such things as 
 have come to our knowledge respecting the notorious 
 
 WILLIAM HARE. 
 
 This villain's character apparently has presented few 
 traits which could interest any one previous to his great 
 crimes. It may be judged of by picturing the beau ideal 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 307 
 
 of a drunken, ferocious, and stupid profligate. What few 
 incidents have occurred in his miserable life, if such there 
 were, would also have been lost, by the insuperable aver- 
 sion every one previously acquainted with him seems to 
 have in avowing even a casual connection. While the ac- 
 quaintance of Burke has been claimed by many, and his 
 habits and manners freely dwelt upon, all have shrunk 
 from an avowal of such an intimacy with his fellow mon- 
 ster, as would justify them in depicting his character. 
 After it was discovered that Burke had, before his crimes, 
 displayed some of the attributes of humanity, and had 
 borne a very different character from what his real one 
 turned out to be, it was assumed, that he had been made 
 a tool of by Hare, and that he was the tempter and arch- 
 fiend who had lured him on to his destruction, and in- 
 structed him in the hellish arts ; and Burke's language 
 favoured the idea. But Hare has since exhibited, along 
 with his hardened indifference and callousness, such a men- 
 tal apathy, such gross and unconceivable stolidity in his 
 conduct and estimation of his crimes, as to force us to the 
 conclusion, that, however inclined he might be to reach 
 the climax of atrocity., he was not capable of leading or 
 directing any one, far less Burke, or initiating him in the 
 barbarous trade. 
 
 In corroboration of this we may mention, that a cele r 
 brated literary professor of our University, it is understood, 
 visited both of the murderers when in jail, and gave, as 
 his opinion, that in comparison with Burke, Hare was a 
 perfect fool, and that he was convinced that he could never 
 be his instructor. 
 
 He describes Burke to have been a very intelligent man, 
 and one whose conversation would give, a great idea of 
 candour and open-heartedness, though his conduct dis- 
 played nothing like remorse or contrition. On the con- 
 trary, he seemed happy that the Professor's knowledge of 
 
308 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 Innerleithen enabled him to talk of the kindness and charity 
 towards him of several individuals there. He talked of 
 them so as to lead the learned gentleman to remark, that 
 "he understood perfectly well what charity was though he 
 did not practise it." Hare's behaviour and conversation 
 were perfectly different. He seemed not to possess the 
 slightest moral perception of the enormity of his conduct, 
 and described his guilty compeer as one of the best men in 
 the world, who would part any thing he had in the world 
 with a beggar. His aspect did not belie him ; well might 
 Mr. Cock burn describe him as a " squalid wretch ;"" we 
 scarcely ever saw a more disgusting specimen of human 
 nature, and both in his physical and moral conformation 
 the brute seemed to vie with the man for the ascendency. 
 A continual idiotic though diabolical laugh appeared to be 
 upon his countenance, such as might be imagined to char- 
 acterize the lowest grade of fiends. 
 
 He is a native of Ireland, and was born in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Londonderry, and after working at country 
 work there he came to Scotland and engaged as a common 
 labourer upon the Union Canal, and for some time assisted 
 in unloading Mr. Dawson's coal-boats. There he fell in with 
 Log the former husband of his notorious wife, and subse- 
 quently came to lodge in his house. After the work at the 
 canal was finished he took up the trade of a travelling hux- 
 ter, and with an old horse and cart went about the country 
 selling fish, and sometimes crockery ware, which he gave 
 in exchange for old iron, &c. and sold it again to the deal- 
 ers in Edinburgh. He used also to go about with a.hurley 
 selling articles. Before Log's death he had left his house 
 in Tanner's Close, but returned again after this event, and 
 assumed the privileges of the master of the house, al- 
 though Mrs. Log never was called by his name. He then 
 became a perfect pest to the inhabitants of the West Port, 
 from his debauched dissolute habits and reckless brutality. 
 
WEST POUT MURDERS.' 309 
 
 His conduct would justify the oft-repeated allegation of an 
 Irishman's addiction to fighting, as he was continually in a 
 brawl. He never failed to pick a quarrel upon any oppor- 
 tunity that offered, and an individual looking at him was 
 sufficient apology for a challenge to the combat. Though 
 a sorry pugilist, he was never tired until fairly disabled ; 
 and the many drubbings he received, could not cure him 
 of his pugnacious propensities. If no adversary presented 
 himself out of doors, he was always sure of one within, and 
 his wife and he were perpetually engaged in conflicts. 
 Though' almost always intoxicated herself, his drunken- 
 ness incited frequent attacks from her. Any of the rseigh^ 
 bours would desire a boy 4: to go and tell Lucky Log that 
 Willie Hare was on the street drunk," and a fight imme- 
 diately ensued upon their rencontre. ^Kf 
 
 In our account of the murders, we have already no* 
 ticed the share that he had in them, as well as his conduct 
 upon the trial and immediately subsequent to it, and it is 
 unnecessary to repeat it here; we will confine ourselves 
 therefore, to some farther notice of his deportment while in 
 jail, and his adventures after liberation. At first, after 
 Burke's conviction, he imagined that his detention was for 
 the purpose of protecting him, and was very easy and not 
 at all troubled with compunction ; but after his confine- 
 ment was extended to a period far beyond what was ne- 
 cessary for immediate protection, he began to become un- 
 easy, which was increased when inquiries about the mur- 
 ders were renewed. His behaviour indicated most unbe- 
 coming levity, as well as imbecility. He apparently was 
 incapable of comprehending any thing of moral rectitude. 
 
 On the last Sabbath of Burke's life, and when his own 
 case was pending in the courts, he is said to have displayed 
 the only symptoms of feeling that he had suffered to es- 
 cape him. It was during the discourse of the Rev. Mr. 
 
310 WEST TOKT MUUDEJtS. 
 
 Porteous, which, contrary to his usual custom, he listened 
 attentively to, and appeared affected when pointed allusion 
 was made to his compeer. 
 
 On the 2d February, and probably within half an hour 
 of the time when the wretch would have been liberated, in 
 consequence of the judgment of the High Court of Justici- 
 ary, on his bill of advocation, suspension, and liberation, a 
 detainer was lodged against him at the instance of the mo- 
 ther and sister of Daft Jamie, proceeding upon a petition 
 setting forth that the petitioners had a claim of assyth- 
 ment against Hare on account of the murder of their near 
 relative ; that the sum of five hundred pounds, or such other 
 sum as might be modified, was due to them by Hare on 
 that head, and that, as the said William Hare, a foreigner, 
 was in meditationefugae,a.nd <ibout to withdraw himself forth 
 of the kingdom with a view to disappoint their just claim ; 
 wherefore a warrant was prayed for to take him into cus- 
 tody, to bring him before the Sheriff for examination, and 
 to take him bound in caution judiclo sixti et judicatum 
 solvi. The petitioners having taken the usual oath, 
 Hare was consequently detained, and eight o'clock the 
 same evening was fixed for his examination. Accordingly, 
 a little after the hour appointed he was brought into an 
 apartment of the jail for examination, and a number of 
 interrogatories were put to him ; but he preserved an ob- 
 stinate silence in regard to all of them, except the first, we 
 believe, which related in some way to the murder of Jamie, 
 and in reference to which lie growled out that he would 
 say no more about it. Several witnesses to whom he had 
 communicated his intention, after getting out of jail, to 
 quit this country and return to Ireland, were then called 
 and examined. Among these was a prisoner of the name 
 of Lindsay, a brisk fellow, with a black scratch wig on the 
 lop of his head, who proved distinctly that Hare meant to 
 
WEST I'ORT MUKDKRS. oil 
 
 leave Scotland and withdraw to some part of Ireland ; and 
 having finished his deposition, volunteered his unqualified 
 testimony in favour not only of Hare but also of Burke. 
 This fellow, whose misfortune as well as fault it is to be 
 alimented and housed at the public expense, and who is 
 not yet a man of tried character, although it will soon, we 
 understand, be put to the test, observed that he knew both 
 Burke and Hare well ; that in particular he had slept for 
 a considerable time with the former before his trial ; and 
 that he was decidedly of opinion they were the best Irish- 
 men lie ever knew : from which we would charitably infer 
 that his acquaintance has been rather limited and some- 
 what select. Several turnkeys gave evidence to the same 
 effect with this youth as to the expressed intentions of 
 Hare; and ultimately the Shenff granted warrant for the 
 incarceration of the latter, until he should give caution jit- 
 dido sisti. When Hare discovered the turn things were tak- 
 ing, he recovered the use of his speech, and said twice or 
 three times, " Ye' re no giving me justice; I'm sure, gen- 
 tlemen, ye're nogiving me justice." Observing him getting 
 the better of the caution he had previously observed, seve- 
 ral questions were put to him, without however eliciting 
 any satisfactory answers. " What would you do if you 
 were to get out of jail ?" " I do not know j I must do 
 something ; I have no money." " Do you consider your- 
 self in danger from the mob?" He gave no audible an- 
 swer to this question, though he seemed to be muttering 
 something. " Would you consider yourself safe in Edin- 
 burgh ?" " No, I would not consider myself safe in 
 Edinburgh."" " Would you consider yourself safe in 
 any other part of this country ?" My mind and heart 
 tell me that I ought to be safe ?" This answer excited 
 some surprise, for had it been competent to prove any 
 thing except his expressed intentions to quit the country 
 
312 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 upon his liberation, witnesses might have been easily pro- 
 duced to whom he had admitted the murder, from all pro- 
 secution for which he is now for ever free. The appear- 
 ance of Hare upon this occasion was more than usually 
 hideous and forbidding. The " squalid wretch" of the 
 witness box will not soon be forgotten by those who hap- 
 pened to see him there ; but on Monday night he was in- 
 comparably more gruesome and growlish ; for in order to 
 facilitate the operations of some Phrenologists, who had 
 just finished taking a cast of his head, his hair had been 
 mown down to the very sconce, with the exception of a 
 iringe bordering the scalp all round, thus blending in his 
 appearance the ludicrous with the horrid in a way and 
 manner that defies all description. His behaviour, how- 
 everj was rather clogged and cautious than impudent or 
 forward. When he first entered the apartment, he seem- 
 -ed very much at his ease; but when he came to under- 
 stand, after repeated explanations, the object of the pro- 
 ceedings, he grew exceedingly restless and fidgetty, neither 
 his " mind or heart telling him " that farther imprison- 
 ment was likely to prove either convenient or salutary. 
 Upon the whole, however, he is certainly one of the coolest 
 and most collected villains that ever lived ; and we are 
 convinced that the only consideration which gave him a 
 moment's uneasiness is an accidental vision of the gallows 
 flitting across his imagination. To this favour, indeed, 
 we have little doubt that he will ultimately come. 
 
 The following admirable description from the graphic 
 pen of John M'Diarmid, Esq. editor of the Dumfries and 
 Galloway Courier, a gentleman to whom literature is much 
 indebted, furnishes every particular that can be required 
 
WEST POUT MURDERS. 313 
 
 of Hare's proceedings after his liberation from the Calton- 
 hilJ Jail. 
 
