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n The regular, relatively substantial income was spentnon clothes for the Burkes and the Hares that were grander than those normallynseen in West Port, so that the neighbours began to comment but, as yet, no onensuspected the true cause of their affluence. It was also spent freely on drink,nof which all the parties were inordinately fond, but William Hare was not onento be crossed when in his cups. Burke got wind of a plot by him to murdernHelen, for the sin of ‘being Scotch’ but the growingly frequent quarrelsnreached a head when Burke learned that Hare had sold a body to Knox whilst henhad been away in the country with Helen, and had pocketed all the moneynhimself.
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nThe ten pounds was usually split with six pounds going to Hare (whonthen paid a pound to Mary, for the use of the house), and the remaining fournpounds going to Burke. Accusations flew first and then fists, and thenneighbours, not privy to the cause of the fight, gathered to watch the twonIrishmen going at it like Kilkenny cats.
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| An Edinburgh Wynd |
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nAfter the fight, which it seems Burkenwon, the Burkes moved into a nearby house owned by John Broggan, whose wife wasnBurke’s cousin. They lodged there at first, but afterwards took over thenpremises and rented out the rooms to other lodgers. The quarrel did not,nhowever, interrupt business and in autumn 1828, Ann McDougal, ancousin of Helen McDougal’s came on a visit from Falkirk.
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nAfter ancouple of days of coming and going, cousin Ann was given a dram. Pretty soon,nHare was smothering her, with Burke lying on top to stop her arms and legs fromnthrashing about, and her body was stripped and put into a trunk supplied bynKnox’s porter, Paterson. John Broggan saw the trunk standing on the landing andnbegan to ask awkward questions about it, but he was given thirty shillings in hushnmoney and a couple of drinks and then went off to Glasgow to think aboutnthings. Ann’s relatives began to ask questions too, but Helen deflected theirnattention and things were left to lie.
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| From The Ballad of Daft Jamie |
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nBurke and Hare’s next victim was,nperhaps, their most controversial. James Wilson was universally know as DaftnJamie, and loved as a harmless local character. He was one of those touchednindividuals without a jot of harm in them, who attract the sympathy andnaffection of all they meet. Daft Jamie Wilson’s father, an Edinburgh hawker ofngeneral goods, had died when the boy was about twelve, and now, at aboutneighteen, he was left to wander the streets, where the general charity of thenpeople provided him with meals and a few odd pennies to spend. He was wellnknown to the citizens of Auld Reekie and liked to spend his time in the companynof university students, whom he would try to trick with his riddles, and wasnfamous for his snuffbox, which had a matching spoon and seven openings, a largencentral one ‘for Sundays’ and six surrounding ones for the remainder ofnthe week, and which he was proud to offer round.
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| Daft Jamie Wilson |
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nWandering about as was hisnwont, he came one day in the late September or early October of 1828 to thenGrassmarket, asking if any there knew where he might find his estranged mother.nMrs Hare was in the Grassmarket too and told the poor lad his mother was at hernhome, over at Tanner’s Court, and if he wished, she would take him to herndirectly. So, innocent, simple-minded Jamie went along with her and found notnhis mother but William Hare waiting for him. Out, of course, came the bottlenbut Jamie was not so daft as to suspect strong drink, for fear of gettingnfou’.
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nMary went out to find Burke, bringing him and more whisky back home,nwhere Jamie sat sipping from a cup of scotch. The spirits played quickly on hisnaddled brain and soon he was lying, worse for drink and most definitely fou’,non the bed. Burke and Hare watched him for a while and, thinking him asleep,nBurke jumped the lad, whose innate survival instincts roused him and he begannto fight back. He was getting the better of Burke but the strapping teenagernwas no match for the murderous duo, so when Hare joined in the battle he wasnquickly bested and rapidly smothered.
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| Broadsheet ballad – Poor Daft Jamie |
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nHis body was customarily stripped, bundledninto the chest and delivered to Doctor Knox’s rooms, all for another ten quid.nDaft Jamie was certainly too well known to be mistaken for another, and Knox’snstudents would certainly have recognised his sorry corpse but it is tellingnthat Knox’s first class involved the dissection of the subject’s facialnmuscles, thus rendering it unrecognisable. Jamie Wilson’s disappearance did notngo unnoticed, questions began to be asked at long last, rumours started toncirculate and fear came to the streets of Edinburgh.
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nBut suspicion lay at thendoor of the doctors, and the plain people of Scotland knew nothing, yet, aboutntheir suppliers.
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nYet more murders tomorrow
