then put the corpse in a chest, and met Dr.
Knox's porter by appointment at night at the
back of the Castle, who took the box on to the
class-rooms. The next victim was a miller named
Joseph, who lay ill at Hare's lodging-house, as
it was supposed of a fever, which kept away
other lodgers. Burke held a pillow down over
his mouth, and then lay across the body till
he was dead. The price of the old pensioner's
body had been a temptation which these monsters
could not resist. On one occasion Burke met a
man dragging a drunken woman to the
West Port watchhouse. Burke, who had a good
character with the police, volunteered to see her
home; he took her to Hare's, and they
murdered her like the others.

One of the most revolting of Burke's
murders was that of Daft Jamie, a poor half-witted,
barefooted lad, with a withered hand, who used
to sing and dance about the Old Town, and pick
up what alms he could. Mrs. Hare decoyed
him to her home, under pretence of taking him
to his mother, of whom the lad was peculiarly
fond. Burke was taking a dram at the time at
Rymer's shop, and Mrs. Hare came in for a
pennyworth of butter, and stamped on his foot
as a signal. Jamie would not take much
whisky; but as he lay on the bed, Burke,
eager, kept saying to Hare, "Shall I do it
now?" Hare replied, "Bide awhile; he is too
strong for you yet; you had better let him
alone awhile." Burke at last, irrestrainable,
threw himself upon the poor harmless lad,
and they fell off the bed struggling. Roused
to a sense of the imminent danger, Jamie
leaped up, and by a dreadful effort threw
off Burke, who then closed with him. Burke
was for a moment almost overpowered. Shouting
that he would run his knife into Hare
unless he came and helped him, Hare ran,
tripped up Jamie, dragged him about with Burke
lying on him, and held his hands and feet till he
was dead. Hare felt his pockets, and took out a
brass snuff-box and a copper snuff-spoon. It
was after breakfast when Jamie was lured in. By
twelve his body was in a clothes-chest of Hare's,
and on its way to Surgeon's-square. Burke
gave the clothes to his brother's children, and
they quarrelled about them. The dress of the
other persons had been destroyed to prevent
detection.

Burke also murdered a poor girl of loose
character named Mary Paterson, whom he met,
with a friend of hers, named Janet Brown, just
released from the Canongate watchhouse. He
brought her home, gave her breakfast, plied her
with whisky, and murdered her. Her lodging-
house keeper's servant came for her, and was
told that Mary Paterson had gone off to Glasgow
with a packman.

There were other murders still more terrible
committed by these wretches. Hare one day
invited home a poor Irishwoman from Glasgow,
and her deaf and dumb grandson. They
intoxicated the poor woman, who was delighted
with his kindness and generosity. When she
became torpid, they suffocated her with the bed-
tick and bed-clothes. The next morning. Burke
killed the boy. The piteous look the dying boy
gave him. Burke confessed, went to his heart; he
could never forget it. They crammed the two
bodies into a herring-barrel. This they put in
Hare's fish-cart, and at dusk set out for
Surgeon's-square. The horse, a miserable half-
starved beast, at the entrance to the Grassmarket
refused to go a step further, a crowd
assembled. Burke said he thought at that
time that the old horse had risen up in judgment
against them. While the crowd tugged at the
horse, Burke and Hare hired a porter with a
hurley, and put the barrel on it to carry to
Surgeon's-square. The wretched horse was, in
revenge, instantly taken to a tanyard and
shot.

While Burke and his wife were on a visit at
Falkirk, during the festival of the anniversary
of Bannockburn, Hare decoyed home a drunken
woman, murdered her unaided, and sold her body
for eight pounds. When Burke returned, and
asked if he had been doing any business, Hare
replied in the negative; but Burke ascertained
from Dr. Knox that he had brought a subject, and
Hare then confessed the secret to his partner.
They also murdered a married cousin of Burke's
wife: Hare taking the chief part in the horrible
business, because he was not a relation. They
put the body in a " fine trunk" Paterson
supplied. Broggan, in whose house they were,
discovered the murder, and they gave him three
pounds, and sent him out of Edinburgh, to keep
the secret. Another of their victims was a Mrs.
Hostler, a washerwoman at Broggan's. She had
ninepence-halfpenny in her hand when they
smothered her, and they could scarcely remove
it after she was dead, it was clutched so hard.
This poor woman had been heard the evening of
her murder singing "Home, sweet home," with
Burke.

The only person Burke murdered by
himself was the daughter of Mrs. Holdane, whom
they had previously disposed of. Burke also
confessed that Hare's wife had urged him to
murder the woman with whom he lived, but
he would not agree to it. They were distrustful
of her because she was a Scotchwoman. The
plan was that he was to go into the country
after the murder, and write word to Hare that
she had died there, so as to deceive the
neighbours. Nine of the people had been murdered
in Burke's house (five of these in an inner room
where he used to cobble shoes—it looked out
only on the waste ground and the pigsty), four
in Broggan's room, two in Hare's stable, and one
in Burke's brother's house. They had marked
out a great many for murder, but were
disappointed of them in various ways. They were
generally drunk when they committed these
murders, and also while the money lasted.
They very often did not know the dates of the
murders, nor the names of their victims. They
had arranged a plan that Burke and another man
were to go on a tour to Glasgow and Ireland,
and to forward bodies to Hare for the surgeons.
Their regular price was ten pounds in winter