 We were roused from our bed on the morning of Fri- 
 day the 6th of February, by a messenger who stated that 
 the miscreant Hare had arrived in Dumfries. At first we 
 could hardly credit the intelligence, after what we had 
 seen stated in the Edinburgh papers ; but on repairing to 
 the coach office at the King's Arms Inn, a little after eight 
 o'clock, we discovered that the news was too true. By 
 this time a considerable crowd had collected, and every 
 moment added to its density. On being admitted to the 
 hateful presence of the man, we found him, as was natu- 
 ral, exceedingly reserved on certain points, but sufficiently 
 communicative regarding others particularly the means 
 employed, as he alleged, by certain authorities, to facili- 
 tate his escape to his native country. At a little past eight 
 on Thursday night, while a very different impression pre- 
 vailed in Edinburgh, he was released from his cell in the 
 Calton-hill Jail, and after being muffled in an old camlet 
 cloak, walked in company with the head Turnkey, as far 
 as the Post-Office on Waterloo Bridge, without meeting 
 with the slightest molestation. At this point his compa- 
 nion called a coach, and conveyed him to Newington, 
 where the two waited till the mail came up. The guard's 
 edition of the story varies thus far that he took up an 
 unknown passenger in Nicolson Street, and was ordered to 
 blow the horn there. But the difference is immaterial, 
 and might easily arise from Hare's state of mind, and ig- 
 norance of the ever shifting localities of Edinburgh. Be 
 this as it may, he got safely seated on the top of the mail, 
 without challenge, and without suspicion. In the way-bill 
 he figured as a Mr. Black, not an inappropriate name 
 and the tall man who came to see him off, exclaimed, when 
 
 14. %* 
 
314 WEST POKT MUUDEKS. 
 
 the guard said < ail's right," " good bye Mr. Black, and 
 I wish you well home !" At Noblehouse, the second 
 stage on the Edinburgh road, twenty minutes are allowed 
 for supper, and when the inside passengers alighted and 
 went into the Inn, Hare was infatuated enough to follow 
 their example. At first, however, he sat down near the door, 
 behind backs, with his hat on, and his cloak closely muffled 
 about him. But this backwardness was ascribed to his 
 modesty, and one of the passengers, by way of encourag- 
 ing him, asked if he was not perishing with cold. Hare 
 replied in the affirmative, and then moving forward, took 
 off his hat and commenced toasting bis paws at the fire a 
 piece of indiscretion that can only be accounted for by his 
 imbecility of character. And little indeed was the wretch 
 aware that Mr. Sandford, advocate, one of the counsel 
 employed against him in the prosecution at the instance of 
 Daft Jamie's relations, was then standing almost at his 
 elbow. A single glance served all the purposes of the 
 fullest recognition, and as Hare naively enough remarked, 
 " he shook his head at me," we suppo.se it was a shake 
 after the fashion of the ghost in Macbeth, and that the 
 wretch was so well aware of its significancy, that he felt 
 his blood freezing in its course, and that his hair, if the 
 phrenologists had left any remaining, would have bristled 
 * like quills upon the fretted porcupine." When the 
 guard blew his horn, the associate of Burke managed to 
 be first at the coach door, and as there happened to be one 
 vacant seat, was allowed to go inside. But Mr. S. on 
 coming forward, immediately discovered what had taken 
 place, and although something was said about the cold- 
 ness of the night, d.eterminedly exclaimed, " take that fel- 
 low out." Again, therefore, he was transferred to the top, 
 and then Mr. S. to explain perhaps his seeming harshness, 
 revealed to his fellow travellers (two of our own towns- 
 
WEST I' OUT MU 111) KllS. ,315 
 
 men) a secret which we devoutly wish he had kept. 
 News, whether good or bad, partake of the diffusive na- 
 ture of light, and at Beattock, the guard, and even the 
 driver, became as learned as others, though not half so 
 close. Still as the hour was early, the night dark, and the 
 inmates asleep, no disturbance of any kind occurred until 
 the tocsin was sounded in this town. Each of our towns- 
 men had a servant in waiting to receive his luggage, and 
 the moment Jack and Bill, Tom or Peter, received a hint, 
 the news flew like wild-fire in every direction. .We have 
 already spoken of the crowd that had assembled shortly 
 after eight o'clock, and by ten it had become perfectly 
 overwhelming. Nearly the whole of the High Street was 
 one continued mass of people, so closely wedged, that you 
 might have almost walked over their heads, while Buc- 
 cleuch Street was much in the same state; and to express 
 much in few words, the one, as far as numbers went, re- 
 minded us of a great fair when the country empties itself 
 of its population, and the other of what takes place at an 
 execution. The numbers of the people are variously esti- 
 mated, but the best judges are of opinion that they could 
 not be under 8,000. As it was known that Hare >vas 
 bound to Portpatrick, the mob every where evinced the 
 greatest anxiety to see him pass and pay their respects to 
 him in their own way. But in the interim of more than 
 four hours, that elapses between the arrival of the Edin- 
 burgh, and departure of the Galloway or Portpatrick mail, 
 hundreds if not thousands were admitted to see him ; and 
 if poll-tax had been levied during the day, from the multi- 
 tudinous visitors to the wild beast, a large fund might have 
 been raised for the purposes of charity, though we ques- 
 .tion whether the poorest person in town would have poc- 
 keted a farthing so ignominiously come by. The Edin- 
 burgh mail arrived about twenty minutes before seven, and 
 
316 WEST PORT MUHDEIiS. 
 
 as the crowd were soon on the </?' vive, it became neces- 
 sary to secrete Hare in the tap-room attached to the King's 
 Arms. Here, from the first, he was surrounded by a knot 
 of drivers and other persons, and as ale was handed to him, 
 lie commenced clattering to all and sundry, and drinking 
 absurd toasts such as, " bad luck to bad fortune." At 
 this time he appeared to be the worse of liquor ; and when 
 interrogated as to his personal identity, he replied that he 
 was indeed the man, and that " there was no use of deny- 
 ing it now ;" but, all questions regarding his crimes he 
 evaded, by stating that " he had said enough before 5<) 
 " had done his duty in Edinburgh," &c. &c. To have 
 pressed him on such points would have been the height of 
 folly, for even if he had been disposed to speak out, no 
 reliance could have been placed in his statements ; and just 
 as ill-timed, in our opinion, were the threatenings address- 
 ed, and the reproaches showered upon him by a variety of 
 persons. Betwixt nine and ten o'clock an intelligent 
 gentleman visited Hare, and shortly after he was taken 
 into a closet oft* the tap-room, and left in the presence of 
 three individuals. After various questions, touching 
 chiefly his early history, in the course of which he stated 
 that he had almost no money, and had tasted no food from 
 the time he had left the prison, the gentleman alluded to 
 gave himfa sovereign, and this piece of kindness seemed to 
 surprise him so much that he actually burst into tears, 
 though his bearing had been sufficiently unflinching before. 
 When this visitor retired, those without forced the door, 
 and crowded the closet to suffocation. In an instant Hare 
 was nosed, and squeezed into the smallest possible corner, 
 and strongly reminded us of a hunted fox when he stops 
 short, turns round, shows his teeth, though unable to fly, 
 and vainly attempts to keep the jowlers at bay. In the ab- 
 sence of the police, his situation was far from being free from 
 
WEST 1-OK.T MUUDEKS. 
 
 danger ; and amidst a dreadful torrent of other impreca- 
 tions " Burke him ! Burke him !" resounded so loudly, 
 that we actually believed he would be murdered on the 
 spot. One old woman the only one in the crowd was 
 particularly emphatic and ferocious in her gestures, and 
 seemed anxious to get forward to strike " the villain" with 
 the butt-end of a dirty ragged umbrella. But she could not 
 make her way through the crowd ; and lucky it was for the 
 object of her abhorrence ; for mischief, like fire, needs only 
 a beginning, and if but one individual had set an example 
 of violence, we believe it would have bean very generally 
 followed. When the police arrived, the room was cleared, 
 and Hare re-conveyed to the tap-room, where crowds con- 
 tinued to visit him, almost up to the hour, (eleven o'clock) 
 when the Galloway mail was expected to start. With a 
 view to this, the inn yard was cleared not without difficulty, 
 the horses put to, and the coach brought out ; but the 
 mob, who, Argus-like, and with far more than his eyes, 
 anxiously watched every opportunity, had previously taken 
 their plans almost by instinct, and their aspect appeared so 
 truly threatening, that it was impossible to drive the mail 
 along the High Street, if Hare was either out or inside, 
 with safety to any person connected with it. In these cir- 
 cumstances, and while two passengers were sent forward a 
 few miles in gigs, the coach started perfectly empty, if we 
 except the guard and driver, and one of Bailie Fraser's 
 sons, who seemed anxious to protect his father's property. 
 Ihe crowd opened and recoiled so far, and the tremendous 
 rush the appalling waves on waves of people far exceed- 
 ed in magnitude and intensity, any thing we ever witness- 
 ed in Dumfries before. When near the post-office, the 
 coach was surrounded, the doors opened, and the interior 
 exposed ; and though this proceeding served to allay sus- 
 picion, the cry soon resounded far and wide that the mis- 
 
318 WEST POUT MUJtDUltS. 
 
 crcant, who was known to be a small man, had managed 
 to squeeze himself into the boot. We have said that the 
 mob had concocted a plan, and from all we can learn, their 
 resolution was, to stop the mail at the middle of the bridge, 
 and precipitate Hare over its goodly parapet into the river. 
 Failing this, they had fully determined to way-lay the 
 coach at Cassylands toll-bar, and subject him to some other 
 species of" punishment ; and in proof of this, we need only 
 state, that they had forcibly barricaded the gates. But 
 when it became obvious that Hare was neither in nor on 
 the mail, the guard and driver were allowed to proceed; 
 and we here mention, that Mr. Fraser, jun. while return- 
 ing home on foot, was hooted and threatened, merely from 
 having been upon the top of the mail. Even those who 
 interfered in his behalf, were exposed to a shower of mud, 
 and ourselves among others, was so honoured for daring 
 to take the part of an unoffending citizen. But that is a 
 matter of no moment, otherwise we could tell a number of 
 similar tales. Hare, as we have said, was not allowed 
 to go bv the mail, and when that fact became gene- 
 rally known, group after group continued to visit the 
 monster's den, though policemen with their staves guard- 
 ed the mouth of the King's Arms Entry, kept the 
 mob at bay, and only admitted whom they pleased. 
 Bv these successive visitors, he was forced to sit or stand 
 in all positions, and coo!, and insensate, and apathetic as 
 be seems, he was occasionally almost frightened out of his 
 wits. Abuse of every kind was plentifully heaped on him, 
 as the only fitting incense that could meet his ear ; and 
 one woman, it is said, seized him by the collar, and nearly 
 strangled him ; while a sturdy ostler who happened to be 
 present, though perhaps not at the same moment, ad- 
 dressed him in these emphatic words " Whaur are ye 
 gauu, or whaur can ye gang to ? Hell's ower good for 
 
WEST POUT MURDERS. 319 
 
 the likeo' you the very dcevils, for fear o"* mischief, wadna 
 daur to let ye in; and as for heeven that's entirely out & 
 the question." Another man told him that he should ne- 
 ver rise off his knees, and many that " he should hang 
 himsel' on the first tree he cam" 1 to." On one occasion he 
 was menaced by a mere boy, while others urged him on 
 and took his part, and at this time he became so much ir- 
 ritated that he told them " to come on and give him fair 
 play." A second time when pressed beyond what he could 
 bear, he took up his bundle and walked to the door, de- 
 termined, as he said, to let the mob " tak 1 their will o' 
 him."" In this effort, he was checked by a medical man ; 
 but it would be endless to repeat all that occurred while 
 Hare remained a prisoner in the tap-room. 
 
 During the whole forenoon Mr. F*aser was apprehen- 
 sive for the safety of his premises, and naturally anxious 
 to eject the culprit who had rendered them so obnoxious. 
 In fact, the whole town was so completely convulsed, that 
 it was impossible to tell what would happen next, and in 
 these circumstances, and after due deliberation, on the 
 part of our magistrates, who had a very onerous duty to 
 perform, an expedient was hit on and successfully executed, 
 though the chances seemed ten to one against it. Betwixt 
 two and three o'clock, a chaise and pair were brought to 
 the door of the King's Arms Inn, a trunk buckled on, and 
 a great fuss made; and while these means were employed 
 as a decoy duck, another chaise was got ready almost at 
 the bottom of the back entry, and completely excluded 
 from the view of the mob, if we except a posse of idle boys. 
 The next, step was to direct Hare to clamber or rather 
 jump out of the window of his prison, and crouch like a 
 cat along the wall facing the stables, so as to escape ob- 
 servation. This part of his task was well executed, and 
 
320 
 
 WEST POUT MURDERS. 
 
 the moment he got to the bottom and jumped into the 
 chaise, the doors were closed and the postilion ordered to 
 drive like Jehu. And rarely has a better use been made 
 of the whip; and never perhaps, in the memory of man, 
 did a chaise rattle so furiously along the streets of Dum- 
 fries. To pass Mr. Rankine's, and round the corner at 
 Mrs. Richardson^s brewery, was literally the work of a 
 few moments, and here the turn was taken so sharply, that 
 the chaise ran for some time on two wheels, and had very 
 nearly been overturned. Had it really upset, Hare, to a 
 certainty, would have been torn to pieces ; but the driver 
 knew that he was engaged in a very perilous service, and 
 proceeded onwards at a prodigious pace, lashing right and 
 left all the while. The mob by this time had become sus- 
 picious that a manoeuvre of some kind was in the act of 
 being executed, and as the chaise-driver had a considerable 
 round to make, they moved in a twinkling, and in prodi- 
 gious masses, with the view of intercepting him about the 
 middle of the Sands. The rush down Bank Street baffles 
 all description^ and can only be compared to the letting out. 
 of waters, or rather to the descent of a mighty cataract. 
 Even from the opposite side of the river, numbers, when 
 they witnessed the speed of the chaise, immediately sus- 
 pected what had taken place, and rushed with such fury 
 across the Old Bridge, that the driver ran the greatest pos- 
 sible risk of being outflanked and surrounded on every 
 side ; and nothing, in fact, but the mettle of his steeds, and 
 the willing arm that urged them forward, saved his pas- 
 senger from instant death, and himself, perhaps, from a 
 terrible sousing. At every little interval he was intercept- 
 ed and threatened ; and though Hare endeavoured to keep 
 up the near pannel, and also cowered down to be out of 
 harm's way, three stone were thrown at, and entered the 
 chaise -one of them heavy enough to have knocked his 
 
 I 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 brains out. " Stop ! stop ! let the murderer out !" were 
 shouted by a hundred voices at once; and while some 
 stood still from inability to run, others immediately sup- 
 plied their places, and closed up almost with the speed of 
 thought, nearly the whole wake of the careering vehicle. 
 As an impression prevailed that the driver meant to gallop 
 out the Galloway road, there was a general rush to the 
 western angle of the New Bridge, and this mistake ope r 
 rated as a diversion in his favour. Nor were the few mo- 
 ments gained mis-employed. The sharp corner of Dr. 
 Wood's laboratory was cleared almost at a single bound, 
 #nd as he had then a broad street before him, nothing 
 could well exceed the fury with which he drove up to the 
 jail door. Mr. Hunter had previously received his clue, 
 and though a strong chain was placed behind the door, an 
 opening was left to admit the fugitive ; and into this gulph 
 he leapt, hop-step-and-jump a thousand times more hap- 
 py to get into prison than the majority of criminals are to 
 get out of it ! His escape enraged the mob greatly, and 
 the scene of action must now be shifted from the King's 
 Arms Inn to the neighbourhood of the jail. As their 
 numbers increased, they laid regular siege to this place of 
 safety, preventing all ingress or egress excepting at consi- 
 derable personal risk. From four to eight o'clock nothing 
 but clamour and rioting were heard ; and at night fall they 
 smashed and extinguished the nearest gas lamps, for rea- 
 sons that may be easily enough conceived. The ponde- 
 rous knocker of a most ponderous door was wrenched. from 
 its socket by main force, and successive showers of stones 
 thrown with such violence into the court-yard, that the 
 chimney cans of some of the buildings were broken. For 
 want of a better battering-ram, the same means were tried 
 to force the entrance to the jail, and the rebound of the 
 stones was so loud, incessant, and long continued, that the 
 14. 2 T 
 
WEST POitT MUIIDE11S. 
 
 inhabitants of Buccleuch Street were under the greatest 
 apprehensions for the safety of their dwellings. Though 
 the militia staff and police exerted themselves to the ut- 
 most, their numbers were inadequate to preserve proper 
 order; and it was not till near eight o'clock, when a hun- 
 dred special constables were sworn in, and appeared armed 
 with batons on the spot, that the peace of the town was 
 re-assured. Previous to this, nearly the whole front win- 
 dows of the court-house were smashed, as well as a few in 
 an adjoining building, though that, we believe, occurred 
 by accident. By some, too, it was proposed to pay a simi- 
 lar compliment to every doctor in town, and by others to 
 provide tar barrels and peats for the purpose of firing the 
 doors of the jail. Indeed, from what we have heard, it 
 seems nearly certain that the latter scheme would have 
 been carried into execution, and that nothing prevented 
 the jail from being partially burnt and sacked, but the 
 swearing in of the special constables a measure that 
 should have been adopted some hours earlier. In spite of 
 the noise occasioned by the uproar and ceaseless hum of 
 human voices, Hare was in bed and sound asleep; and we 
 dare say our authorities were a good deal puzzled what to 
 do with him, and very heartily banned the cause that had 
 led him to pollute Dumfries with his hateful presence. 
 During the whole day, business had been interrupted, if 
 not suspended, and it was feared, if he remained over- 
 night, that the scenes of Friday would be renewed and 
 aggravated, by large importations of persons from the 
 country. Still so long as the streets leading to the jail, 
 and other parts of the town were in a state of commotion, 
 it seemed next to impossible to get out of the way, and if 
 the mob had remained firm to their purpose of keeping vi- 
 gilant watch and ward, we know not what would have 
 been the final result. But as the night waxed their reso- 
 
WEST POKT MURDERS. 
 
 In lion cooled, and at one o'clock on Saturday morning not 
 a single individual was seen in Buccleuch Street beyond 
 those on official duty. As the opportunity was too good 
 to be lost, Hare was roused from his troubled slumbers, 
 and ordered to prepare for his immediate departure. 
 While putting on his clothes he trembled violently, and in- 
 quired eagerly for his cloak and bundle. But as these ar- 
 ticles were not at hand, he was told that he must go with- 
 out them, and thank his stars into the bargain that he had 
 a prospect of escaping with whole bones. As the whole 
 population of Galljway were in arms, and as the mail had 
 been surrounded and searched on Friday at Crocketford 
 toll-bar, and probably at every other stage betwixt Dum- 
 fries and Portpatrick, it was in vain to escort him across 
 the bridge; and in these circumstances he was recommend- 
 ed to take another route. He at once consented, and after 
 being guided to Hood's loaning by two militia-men and a 
 Sheriff's officer, and fairly put on the Annan road, he was 
 left to his own reflections and resources. At three o'clock 
 he was seen by a boy passing Dodbeck, and must have 
 been beyond the Border by the break of day, though a re- 
 port was circulated on Saturday and Sunday, that he had 
 been discovered at Annan and stoned to death. But this 
 mistake was corrected yesterday by the driver of the mail, 
 who reported that he saw him at a quarter past five on 
 Saturday evening, sitting beside two stone-breakers on the 
 public road, within half a mile of Carlisle. As the coach 
 passed he held down his head, but the driver recognised 
 him, notwithstanding, as well as a gentleman who was on 
 the top of the mail. The news soon spread, and as a 
 number of persons went to see him, he was told he would 
 be murdered if he went into Carlisle; and although he ap- 
 peared completely " done up," he turned off by the New- 
 
324 WEST PORT MURDRS. 
 
 castle ro&d, and doubtless made his bed in the open- 
 fields. 
 
 Since writing the above, we have learnt that Hare was 
 seen on Sunday morning last, at a small village about two 
 miles beyond Carlisle. During the preceding night, he 
 had slept, as is believed, in an out-house, and seemed to be 
 moving onwards trusting to circumstances, and without 
 any fixed purpose, if we except the wretched one of pro- 
 longing, as long as possible, his miserable life. In Eng-> 
 land he is certainly much safer than in Scotland, particu- 
 larly since the publication of Burked confession ; but still 
 it is hardly possible, and certainly not desirable that a 
 wretch such as he is steeped to the very chin in blood 
 should find a permanent resting place for the sole of his 
 foot in any part of the British dominions. While a late 
 great fugitive found only foes in the officers of justice, al- 
 most every man is naturally and irresistibly the enemy of 
 Hare ; and, perhaps, since the days of our first parents^ 
 there never existed a human being, of whom it could be 
 said with less justice, *' the world is all before him, where 
 to choose his place of rest." Like the first murderer, he 
 bears a mark about him, which even those who run may 
 read; and seared and ossified as his conscience maybe, 
 there is a worm gnawing at it, that will never die ; and we 
 fondly hope, that the intense moral loathing the universal 
 execration the curses deep as well as loud excited by 
 crimes, which make humanity turn pale, will have more 
 effect than a hundred acts of Parliament, in blotting out 
 similar crimes from our calendar, and restoring Scotland 
 to its wonted propriety. Still we rejoice that our Magis- 
 trates were firm and enlightened enough to prevent any 
 thing like personal violence from being offered to the mis- 
 creant in this town ; a feeling which, if necessary, we could 
 justify on a thousand and one grounds. It has been often 
 
 G 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 825 
 
 said that most of the horrors of the French Revolution 
 might be ascribed to the first deliberate murder which the 
 populace were allowed and encouraged to perpetrate, and 
 that ever after they appeared to be as insatiable in their 
 thirst for vengeance, as the lion is that has once lapped 
 human blood. If Providence, when he interfered specially 
 in the affairs of the world, left Cain to wander homeless on 
 the face of the earth, why may not Hare be subjected to 
 the same species of punishment? and without wishing tore- 
 fine too far, we may say, as the Roman said long ago, 
 " every thing must bow to the majesty of the law ; and 
 that from the weightiest circumstance down to the smallest, 
 there is a medium course a middle path beyond which 
 no rectitude can exist." 
 
 HARE'S APPEARANCE, &c. 
 
 We believe we speak within bounds, when we say, that 
 scarcely an individual among the thousands who visited 
 Hare here, could have identified him from the descriptions 
 given in the Edinburgh papers ; and still less from the ca 
 ricatures in the shape of wooden blocks or cuts, which, 
 when daubed over with printer's ink, were palmed on the 
 public as excellent likenesses.* Close confinement may 
 have made him thinner, and terror and reflection more 
 subdued ; but his features, of course, remain unaltered ; 
 and in place of the goulishness, squalor, and ferocity, upon 
 which the changes have been wrung so long, the people in 
 this quarter could only recognise the contrary characteris- 
 tics of apathy, vacancy, and mental imbecility. His eyes 
 are watery, curiously shaped, and have certainly a peculi- 
 arity about them, which seems to hover betwixt leering and 
 
 * Mr. M'D. does not appear to have seen our copperplate engraving-, 
 which is allowed to be an excellent likeness. 
 
326 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 squinting ; the forehead is low, as in all murderers ; corn- 
 bativeness is large destructiveness middling; the nose, 
 mouth, and chin, very vulgar and common-place ; and his 
 countenance, on the whole, though it may betray more or 
 less of what we may call a sinister dash of expression, in* 
 dicates anything but intense ferociousness. The common 
 remark was, that " he was a poor silly-looking body ;" and 
 nothing can better describe his appearance ; for though 
 Hare is certainly no beauty, every one has seen hundreds of 
 uglier men. He can neither read nor write, and his mind, in 
 other respects, is just as untutored asan Esquimaux Indian\s. 
 \Vhatis called the moral sense, seems in him to stand below 
 zero;. and in this opinion we are borne out by all the medical 
 gentlemen who had an opportunity of seeing and conversing 
 with him here. He is five feet six inches high, and weigh- 
 ed, he ?ays, at one time, 10 stones. When his venerable, 
 and we understand, respectable mother, visited Edinburgh 
 about a fortnight after he was apprehended, she stated that 
 he was about twenty-five years of age, and this part of his 
 personal history he seems only to know on her authority. 
 He is a native of Armagh, though he refused to tell the 
 particular parish. His father, who is dead, was a Protes- 
 tant ; his mother is a Catholic ; and though he never 
 cared much about the matter, and either could not, or 
 would not give the name of the priest he attended, he 
 seems inclined to prefer his mother's religion. He has 
 two brothers and two sisters alive. He came to Scotland 
 ten years ago, and after landing at Workington, travelled 
 to Newcastle, &c. He worked seven years with Mr. Daw- 
 son, at the canal boats, Edinburgh, and two years with Mr. 
 Johnston, quarryman. He married more than two years 
 ago, and has two children. His wife, he suys, was lately in 
 Glasgow, and got somebody to write a letter to the gover- 
 nor of the jail, stating particulars " which are nobody's 
 
WEST PORT MUKDKKS. 
 
 business," and suggesting an arrangement for meeting her 
 husband in some part of Ireland. With regard to Burke, 
 his statements were so loose and contradictory, that we 
 question whether any one heard him say the same thing 
 twice over. Sometimes he denied, and sometimes admitted 
 that he had seen his confession ; sometimes hinted that 
 the whole truth was not yet known, and at others that far 
 more had been said than was true* To one person he 
 averred that he had only witnessed two murders ; and he 
 was only, perhaps, consistent in this, that he seemed uni- 
 formly willing to blacken his associate, and whitewash him- 
 self. Burke's statement that his female associate had no 
 knowledge of the murders committed, goes far to damage 
 his whole testimony, and if both assassins had been con- 
 fessed and gibbetted, we question whether the truth could 
 have been got at between them ; and though we think it 
 right to give the above particulars, we would not, for our 
 own parts, believe a single word that Hare says, where the 
 the circumstance he speaks to is at all material, if unsup- 
 ported by other evidence. To one gentleman who pressed 
 him pretty closely, he positively declared that he believed 
 that even Paterson himself was ignorant of the manner in 
 which they (meaning, of course, Burke and himself), came 
 by so many subjects. A great number of persons were 
 certain that they had seen Hare before, and one or two 
 farmers insisted that he had worked as a reaper on their 
 lands. But he denied ever having been in Dumfries-shire 
 or Galloway, and it seems probable that this is the real 
 truth, otherwise it is very difficult to explain why he did 
 not leave the mail at Albany Place and proceed to Port- 
 patrick quietly on foot, before the hue and cry was raised 
 here. To one of the individuals who saw him out of 
 town, and who strove to open his eyes to the enormity of 
 his guilt, he remarked, as soon as he could speak from ter- 
 
328 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 ror, " this has been a terrible day for me." " Yes," said 
 the other, " more terrible than any day I ever witnessed 
 in Dumfries, and all owing to your own character." To 
 this he seemed to assent, and added emphatically, " I see 
 it now." Again the other enforced the great duty of re- 
 pentance, and found him, for the moment, apparently pe- 
 nitent, though he soon recurred to his worldly prospects, 
 and said, " it's of no use going to my own country or in- 
 deed anywhere." On this his guide advised him to try 
 and get to the South, and inlist as a private in some of the 
 regiments of the East India Company. His answer was, 
 " God knows what I will do, though I must do some- 
 thing." And here he went on his way, after offering to 
 shake hands with the officers, and thanking them for seeing 
 him out of town. 
 
 Hare has not been heard of since the morning of Sunday 
 the 8th Feb. It is probable that. he has found his way to 
 Liverpool, where a passage to Dublin could be readily pro- 
 cured, or that he has embarked at one of the Cumberland 
 ports. By this time he may be in Ireland, where he can 
 hide his guilty head with less fear of detection. We may 
 hope that his presence will never again pollute our soil. 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 329 
 
 CONFESSIONS OF WILLIAM BURKE. 
 
 That our readers may not be disappointed, we print 
 entire the confessions of Burke as received by the Sheriff, as 
 well as the more complete one obtained by the Courant news- 
 paper. The account of his crimes contained in our me- 
 moir was so full and correct, that th^se might almost have 
 been spared ; but even at the risk of incur ring, the charge 
 of repetition, we present whatever possesses interest. 
 
 LETTER FROM THE SHERIFF TO THE RIGHT HON. THE 
 LORD PROVOST. 
 
 Sheriffs Office, Edinburgh, Feb. 5, 1829. 
 MY LORD PROVOST, 
 
 As it is now fully understood that all proceedings of 
 a criminal nature against William Hare have termina- 
 ted, it has appeared to the Lord Advocate, that the Com- 
 munity have a right to expect a disclosure of the con- 
 tents of the Confessions made by William Burke after 
 his conviction. I have, therefore, been directed to place 
 those Confessions in your Lordship's hands, with a view 
 to their being given to the public, at such time, and in 
 such a manner as you may deem most advisable. 
 
 Your Lordship is already aware that the first of these 
 Confessions was taken by the Sheriff- Substitute, on the 
 3d day of January last, in consequence of Burke having 
 intimated a wish to that effect. The second was taken 
 on the 22d of the same month, a few days before Burke's 
 execution ; and in order to give it every degree of au- 
 
 14. 2 u 
 
330 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 thenticity, Mr. Reid, a Roman Catholic Priest, who had 
 been in regular attendance on Burke, was requested to 
 be present. 
 
 It may be satisfactory to your Lordship to know, that 
 in the information which Hare gave to the Sheriff on the 
 1st of December last, (while he imputed to Burke that 
 active part in those deeds, which the latter now assigns 
 to Hare,) Hare disclosed nearly the same crimes in point 
 of number, of time, and of the description of persons 
 murdered, which Burke has thus confessed ; and in the 
 few particulars in which they differed, no collateral evi- 
 dence could be obtained calculated to show which of them 
 was in the right. 
 
 Your Lordship will not be displeased to learn, that af- 
 ter a very full and anxious inquiry, now only about to be 
 concluded, no circumstances have transpired calculated 
 to show that any other persons have lent themselves to 
 such practices in this city, or its vicinity ; and that there 
 is no reason to believe, that any other crimes have been 
 committed by Burke and Hare, excepting those con- 
 tained in the frightful catalogue to which they have con- 
 fessed. 
 
 In concluding, I need hardly suggest to your Lordship 
 the propriety of not making those Confessions public, 
 until such time as you are assured that Hare has been 
 actually liberated from Jail. I have the honour to 
 be, My Lord, your Lordship's most obedient humble 
 servant, 
 
 AD. DUFF. 
 
 * 
 
 The Right Hon. the Lord Provost, $c. $c. 
 
WEST POUT MUllDEllS. 331 
 
 OFFICIAL CONFESSIONS OF BURKE IN THE JAIL. 
 
 Present, Mr. George Tait, Sheriff-Substitute ; Mr. Ar- 
 chibald Scott, Procurator- Fiscal ; Mr. Richard J. 
 Moxey, Assistant Sheriff Clerk. 
 
 Edinburgh, 3d Jan. 1829. 
 
 Compeared William Burke, at present under sentence 
 of death in the gaol of Edinburgh, states, that he never 
 saw Hare till the Hallow-fair before last, (November 
 1827,) when he and Helen M'Dougal met Hare's wife, 
 with whom he was previously acquainted, on the street ; 
 they had a dram, and he mentioned he had an intention 
 to go to the west country to endeavour to get employ- 
 ment as a cobbler, but Hare's wife suggested that they 
 had a small room in their house which might suit him 
 and M'Dougal, and that he might follow his trade of a 
 cobbler in Edinburgh, and he went to Hare's house, and 
 continued to live there, and got employment as a cobbler. 
 
 An old pensioner, named Donald, lived in the house 
 about Christmas 1827; he was in bad health, and died 
 a short time before his quarter's pension was due that 
 he owed Hare L. 4 ; and a day or two after the pen- 
 sioner's death, Hare proposed that his body should be 
 sold to the doctors, and that the declarant should get a 
 share of the price. Declarant said it would be impossi- 
 ble to do it, because the man would be coming in with 
 the coffin immediately; but after the body was put into 
 the coffin, and the lid was nailed down, Hare started the 
 lid with a chisel, and he and declarant took out the corpse 
 and concealed it in the bed, and put tanner's bark from 
 behind the house into the coffin, and covered it with a 
 sheet, and nailed down the lid of the coffin, and the cof- 
 
332 WEST JfORT MUKDEIIS. 
 
 fin was then carried away for interment. That Hare did 
 not appear to have been concerned in any thing of the 
 kind before, and seemed to be at a loss how to get the 
 body disposed of, and he and Hare went in the evening 
 to the yard of the College, and saw a person like a stu- 
 dent there, and the declarant asked him if there were any 
 of Dr. Monro's men about, because he did not know there 
 was any other way of disposing of a dead body nor did 
 Hare. The young man asked what they wanted with Dr. 
 Monro, and the declarant told him that he had a subject 
 to dispose of, and the young man referred him to Dr. 
 Knox, No. 10, Surgeons' Square, and they went there, 
 and saw young gentlemen whom he now knows to be 
 Jones, Miller, and Ferguson, and told them that they 
 had a subject to dispose of, but they did not ask how 
 they had obtained it ; and they told the declarant and 
 Hare to come back when it was dark, and that they them- 
 selves would find a porter to carry it : Declarant and 
 Hare went home, and put the body into a sack, and car- 
 ried it to Surgeons' Square, and not knowing how to dis- 
 pose of it, laid it down at the door cf the cellar, and went 
 up to the room where the three young men saw them, 
 and told them to bring up the body to the room, which 
 they did, and they took the body out of the sack, and 
 laid it on the dissecting table : That the shirt was on the 
 body, but the young men asked no questions as to that, 
 and the declarant and Hare, at their desire, took off the 
 shirt, and got L.7, 10s. Dr. Knox came in after the 
 shirt was taken off, and looked at the body, and proposed 
 they should get L.7, 10s. and authorised Jones to settle 
 with them ; and he asked no questions as to how the 
 body had been obtained. Hare got L.4, 5s., and the de- 
 clarant got L.3, 5s. Jones, &c. said that they would be 
 
WEST I'OKT MUUJOLKS. 
 
 glad to see them again when they hud any other body to 
 dispose of. 
 
 Early last spring, 1828, a woman from Gilmerton 
 came to Hare's house as a nightly lodger, Hate keeping 
 seven beds for lodgers : That she was a stranger, and 
 she and Hare became merry, and drank together; and 
 next morning she was very ill in consequence of what 
 she had got, and she sent for more drink, and she and 
 Hare drank together, and she became very sick and vo- 
 rnited, and at that time she had not risen from bed, and 
 Hare then said that they would try and smother her in 
 order to dispose of her body to the Doctors : That she 
 was lying on her back in the bed, and quite insensible 
 from drink, and Hare clapped his hand on her mouth and 
 nose, and the declarant laid himself across her body in 
 order to prevent her making any disturbance, and she 
 never stirred, and they took her out of bed and un- 
 dressed her, and put her into a chest, and they men- 
 tioned to Dr. Knox's young men that they had another 
 subject, and Mr. Miller sent a porter to meet them in the 
 evening at the back of the Castle; and declarant and 
 Hare carried the chest till they met the porter, and they 
 accompanied the porter with the chest to Dr. Knox's 
 class-room, and Dr. Knox came in when they were 
 there ; the body was cold and stiff. Dr. Knox approved 
 of its being so fresh, but did not ask any questions. 
 
 The next was a man named Joseph, a miller, who had 
 been lying badly in the house: That he got some drink 
 from declarant arid Hare, but was not tipsy ; he was 
 very ill, lying in bed, and could not speak sometimes, and 
 there was a report on that account that there was fever 
 in the house, which made Hare and his wife uneasy in 
 case it should keep away lodgers, and they (declarant and 
 Hare) agreed that they should suffocate him for the 
 
334 WEST POUT MIJJtDERS. 
 
 same purpose, and the declarant got a small pillow and 
 laid it across Joseph's mouth, and Hare lay across the 
 body to keep down the arms and legs, and he was dis- 
 posed of in the same manner, to the same persons, and 
 the body was carried by the porter who carried the last 
 body. 
 
 In May 1828, as he thinks, an old woman came to the 
 house as a lodger, and she was the worse of drink, and 
 she got more drink of her own accord, arid she became 
 very drunk, and declarant suffocated her ; and Hare was 
 .not in the house at the time ; and she was disposed of in 
 the same manner. 
 
 Soon afterwards an Englishman lodged there for some 
 nights, and was ill of the jaundice: that he was in bed 
 very unwell, and Hare and declarant got above him and 
 held him down, and by holding his mouth suffocated 
 -him, and disposed of him in the same manner. 
 
 Shortly afterwards an old woman named Haldane, 
 (but he knows nothing farther of her) lodged in the 
 house, and she had got some drink at the time, and got 
 more to intoxicate her, and he and Hare suffocated her, 
 and disposed of her in the same manner. 
 
 Soon afterwards a cinder woman came to the house as 
 a lodger, as he believes, and she got drink from Hare and 
 the declarant, and became tipsy, and she was half asleep, 
 and he and Hare suffocated her, and disposed of her 
 in the same manner. 
 
 About midsummer 1828, a woman, with her son, 
 or grandson, about twelve years of age, and who seemed 
 to be weak in his mind, came to the house as lodgers ; 
 the woman got a dram, and when in bed asleep, he and 
 Hare suffocated her ; and the boy was sitting at the fire 
 in the kitchen, and he and Hare took hold of him, and 
 carried him into the room and suffocated him. They 
 
WKST PORT MURDERS. 335 
 
 were put into a herring barrel the same night, and carried 
 to Dr. Knox's rooms. 
 
 That, soon afterwards, the declarant brought a wo- 
 man to the house as a lodger, and after some days she got 
 drunk, and was disposed of in the same manner : That 
 declarant and Hare generally tried if lodgers would 
 drink, and, if they would drink, they were disposed of 
 in that manner. 
 
 The declarant then went for a few days to the house 
 of Helen M'Dougal's father, and when he returned, he 
 learned from Hare that he had disposed of a woman in 
 the declarant's absence, in the same manner, in his own 
 house ; but the declarant does not know the woman's 
 name, or any farther particulars of the case, or whether 
 any other person was present or knew of it. 
 
 That about this time he went to live in Brogans 
 house, and a woman, named Margaret Haldane, daughter 
 of the woman Haldane before mentioned, and whose sister 
 is married to Clark, a tinsmith in the High Street, came 
 into the house, but declarant does not remember for what 
 purpose ; and she got drink, and was disposed of in the 
 same manner : That Hare was not present, and neither 
 Brogan nor his son knew the least thing about that or 
 any other case of the same kind. 
 
 That, in April 1828, he fell in with the girl Paterson 
 and her companion in Constantine Burke's house, and 
 they had breakfast together, and he sent for Hare, and 
 he and Hare disposed of her in the same manner ; and 
 Mr. Ferguson and a tall lad, who seemed to have 
 known the woman by sight, asked where they had got 
 the body ; and the declarant said he had purchased it 
 from an old woman at the back of the Canongate. The 
 body was disposed of five or six hours after the girl was 
 killed, and it was cold but not very stiff, but he does not 
 
33(5 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 recollect of any remarks being made about the body 
 being warm. 
 
 One day in September or October -1828, a washer-wo- 
 man had been washing in the house for some time, and 
 he and Hare suffocated her, and disposed of her in the 
 same manner. 
 
 Soon afterwards, a woman, named M'Dougal, who was 
 a distant relation of Helen M'Dougal's first husband, 
 came to Brogan's house to see M'Dougal ; and after 
 she had been coming and going to the house for a few 
 days, she got drunk, and was served in the same way 
 by the declarant and Hare. 
 
 That " Daft Jamie" was then disposed of in the man- 
 ner mentioned in the indictment, except that Hare was 
 concerned in it. That Hare was lying alongside of 
 Jamie in the bed, and Hare suddenly turned on him, 
 and put his hand on his mouth and nose ; and Jamie, 
 who had got drink, but was not drunk, made a terrible 
 resistance ; and he and Hare fell from the bed together, 
 Hare still keeping hold of Jamie's mouth and nose; and 
 as they lay on the floor together, declarant lay across 
 Jamie to prevent him from resisting, and they held him 
 in that state till he was dead, and he was disposed of in 
 the same manner ; and Hare took a brass snuff-box and 
 a spoon from Jamie's pocket, and kept the box to him- 
 self, and never gave it to the declarant, but he gave him 
 the spoon. 
 
 And the last was the old woman Docherty, for whose 
 murder he has been convicted. That she was not put 
 to death in the manner deponed to by Hare on the trial. 
 That during the scuffle between him and Hare, in the 
 course of which he was nearly strangled by Hare, Doch- 
 erty had crept among the straw, and after the scuffle was 
 over they had some drink, and after that they went both 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. S37 
 
 forward to where the woman was lying sleeping, and 
 Hare went forward first and seized her by the mouth and 
 nose, as on former occasions ; and at the same time the 
 declarant lay across her, and she had no opportunity 
 of making any noise ; and before she was dead, one 
 or other .of them, he does not recollect which, took hold 
 of her by the throat. That while he and Hare were 
 struggling, which was a real scuffle, M'Dougal opened 
 the door of the apartment, and went into the inner pas- 
 'sage and knocked at the door, and called out police 
 and murder, but soon came back; and at same time 
 Hare's wife called out, never to mind, because the declar- 
 ant and Hare would not hurt one another. That when- 
 ever he and Hare rose and went towards the straw where 
 Docherty was lying, M'Dougal and Hare's wife, who, he 
 thinks, were lying in bed at the time, or, perhaps, were at 
 the fire, immediately rose and left the house, but did not 
 make any noise, so far as he heard, and he was surprised 
 at their going out at that time, because he did not see 
 how they could have any suspicion of what they (the de- 
 clarant and Hare) intended doing. That he cannot say 
 whether he and Hare would have killed Docherty or not, 
 if the women had remained, because they were so deter- 
 mined to kill the woman, the drink being in their head ; 
 and he has no knowledge or suspicion of Docherty's 
 body having been offered to any person besides Dr. Knox, 
 and he does not suspect that Paterson would offer the body 
 to any other person than Dr. Knox. 
 
 Declares, That suffocation was not suggested to them 
 by any person as a mode of killing, but occurred to Hare 
 on the first occasion before mentioned, and was continued 
 afterwards because it was effectual, and showed no marks; 
 and when they lay across the body at the same time, that 
 was not suggested to them by any person, for they never 
 
 15. 2 x 
 
338 WEST POUT MUIt I) KllS. 
 
 spoke to any person on such a subject; and it was not 
 done for the purpose of preventing the person from breath- 
 ing, but was only done for the purpose of keeping down 
 the person's arms and thighs, to prevent the person strug- 
 gling. 
 
 Declares, That with the exception of the body of Doch- 
 erty, they never took the person by the throat, and they 
 never leapt upon them ; and declares that there were no 
 marks of violence on any of the subjects, and they were 
 sufficiently cold to prevent any suspicion on the part of 
 the Doctors ; and, at all events, they might be cold and 
 stiff enough before the box was opened up, and he and 
 Hare always told some story of their having purchased 
 the subjects from some relation or other person who had 
 the means of disposing of them, about different parts of the 
 town, and the statements which they made were such as 
 to prevent the Doctors having any suspicions ; and no 
 suspicions were expressed by Dr. Knox or any of his as- 
 sistants, and no questions asked tending to show that they 
 had suspicion. 
 
 Declares, That Helen M'Dougal and Hare's wife were 
 no way concerned in any of the murders, and neither of 
 them knew of any thing of the kind being intended, even 
 in the case of Docherty ; and although these two women 
 may latterly have had some suspicion in their own minds 
 that the declarant and Hare were concerned in lifting dead 
 bodies, he does not think they could have any suspicion 
 that he and Hare were, concerned in committing murders. 
 
 Declares, That none of the subjects which they had 
 procured, as before-mentioned, were offered to any other 
 person than Dr. Knox's assistants, and he and Hare had 
 very little communication with Dr. Knox himself; and 
 declares, that he has not the smallest suspicion of any other 
 person in this, or in any other country, except Hare and 
 
WEST 1'OUT MITUDKKS. 339 
 
 himself, being concerned in killing persons and offering 
 their bodies for dissection ; and he never knew or heard of 
 such a thing having been done before. 
 
 WM. BURKE. 
 
 G. TAIT. 
 
 Present, Mr. Geo. Tait, Sheriff-Substitute; Mr. Archi- 
 bald Scott, Procurator-Fiscal ; Mr. Richard J. Moxey, 
 Assistant- Sheriff-Clerk ; the Rev. Wm. Reid, Roman 
 Catholic Priest. 
 
 Edinburgh, 22d Jan. 1829. 
 
 Compeared William Burke, at present under sentence 
 of death in the Gaol of Edinburgh, and his declaration, of 
 date the 3d current, being read over to him, he adheres 
 thereto. Declares farther, that he does not know the names 
 and descriptions of any of the persons who were destroyed 
 except as mentioned in his former declaration. Declares, 
 that he never was concerned in any other act of the same 
 kind, nor made any attempt or preparation to commit such, 
 and all reports of a contrary tendency, some of which he 
 has heard, are groundless. And he does not know of Hare 
 being concerned in any such, except as mentioned in his 
 former declaration ; and he does not know of any persons 
 being murdered for the purpose of dissection by any other 
 persons than himself and Hare, and if any persons have 
 disappeared any where in Scotland, England, or Ireland, 
 he knows nothing whatever about it, and never heard of 
 such a thing till he was apprehended. Declares, that he 
 never had any instruments in his house except a common 
 table knife, or a knife used by him in his trade as a shoe- 
 maker, or a small pocket knife, and he never used any of 
 those instruments, or attempted to do so, on any of the 
 
340 WEST PORT MUKDERS. 
 
 persons who were destroyed. Declares, that neither he, 
 nor Hare, so far as he knows, ever were concerned in sup- 
 plying any subjects for dissection except those before men- 
 tioned ; and, in particular, never did so by raising dead 
 bodies from the grave. Declares, that they never allowed 
 Dr. Knox, or any of his assistants, to know exactly where 
 their houses were, but Paterson, Dr. Knox's porter or door- 
 keeper, knew. And this he declares to be truth. 
 
 WM. BURKE. 
 
 G. TAIT. 
 
 The following is another Confession, as dictated and care- 
 fully revised by WILLIAM BURKE. The words printed 
 in Italics were added in the Manuscript by himself. 
 
 ABIGAIL SIMPSON was murdered on the 12th February 
 1828, on the forenoon of the day. She resided in Gilmer- 
 ton, near Edinburgh ; has a daughter living there. She 
 used to sell salt and camstone. She was decoyed in by- 
 Hare and his wife on the afternoon of the llth February, 
 and he gave her some whisky to drink. She had one shil- 
 ling and sixpence, and a can of kitchen-fee. Hare's wife 
 gave her one shilling and sixpence for it ; she drank it 
 all with them. She then said she had a daughter. Hare 
 said he was a single man, and would marry her, and get 
 all the money amongst them. They then proposed to her 
 to stay all night, which she did, as she was so drunk she 
 could not go home ; and in the morning was vomiting. 
 They then gave her some porter and whisky, and made 
 her so drunk that she fell asleep on the bed. Hare then 
 laid hold of her mouth and nose, and prevented her from 
 
T J'OftT AltlliDKllS. 3il 
 
 breathing. Burke held her hands and feet till she was 
 dead. She made very little resistance ; and when it was 
 convenient, they carried her to Dr. Knox's dissecting 
 rooms in Surgeons' Square, and got ten pounds for her. 
 She had on a drab mantle, a white grounded cotton shawl 
 arid small blue spots on it. Hare took all her clothes and 
 went out with them ; said he was going to put them into 
 the Canal. She said she was a pensioner of Sir John Hay's. 
 (Perhaps this should be Sir John Hope.) 
 
 The next was an Englishman, a native of Cheshire, and 
 a lodger of Hare's. They murdered him in the same man- 
 ner as the other. He was ill with the jaundice at the same 
 time. He was very tall ; had black hair, brown whiskers 
 mixed with grey hairs. He used to sell spunks in Edin- 
 burgh ; was about forty years of age. Did not know his 
 name. Sold to Dr. Knoxfor ten pounds. 
 
 The next was an old woman who lodged with Hare for 
 one night, but does not know her name. She was mur- 
 dered in the same manner as above; sold to Dr. Knox 
 for L.lO. The old woman was decoyed into the house by 
 Mrs. Hare in the forenoon, from the street, when Hare was 
 working at the boats at the canal. She gave her whisky 
 and put her to bed three times. At last she was so drunk 
 that she fell asleep; and when Hare came home to hisdin-* 
 ner, he put part of the bed-tick on her mouth and nose, 
 and when he came home at night she was dead. Burke at 
 this time was mending shoes ; and Hare and Burke took 
 the clothes off her, and put her body into a tea-box. 
 Took her to Knox's that night. 
 
 The next was Margaret Paterson who was murdered in 
 Burke's brother's house in the Canongate, in the month of 
 April last, by Burke and Hare in the forenoon. She was 
 put into a tea-box, and carried to Dr. Knox's dissecting 
 rooms in the afternoon of the same day and got L.S for 
 
342 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 her body. She had twopence halfpenny, which she held 
 fast in her hand. Declares that the girl Paterson was only 
 four hours dead till she was in Knox's dissecting-room ; but 
 she was not dissected at that time ; for she was three 
 months in whisky before she was dissected. She was warm 
 when Burke cut the hair off her head ; and Knox brought 
 a Mr. a painter to look at her, she was so hand- 
 some a figure, and well-shaped in body and limbs. One 
 of the students said she was like a girl he had seen in the 
 Canongate as one pea is like to another. They desired 
 Burke to cut off her hair ; one of the students gave a pair 
 of scissars for that purpose. 
 
 In June last, an old woman and a dumb boy, her grand- 
 son, from Glasgow, came to Hare's, and were both mur- 
 dered at the dead hour of night when the woman was in 
 bed. Burke and Hare murdered her the same way as 
 they did the others. They took off the bed-clothes and 
 tick, stripped off her clothes, and laid her on the bottom 
 of the bed, and then put on the bed-tick and bed-clothes 
 on the top of her ; and they then came and took the boy 
 in their arms and carried him ben to the room, and mur- 
 dered him in the same manner, and laid him alongside of 
 his grandmother. They lay for the space of an hour ; they 
 then put them into a herring barrel. The barrel was per- 
 fectly dry ; there was no brine in it. They carried them 
 to the stable till next day ; they put the barrel into Hare's 
 cart, and Hare's horse was yoked in it ; but the horse 
 would not drag the cart one foot past the Meal Market, 
 and they got a porter with a hurley and put the barrel on 
 it. Hare and the porter went to Surgeons' Square with 
 it. Burke went before them, as he was afraid something 
 would happen, as the horse would not draw them. When 
 they came to Dr. Knox's dissecting-rooms, Burke carried 
 
 the barrel in his arms. The students and them had hard 
 
 6 
 
WEST POET MURDERS. 343 
 
 work to get them out, being so stiff' and cold. They re- 
 ceived L.16 for them both. Hare was taken in by the 
 horse he bought that refused drawing the corpse to Sur- 
 geons' Square, and they shot it in the tan-yard. He had 
 two large holes in his shoulder stuffed with cotton, and 
 covered over with a piece of another horse's skin to prevent 
 them being discovered. 
 
 Joseph, the miller by trade, and a lodger of Hare's. He 
 had once been possessed of a good deal of money. He was 
 connected by marriage with some of the Carron Company. 
 Burke and Hare murdered him by pressing a pillow on his 
 mouth and nose till he was dead. He was then carried 
 to Dr. Knox's in Surgeons' Square. They got L.10 for 
 him. 
 
 Burke and Helen M'Dougal were on a visit seeing their 
 friends near Falkirk. This was at the time a procession 
 was made round a stone in that neighbourhood ; thinks it 
 was the anniversary of the battle of Bannockburn. When 
 he was awav, Harefellin with a woman drunk in the street 
 at the West Port. He took her into his house and mur- 
 dered her himself, and sold her to Dr. Knox's assistants for 
 L.8. When Burke went away he knew Hare was in want 
 of money ; his things were all in pawn ; but when he came 
 back, found him have plenty of money. Burke asked him 
 if he had been doing any business ? he said he had been 
 doing nothing. Burke did not believe him, and went to 
 Dr. Knox, who told him that Hare had brought a subject. 
 Hare then confessed what he had done. 
 
 A cinder-gatherer ; Burke thinks her name was Effy. She 
 was in the habit of selling small pieces of leather to him, 
 as he was a cobbler, she gathered about the coach- works. 
 He took her into Hare's stable, and gave her whisky to 
 drink till she was drunk ; she then lay down among some 
 straw and fell asleep. They then laid a cloth over her. 
 
344 WEST POUT MUUDKU.S. 
 
 Burke and Hare murdered her as they did the others. She" 
 was then carried to Dr. Knox's, Surgeons' Square, and 
 sold for L.10. 
 
 Andrew Williamson, a policeman, and his neighbour, 
 were dragging a drunk woman to the West Port Watch- 
 house. They found her sitting on a stair. Burke said, 
 " Let the woman go to her lodgings."" They said they 
 did not know where she lodged. Burke then said he would 
 take her to lodgings. They then gave her to his charge. 
 He then took her to Hare's house. Burke and Hare mur- 
 dered her that night the same way as they did the others. 
 They carried her to Dr. Knox's, in Surgeons 1 Square, and 
 got L.10. 
 
 Burke being asked, did the policemen know him when 
 they gave him this drunk woman into his charge ? He 
 said he had a good character with the police; or if they 
 had known that there were four murderers living in one 
 house they would have visited them oftener. 
 
 James Wilson, commonly culled Daft Jarnie. Hare's 
 wife brought him in from the street into her house. 
 Burke was at the time getting a dram in Ilymer's shop. 
 He saw her take Jamie off the street, bare-headed and 
 bare-footed. After she got him into her house, and left 
 him with Hare, she came to Ilymer's shop for a penny- 
 worth of butter, and Burke was standing at the counter. 
 She asked him for a dram ; and in drinking it she stamped 
 him on the foot. He knew immediately what she wanted 
 him for, and he then went after her. When in the 
 house, she said, you have come too late, for the drink is 
 all done; and Jamie had the cup in his hand. He had 
 never seen him before to his knowledge. They then 
 proposed to send for another half mutchkin, which they 
 did, and urged him to drink ; she took a little with them. 
 They then invited him ben to the little room, and ad- 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 345 
 
 vised him to sit clown upon the bed. Hare's wife then 
 went out, and locked the outer door, and put the key 
 below the door. There were none in the room but them- 
 selves three. Jamie sat down upon the bed. He then 
 lay down upon the bed, and Hare lay down at his back, 
 his head raised up and resting upon his left hand. Burke 
 was standing at the foreside of the bed. When they 
 had lain there for some time, Hare threw his body on 
 the top of Jamie, pressed his hand on his mouth, and 
 held his nose with the other. Hare and him fell off 
 the bed and struggled. Burke then held his hands and 
 feet. They never quitted their grip till he was dead. 
 He never got up nor cried any. When he was dead, 
 Hare felt his pockets, and took out a brass snuff-box 
 and a copper snuff-spoon. He gave the spoon to 
 Burke, and kept the box to himself. Sometime after, 
 he said he threw the box away in the tan-yard ; and the 
 brass -box that was libelled against Burke in the Sheriff's 
 office was Burke's own box. It was after breakfast Jamie 
 was enticed in, and he was murdered by twelve o'clock 
 in the day. Burke declares, that Mrs. Hare led poor 
 Jamie in as a dumb lamb to the slaughter, and as a 
 sheep to the shearers ; and he was always very anxious 
 making inquiries for his mother, and was told she would 
 be there immediately. He does not think he drank 
 above one glass of whisky all the time. He was then 
 put into a chest that Hare kept clothes into; and 
 they carried him to Dr. Knox's in Surgeons' Square 
 that afternoon, and got L.10 for him. Burke gave Daft 
 Jamie's clothes to his brother's children, they were al- 
 most naked ; and when he untied the bundle they were 
 like to quarrel about them. The clothes of the other 
 murdered persons were generally destroyed, to prevent 
 detection. 
 
 15. 2 Y 
 
WEST PORT MUHDKKS. 
 
 Ann M'Dougal, a cousin of Helen M l Dougal's former 
 husband. She was a young woman, and married, and had 
 come on a visit to see them. Hare and Burke gave her 
 whisky till she was drunk, and when in bed and asleep, 
 Burke told Hare that he would have most to do with her, 
 as she beino 1 a distant friend he did not like to be^in first 
 
 O c5 
 
 on her. Hare murdered her by stopping her breath, and 
 Burke assisted him the same way as the others. One 
 of Dr. Knox's assistants, Paterscn> gave them a fine 
 trunk to put her into. It was in the afternoon when 
 she was done. It was in John Broggan's house ; and 
 when Broggan came home from his work he saw the 
 trunk, and made inquiries about it, as he knew they had 
 no trunks there. Burke then gave him two or three drams, 
 as there was always plenty of whisky going at these times, 
 to make him quiet. Hare and Burke then gave him L.I, 
 10s. each, as he was back in his rent, to pay for it, and 
 he left Edinburgh a few days after. They then carried 
 her to Surgeons' Square as soon as Broggan went out of 
 the house, and got L.10 for her. Hare was cautioner for 
 Broggan's rent, being L.3, and Hare and Burke gave him 
 that sum. Broggan went off in a few days,, and the 
 rent is not paid yet.* They gave him the money that he 
 might not come against them for the murder of Ann 
 M'Dougal, that he saw in the trunk, that was murdered 
 in his house. Hare thought that the rent would fall upon 
 him, and if he could get Burke to pay the half of it, it 
 would be so much the better; and proposed this to Burke, 
 and he agreed to it, as they were glad to get him out of 
 
 * Here, in justice to the proprietor of Broggan's house, we may 
 eorrect the mistake committed in page 200. That gentleman never 
 received the rent, and never applied for it. It is needless to state, 
 that the inadvertent error conveyed no imputation on hina* 
 
WEST POUT MUftDURS. 347 
 
 the way. Broggan's wife is a cousin of Burke's. They 
 thought he went to Glasgow, but are not sure. 
 
 Mrs. Haldane, a stout old woman, who had a daughter 
 transported last summer from the Gallon Jail for four- 
 teen years, and has another daughter married to , 
 
 in the High Street She was a lodger of Hare's. She 
 went into Hare's stable, the door was left open, and she 
 being drunk, and falling asleep among some straw, 
 Hare and Burke murdered her in the same way as they 
 did the others, and kept the body all night in the stable, 
 and took her to Dr. Knox's rrext day. She had but one 
 tooth in her mouth, and that was a very large one in 
 front. 
 
 A young woman, a daughter of Mrs. Haldane, of 
 the name of Peggy Haldane, was drunk, and sleeping in 
 Broggan's house, was murdered by.JBurke,in the forenoon, 
 himself. Hare had no hand in it. She was. taken to 
 Dr. Knox's in the afternoon in a tea box, and L.8 got 
 for her. She was so drunk at the time, that he thinks 
 she was not sensible of her death, as she made no resist- 
 ance whatever. She and her mother were both lodg- 
 ers of Hare's, and they were both of idle habits, and 
 much given to drinking. This was the only murder 
 that Burke committed by himself, but what Hare was 
 connected with. She was laid with her face down- 
 wards, and he pressed her down, and she was soon 
 suffocated. 
 
 There was a Mrs. Hostler washing in John Broggan's, 
 and she came back next day to. finish up the clothes, and 
 when .done, Hare and Burke gave her some whisky 
 to drink, which made her .druak. This was in the day 
 time. She then went to bed. Mrs. Broggrm was out at 
 the time. Hare and Burke murdered her the same way 
 
848 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 they did the others, and put her in a box, and set her in 
 the coal-house in the passage, and carried her off to Dr. 
 Knox's in the afternoon of the same day, and got L.8 for 
 her. Broggan's wife was out of the house at the time the 
 murder was committed. Mrs. Hostler had ninepence 
 halfpenny in her hand, which they could scarcely get out 
 of it after she was dead, so firmly was it grasped. 
 
 The woman Campbell or Docherty was murdered on 
 the 31st October last, and she was the last one. Burke 
 declares, that Hare perjured himself on his trial, when 
 giving his evidence against him, as the woman Camp- 
 bell or Docherty lay down among some straw at the bed- 
 side, and Hare laid hold of her mouth and nose, and 
 pressed her throat, and Burke assisted him in it, till she 
 was dead. Hare was not sitting on a chair at the time, 
 as he said in the Court. There were seven shillings in 
 the woman's pocket, which were divided between Hare 
 and Burke. 
 
 That was the whole of them, sixteen in whole ; nine 
 were murdered in Harems house, and four in John Brog- 
 gan's ; two in Hare's stable, and one in Burke's bro- 
 ther's house in the Canongate. Burke declares, that five 
 of them were murdered in Hare's room that has the 
 iron bolt in the inside of it. Burke did not know the 
 days nor the months the different murders were commit- 
 ted, nor all their names. They were generally in a state 
 of intoxication at those times, and paid little attention 
 to them ; but they were all from the 1 2th February till 
 1st November 1828: but he thinks Dr. Knox will know 
 by the dates of paying him the money for them. He 
 never was concerned with any other person but Hare in 
 those matters, and was never a resurrection-man, and 
 never dealt in dead bodies but what he murdered. He 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 849 
 
 was urged by Hare's wife to murder Helen M'Dougalj 
 the woman he lived with. The plan was, that he was to 
 go to the country for a few weeks, and then write to 
 Hare that she had died and was buried, and he was to 
 tell this to deceive the neighbours ; but he would not 
 agree to it. The reason was, they could not trust to 
 her, as she was a Scotch woman. Helen M'Dougal and 
 Hare's wife were not present when those murders were 
 committed ; they might have a suspicion of what was 
 doing, but did not see them done. Hare was always 
 the most anxious about them, and could sleep well at 
 night after committing a murder ; but Burke repented 
 often of the crime, and could not sleep without a bottle 
 of whisky by his bed-side and a twopenny candle to burn 
 all night beside him ; when he awoke he would take a 
 draught of the bottle sometimes half a bottle at a 
 draught and that would make him sleep. They had 
 a great many pointed out for murder, but were disap- 
 pointed of them by some means or other; they were al- 
 ways in a drunken state when they committed those mur- 
 ders, and when they got the money for them while it 
 lasted. When done, they would pawn their clothes 
 and would take them out as soon as they got a subject. 
 When they first began this murdering system, they al-- 
 ways took them to Knox's after dark; but being so suc- 
 cessful, they went in the day-time, and grew more bold. 
 When they carried the girl Paterson to Knox's, there 
 were a great many boys in the High School Yards, who 
 followed Burke and the man that carried her, crying, 
 " They are carrying a corpse; 11 but they got her safe 
 delivered. They often said to one another that no per- 
 son could find them out, no one being present at the 
 murders but themselves two; and that they might be 
 
350 
 
 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 as well hanged for a sheep as a lamb. They made it 
 their business to look out for persons to decoy into 
 their houses to murder them. Burke declares, when 
 they kept the mouth and nose shut a very few minutes, 
 they could make no resistance, but would convulse and 
 make a rumbling noise in their bellies for some time; 
 after they ceased crying and making resistance, they 
 left them to die of themselves; but their bodies would 
 often move afterwards, and for some time they would 
 have long breathings before life went away. Burke de- 
 clares, that it was God's providence that put a stop to 
 their murdering career, or he does not know how far 
 they might have gone with it, even to attack people 
 on the streets, as they were so successful, and always 
 met with a ready market; that when they delivered a 
 body they were always told to get more. Hare was al- 
 ways with him when he went with a subject, and also 
 when he got the money. Burke declares, that Hare and 
 him had a plan made up, that Burke and a man were to 
 go to Glasgow or Ireland, and try the same there, and 
 to forward them to Hare, and he was to give them to 
 Dr. Knox. Hare's wife always got L.I of Burke's share, 
 for the use of the house, of all that were murdered in 
 their house ; for if the price received was L.10, Hare got 
 L.6 and Burke got only L.4 ; but Burke did not give 
 her the L.I for Daft Jamie, for which Hare's wife would 
 not speak to him for three weeks. They could get 
 nothing done during the harvest-time, and also after 
 harvest, as Hare's house was so full of lodgers. la- .Hare's 
 house were eight beds for lodgers ; they paid 3d. each ; 
 and two, and sometimes three, slept in a bed ; and dur- 
 ing harvest they gave up their own bed when throng. 
 Burke declares they went under the name of resurrection- 
 
 7 
 
WEST FORT MURDERS. o 
 
 men in the West Port, where they lived, but not 
 murderers. When they wanted money, they would say 
 they would go and look for a shot ; that was the name 
 they gave them when they wanted to murder, any per- 
 son. They entered into a contract with Dr. Knox and 
 his assistants that they were to get L.10 in winter and 
 L.8 in summer for as many subjects as they could bring 
 to them. 
 
 Old Donald, a pensioner, who lodged in Hare's house, 
 and died of a dropsy, was the first subject they sold. 
 After he was put into the coffin and the lid put on, Hare 
 unscrewed the nails, and Burke lifted the body out. Hare 
 filled the coffin with bark from the tan-yard, and put a 
 sheet over the bark, and it was buried in the West Church 
 Yard. The coffin was furnished by the parish. Hare 
 and Burke took him to the College first ; they saw a man 
 there, and asked for Dr. Monro or any of his men ; the 
 man asked what they wanted, or had they a subject ; 
 they said they had. He then ordered them to call at 
 No. 10, Dr. Knox's, in Surgeons' Square, and he would 
 take it from them, which they did They got L.7, 10s. for 
 him. That was the only subject they sold that they did 
 not murder, and getting that high price made them try 
 the murdering for subjects. 
 
 Burke is thirty-six years of age, was born in the parish 
 of Orrey, county Tyrone ; served seven years in the 
 army, most of that time as an officer's servant in the 
 Donegal militia; he was married at Ballinha, in the 
 county of Mayo, when in the army, but left his wife and 
 two children in Ireland. She would not come to Scot- 
 land with him. He has often wrote to her, but got no 
 answer ; he came to Scotland to work at the Union 
 Canal, and wrought there while it lasted ; he resided for 
 
WEST PORT MUltDERS. 
 
 about two years in Peebles, and worked as a labourer. 
 He worked as a weaver for 18 months, and as a baker 
 for five months ; he teamed to mend shoes, as a cobbler, 
 with a man he lodged with in Leith ; and he has lived 
 with Helen M'Dougal about 10 years, until he and she 
 were confined in the Calton Jail, on the charge of mur- 
 dering the woman of the name of Docherty, or Camp- 
 bell, and both were tried before the High Court of 
 Justiciary in December last. Helen M'DougaPs charge 
 was not proven, and Burke found guilty, and sentenced 
 to suffer death on the 28th January. 
 
 Declares, that Hare's servant girl could give informa- 
 tion respecting the murders done in Hare's house, if she 
 likes. She came to him at Whitsunday last, went to 
 harvest, and returned back to him when the harvest was 
 over. She remained until he was confined along with 
 his wife in the Calton Jail. She then sold twenty-one 
 of his swine for L.3, and absconded. She was gathering 
 potatoes in a field that day Daft Jamie was murdered ; 
 she saw his clothes in the house when she came home 
 at night. Her name is Elizabeth M'Guier or Mair. 
 Their wives saw that people came into their houses at 
 night, and went to bed as lodgers, but did not see them 
 in the morning, nor did they make any inquiries after 
 them. They certainly knew what became of them, al- 
 though Burke and Hare pretended to the contrary. 
 Hare's wife often helped Burke and Hare to pack the 
 murdered bodies into the boxes. Helen M'Dougal never 
 did nor saw them done. Burke never durst let her know; 
 he used to smuggle and drink, and get better victuals 
 unknown to her ; he told her he bought dead bodies and 
 sold them to doctors, and that was the way they got the 
 name of resurrection- men. 
 
WEST POUT MUKDERS. 353 
 
 Enough has been said of the two principal actors in the 
 horrid proceedings. The memory of Burke may be left to 
 that infamy which his unparalleled atrocities merits, when 
 his deeds are recollected, and Hare may be allowed to seek 
 some corner of the world where he may skulk unknown 
 until his miserable existence be terminated. It remains for 
 us only to notice briefly the two subordinate agents who, by 
 their connection with the principal culprits, and participation 
 in their crimes, have gained such an unenviable degree of 
 notoriety. Of these, the first is 
 
 HELEN M'DOUGAL. 
 
 She is a native of the small village of Maddiston, in the 
 parish of Muiravonside, and county of Stirling, where she 
 resided in her early life. Her maiden name was DougaL 
 Her character does not appear to have been good at any time, 
 and her conduct speedily dissipated any doubts that might; 
 have existed upon the subject. At an early period of her 
 life she formed an unlawful connection with a man who 
 resided in the same village, to whom she bore a child dur- 
 ing the lifetime of his wife. After her death, their inter- 
 course continued ; and after a short interval, they cohabited 
 publicly together, she bearing his name of M'Dougal, and 
 passing for his wife. At this period they came to reside in 
 JLeith, where M'Dougal followed his occupation of a sawer, 
 until he took the typhus fever at the time that that disease 
 first raged so fearfully in Edinburgh. He became a patient 
 in the hospital opened in Queensberry-house, where he died. 
 His partner, upon his decease, again returned to her native 
 village, and father's house. Shortly after her return she met 
 with Burke, who was a labourer on the Canal, when their 
 adulterous intercourse commenced, and in about a year from 
 
 1-5. 2 z 
 
354 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 their first acquaintance, they agreed to live together as man 
 and wife. From that time up to his apprehension, she fol- 
 lowed his fortunes, and adhered to him in all his wanderings. 
 Wherever they resided, her character seems to have been 
 the same. In Edinburgh, Leith, Peebles, and Pennycuik, 
 she was distinguished for her drunken dissolute habits, and 
 was universally disliked, and considered unworthy even of 
 Burke. Notwithstanding their many quarrels, in which she 
 was frequently the aggressor, she seems to have cherished an 
 ardent effection towards him, and at the termination of his 
 career, to have felt sincerely upon the subject of his unhappy 
 fate. Her own condition, indeed, is not less pitiable, although 
 a Jury has been found who could return a verdict of " not 
 proven" that she was a participator in the murder for which 
 he has suffered death, notwithstanding her being present 
 and aiding him in the stratagems which preceded, and the 
 sale of the murdered body, she is guilty in the eyes of God 
 and man, and is doomed to wander on the face of the earth 
 an outcast from human charities, and an opprobium to human 
 nature. It would almost have been charity to have convicted 
 her along with Burke. Her wretched life is precariously 
 preserved under miseries more horrible than hanging would 
 have been. It was predicted upon her enlargement, that she 
 would realize the fable of the wandering jew, and it seems to 
 have been hitherto fulfilled to the letter. Hunted about 
 from place to place, without being able to find a temporary 
 refuge from her tormentors, she has discovered no person who 
 would maintain social intercourse with her ; but, on the con- 
 trary, her detection was certainly followed by every species 
 of ill usage and annoyance. We have already adverted 
 to the reception she met with upon her visiting her old 
 haunts in the West Port, and it has only been a sample of 
 what awaited her wherever she went. The next place that 
 she essayed was her father's residence in the village of Red- 
 
1LAIIRID orHAJBJS 
 
 as she appeared in ilu witness I>UA 
 t:il.rii ill Court . 
 
 il bv TJiorruif Tri-/<niit .fun .'"Edinburgh . 
 
WEST POUT MUltDEItS. 355 
 
 ding in Stirlingshire; here she experienced a similar reception, 
 and was obliged to save herself by a precipitate retreat. She 
 has since made various attempts to discover a resting place 
 with a like effect. She has hitherto been recognised wherever 
 she went, and the summary vengeance of the mob exercised 
 upon her. By the latest accounts we find that she has ap- 
 peared at Newcastle, where again she has been rescued from 
 an infuriated populace by the police officers, who afforded her 
 temporary protection and shelter in the prison. Their sym- 
 pathy, however, does not appear to extend beyond this, and 
 she was as speedily as convenient escorted by constables to the 
 " blue stone," the boundary of the counties of Northumberland 
 and Durham, and there transferred to the safe conduct of the 
 functionaries of the latter county, for what purpose further 
 than to get rid of the " accursed thing" does not appear. 
 
 MARGARET LAIRD OR HARE. 
 
 This other virago seems to have been accounted if possible 
 still more depraved than M'Dougal, and to have possessed all 
 the essentials of that disgusting character, a brutal and aban- 
 doned woman. She is a native of Ireland and accompanied 
 her first husband Log to this country. Log bore the charac- 
 ter of a decent hard-working man, while she was chiefly re- 
 markable for her masculine and bold habits. Log was a sort 
 of undertaker on the Union Canal, engaging with the con- 
 tractor to cut small pieces upon the line, and for some time 
 worked at it with a detachment of his countrymen in the 
 neighbourhood of Winchburgh, where his wife worked along 
 with them in the capacity of a labourer, with a man's coat 
 on, wheeling a barrowfull of rubbish as stoutly as any of her 
 fellow- workmen. At that time they inhabited a temporary 
 but on the banks of the canal, and whatever her conduct after- 
 
350 
 
 WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 wards proved she then exhibited no want of industry. At the 
 conclusion of the work Log settled in Edinburgh and still 
 industriously pursued his course, selling articles about the 
 street and keeping a lodging-house for vagrants. Upon his 
 death this property devolved upon his widow, and she conduct- 
 ed the establishment. She cohabited with one of the lodgers 
 who is described to have been a young and well-looking man, 
 but he quickly broke up their intercourse and left her, when 
 her connection with Hare commenced. 
 
 In an eastern tale, we read of a woman forsaking her 
 husband's society to keep company with a " goult" with 
 whom she feasted in a burying-ground upon dead bodies. 
 Mrs. Hare appears to have had similar propensities. Her 
 brutal husband, in savageness of disposition, as well as 
 appearance, furnishes an apt illustration of the goule; 
 while the horrible means of livelihood he adopted, is not a 
 bad prototype of the revolting banquet of the Oriental 
 monsters. Her whole conduct now became utterly de- 
 bauched ; she was continually in a state of intoxication, 
 and presented at all times the slatternly ferocious aspect of 
 a confirmed and regardless drunkard. Hare and she are 
 surmised to have used foul means in disposing of a child 
 to which she gave birth about the commencement of their 
 intercourse ; perhaps Irer subsequent bad odour may have 
 contributed to this opinion. It is certain, however, that 
 the child, if not murdered, perished through want of pro- 
 per care and attention. The body was put into a box, and 
 buried in the waste ground at the bottom of Tanner's close, 
 It is surprising that the wretched infant who still survives 
 all the hard usage it has experienced, did not fall a victim 
 in the same way. Her slovenly and careless conduct ex- 
 tended even to this youngest of her offspring, and she is 
 described as carrying it about more like a cat or a dog 
 than an infant. Even after her connection with Hare, 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 357 
 
 she usually went by her former name of Log, to which 
 was appended the familiar title of " Lucky^ " and the na- 
 ture of her affinity to Hare was better indicated by their 
 indulging in the connubial luxuries of scolding and fight- 
 ing, than by any manifestations of affection or regard. 
 
 During her confinement in the jail, she kept herself 
 generally retired, remaining principally in the day-room 
 of the ward tending her sick baby, and conducted herself 
 in a peaceable manner. 
 
 She was recognised by the populace almost immediately 
 upon her release, and a crowd speedily collected round 
 her. It was a wet, snowy day, and she was unmercifully 
 pelted with snow-balls, mud, and stones, and had some 
 commiseration not been felt for the child which she carried, 
 she would in all probability have fallen a victim to the 
 violence of the mob. She was rescued by the police, and 
 conveyed to the Police-office, where she found shelter and 
 protection. In a few days, she wandered away to Glas- 
 gow, where the following account, abridged from the Glas- 
 gow Chronicle, will show that her treatment was no 
 better : 
 
 The celebrated Mrs. Hare was this afternoon rescued from 
 the hands of an infuriated populace by the Calton Police, 
 and, for protection, confined in one of the cells. She had left 
 Edinburgh Gaol a fortnight ago, with an infant child, and 
 has since been wandering about the country. She stated that 
 she had lodged in this neighbourhood four nights, with her 
 child, and " her bit duds, " without those with whom she 
 lodged knowing who she was, and she was in hopes of quitting 
 this vicinity without detection. For this purpose she remained 
 in her lodging all day, but occasionally, early in the morn- 
 ing, or at twilight, she ventured the length of the Broomie- 
 law, in hopes of being able to procure an immediate passage 
 to Ireland, but had hitherto been disappointed. She had gone 
 
#58 WEST POUT MURDERS. 
 
 out this morning with the same object, and when returning, 
 a woman who, she says, was drunk, recognised her in Clyde 
 Street, and repeatedly shouted " Hare's wife Burke her !" 
 and threw a large stone at her. A crowd soon gathered, 
 who heaped every indignity upon her, and with her child she 
 was pursued into Calton, where she was experiencing very 
 rough treatment, when she was rescued by the police. She 
 says she wrought sixteen years ago in Tureen Street power- 
 loom factory, till she was married to her first husband. About 
 three years ago she unfortunately fell in with Hare, and then 
 her misery commenced. She married him, and has since 
 had three children one of whom is dead, and another is left 
 behind in Edinburgh. She describes Hare as devoted to the 
 " devil and laziness." She admitted it was needless to deny 
 she knew " something 11 of the murders, and had a suspicion 
 of what was going on, but not to the full extent. 
 
 Hare was often drunk their house was a complete hell of 
 iniquity, and she was often on the point of exposing his 
 hidden conduct but was afraid to do so. She left his house 
 three times on account of his brutal usage. She says she 
 would much rather be killed outright than suffer what she 
 has done. She did not require to beg, having had a little 
 money, but she had now scarcely as much as would pay her 
 passage to Ireland. 
 
 She was quite ignorant of what had become of her husband 
 since she left Edinburgh. She asked if he had been subse- 
 quently tried, and expressed the utmost indifference respect- 
 ing his fate. She said she was determined never more to 
 associate with him, or have any thing to do with him. 
 
 It was truly melancholy to see her stretched on the guard- 
 bed of the cell, in tears, with her infant, eleven months old, 
 clasped to her breast ; and, as " the mother of eleven chil- 
 dren," imploring the protection of the police, and that they 
 would not make " a show of her. 11 She occasionally burst 
 
WEST PORT MURDERS. 559 
 
 into tears while deploring her unhappy situation, which she 
 ascribed to Hare's utter profligacy, and said, all she wished 
 was to get across the Channel, and end her days in some 
 remote spot in her own country, in retirement and penitence. 
 She has since left Greenock in the Fingal, Belfast steam 
 packet. 
 
 The public, in various country towns and villages seem 
 to be absurdly lawless in their conduct towards any unfortu- 
 nate individuals in whom they choose to recognise a resemb- 
 lance to the miserable outcasts. Several unfortunate indivi- 
 duals have been subjected to rough treatment in consequence 
 of some fancied likeness to the murderers, and all efforts to 
 undeceive their tormentors rendered unavailing by their deter- 
 mination to execute summary justice upon some one, and their 
 disinclination to allow the victim to escape out of their hands. 
 This inordinate desire of working vengeance has sometimes 
 been exhibited when it was scarcely possible to suppose that 
 the populace could be so senseless as believe that the veritable 
 culprit was in their hands. 
 
 While it was perfectly well known that Hare was detained 
 in close confinement, possessing the usual complement of 
 members, a poor itinerant flute blower, who contrives to .ma- 
 nage his instrument with one hand and a stump' substituted 
 for the other, was assaulted in consequence of some idle reports 
 that he was Hare, and it was with some difficulty that he 
 was rescued, Another unlucky wight was also mistaken for 
 Hare at Kirkliston a few days back, and maltreated in such 
 a manner that he is now a patient in the Royal Infirmary. 
 Although he is directly dissimilar to him in appearance, 
 being a tall dark Scot, and speaking his mother tongue with 
 
SCO WEST POKT MURDEK3. 
 
 a true lowland accent, and we might add many like in- 
 stances. Even some rural dignitaries have taken occasion 
 to adopt summary measures towards those whose condi- 
 tion allowed them some pretence to display the vigour of 
 the law. In a West Country Burgh, the following nar- 
 rative is given of a search for M'Dougal ; " The prin- 
 cipal rendezvous of ' randy gangrel bodies 1 was searched ; 
 the whole thirty-six beds were overhauled, but she was no- 
 where to be found ; the search however warranted the suspi- 
 cion that some of the Cadgers who frequented the house had 
 no lawful trade by which their earnings could equal their ex- 
 penditure, marked attention was drawn to Pig Jock, as it 
 was evident all the rags he took to Edinburgh, and all the 
 crockery he brought in return, even though stolen, was not 
 sufficient to pay his weekly bill ; and it being surmised that 
 the keeper of the house was not ignorant of the ways of 
 his guests, he and Jock have been banished forth of the 
 town. 1 ' 
 
 There seems really very little legal evidence against poor 
 Jock, while the landlord's being made accountable " for the 
 ways of his guests'" is a stretch of despotism scarcely allow- 
 able in a very small township. 
 
 Indeed the whole island appears to be " frightened from 
 its propriety,"" and each town vies with another in adding 
 its quota of alarm. The Burke mania seems destined to 
 exercise as great an influence on the minds of the poorer 
 classes especially, as almost any other mama on record. 
 Nearly every city or hamlet throughout the empire has had 
 its tales of direful attempts at assassination, with their usual 
 accompaniments of waylaying and pitch plaisters applied 
 to the unfortunate victims, while the records of the police 
 courts of the metropolis and other large cities furnish am- 
 ple testimony of the extent to which the black catalogue of 
 crimes has excited the fears of the people. From all ac- 
 
 5 
 
t WEST PORT MURDERS. 
 
 counts, we cannot doubt that some wicked and heartless 
 individuals have been keeping alive the excitation by their 
 foolish tricks, but we forbear giving extension to the evil 
 by detailing any of them. 
 
 On the afternoon of Thursday the 12th of February, 
 occurred what will probably prove the last ebullition of 
 popular feeling on this subject in Edinburgh. It com- 
 menced with the dressing on the Calton Hill of an effigy 
 intended to represent a celebrated anatomist. After this 
 ceremony was concluded, the figure was paraded through 
 the principal streets, borne aloft on men's shoulders, with 
 a placard on the back. A countless host of men, women, 
 and children, accompanied the procession to Dr. Knox's 
 house in Newington, where the effigy was Burked and 
 torn to pieces, and the windows of the house broken. 
 The mob then attempted to do the same at Surgeons' Square, 
 but were prevented by the police, and dispersed, after tra- 
 versing several streets, and breaking a number of panes in 
 the College windows, &c. 
 
 A gentleman who rode up to Dr. Knox's house, with the 
 view of undergoing a surgical operation, was mistaken for 
 him, and had nearly suffered from the vielence of the 
 crowd. 
 
 We have already exceeded the limits that we had pre- 
 scribed, and still have not been able to touch upon the im- 
 portant subject of the best means for supplying the anato- 
 mical theatres with bodies for dissection, and we cannot now 
 enter upon it. It is admitted by all enlightened people, 
 that subjects must and will be procured, and that severe 
 legislative enactments only tend to increase the difficulty, 
 and enhance the price. The recent proceedings present a 
 fearful illustration of this opinion ; but out of evil, if pro- 
 perly considered, good may be extracted ; and these trans- 
 it 3 A 
 
WEST PORT JIURDE11S. 
 
 actions will, indeed, have failed in their effect, should some 
 plan not be devised which, while it saves the feelings of 
 relatives from outrage, may prevent a recurrence of such 
 frightful scenes. 
 
 FT MS. 
 
 EDINBURGH : PHJNTtl) KY A. HAl.Fcm AND CO. HIGH STRfcET. 
 
The following correspondence has taken place between the publisher 
 and Mr. Johnson, law ayentfor Mr. Sivanston, who conceives kuimt.J 
 aggrieved by a passage in Janet Brown's statement, contained in 
 No. 6. As the best way of giving Mr. S.'s justification, we print t/u 
 letters entire. 
 
 Edinburgh, 7th February, 1829. 4, Grove Street. 
 
 SIR Mr. William Swanston spirit-dealer in the Canongate, feels him- 
 self much aggrieved by the unwarrantable falsehood under which he is re- 
 presented in the sixth number, page 126, in the account which you choose 
 to publish of the West Port Murders. 
 
 Mr. Swanston knowing the statement to be entirely falsa, must necessari- 
 ly think, that iu associating his name in such a manner with the late 
 wretched Burke, and singling him out individually in this way, must have 
 been done with a malicious intention of doing an injury, nor only to his 
 character, but to his trade. You must have been aware when you publish- 
 ed this account, that every person in Edinburgh would have shuddered at 
 the very thoughts of having, however innocently, exchanged woi-ds with 
 Burke in his lire time; but what must have been your feeling when you have 
 represented Mr. Swanston as his companion at five o'clock in the morning, 
 and given it again to the public as truth. You were bound as a publisher, 
 in justice to every individual, to have inquired into the truth or falsehood 
 of the statement, and to have asked permission to publish it, supposing the 
 statement to have been correct : because, whether true or false, must have 
 been a great annoyance to any person possessed of any degree of moral feel 
 ing. 
 
 Mr. Swanstou has therefore instructed me to institute an action of da- 
 mages agaizist you, for reparation for the injury which he must sustain in 
 his own feelings and in his business, as well as in the eye of the public, who 
 must have an inveterate grudge at him, and consequently must shun him 
 in all civil intercourse, resulting from such false, injurious, malicious and 
 calumnious statement, represented by you as an " autkentic and faithful 
 history" published by you for your lucre. am, Sir, your most obedient 
 servant, 
 
 (Signed) JOHN JOHNSON. 
 
 JMr. THOMAS IRELAND, 
 Bookseller and Publisher, 57, South Bridge Street. 
 
 Edinburgh, 10th February/, 1829. 
 
 SIR, In consequence of your having taken no notice of my letter to you 
 of the 7th instant, on the subject of your late libellous publication on Mr. 
 Swanston, I presume you mean to justify the fact. I have therefore to 
 intimate to you that the case will be forthwith put into a shape of a sum- 
 mons of damages against you. I am, Sir, your most obedient servant. 
 
 (Signed) JOHN JOHNSON. 
 
 Mr. THOMAS IRELAND, Jun. 
 Publisher and Bookseller, 57, South Bridge Street. 
 
 Edinburgh, 57, South Bridge Street, 
 
 Fifowryl 1,1889. 
 
 SIR, I have to apologise to you for not answerirg sooner your letter of 
 the 7th current, complaining of the notice taken of Mr. Swamton in the 
 Trial of Burke at present publishing by me. 
 
 In answer to it, and your second of yesterday, I have to state, that I am 
 very sorry that Mr. Swanston should feel at all injured by what has been 
 said of him, and though my information as to what is stated of him \ras 
 from the best authority,* still I would not wish in the smallest degree, even 
 
 * The statement regarding Mr. Swanston, was given by Janet Brown, who was along with 
 Mary Paterson. 
 
by implication, to injure his feelings or his character, and I shall be ready 
 to insert in the shape of a note, in the number about to be published, any 
 statement you and he may wish to make, such statement not to be incon- 
 sistent with what is due to myself in such a matter. 
 
 Y"our threat of damages is too fanciful to require from me any serious 
 answer. I am, Sir, your very obedient servant, 
 
 (Signed) THOMAS IRELAND, JUN. 
 
 To JOHN JOHNSO.V, Esq. 
 4, Grove Street, Edinburgh. 
 
 Edinburgh, llth Feb. 1829. 
 
 SIR, I am favored with your letter of this date, in answer to my 
 letters of the 7th and 10th inst. And in answer to it I have to inform 
 you that the summons of damages to which I formerly alluded is now in 
 the press with the intention of being served upon you to-morrow. I shall, 
 however, this moment send for. Mr. Swanston and shew him your letter ; 
 but I conceive that although it is very proper to put a note in any new 
 edition which you may throw otf to the purport you mention, still it will 
 not be a whitewasher of the injury which the previous publication has 
 .already done. With regard to the action of damages, I can assure you 
 that the notion of it did not originate with himself, but with his acquaint- 
 ances who first read the publication, and pointed out the injurious tenden- 
 cy of it last Saturday, when I first wrote you on the subject. He felt 
 the effects of it before this, but he did not know a reason then to which he 
 could attribute a *. I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, 
 
 (Signed) JOHN JOHNSON. 
 
 Mr. THOMAS IRELAND, Jun. 
 Bookseller and Publisher, 57, South Bridge, Edinburgh. 
 
 Edinburgh, nth Feb. 1829. 
 
 SIR, With reference to my letter to you last night, I have now to in- 
 form you that I have since seen Mr. Swanston, to whom I read your let- 
 ter of the llth inst., and he desires me to say, that as you propose no de- 
 finite pallinoile of the injury which he has sustained, of which you seem to 
 think lightly, he has no farther observation to make, because, were he to 
 make any specific proposition, it would be inconsistent with the view 
 which you take of the matter, and therefore it is quite clear that the par- 
 ties could not meet each other to the mutual satisfaction. I am, Sir, your 
 most obedient servant, 
 
 (Signed) JOHN JOHNSON. 
 
 THOMAS IRELAND, Jun. Esq. 
 Bookseller, 57, South Bridge, Edinburgh. 
 
 Edinburgh, 13th Feb. 1829. 
 
 SIR, I think it very unnecessary to return any particular reply to your 
 two last letters. 
 
 Since you will not condescend to say what would satisfy Mr. Swanston, 
 1 shall publish in the forthcoming number of the work, your first letter of 
 The 7th, and my answer of the llth. 
 
 If you wish any thing further inserted, you can let me know in the 
 course of to-morrow forenoon. I am, Sir, your very obedient servant, 
 
 (Signed) THOMAS IRELAND, Jun. 
 
 To JOHN JOHNSON, Esq. 
 4, Grove Street, Edinburgh. 
 
 * A word here not legible in original. 
 
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