0:00:02 > 0:00:04Pubs have been at the heart of Britain for hundreds of years.
0:00:04 > 0:00:06Cheers, mucker!
0:00:06 > 0:00:09- In city taverns... - ..and village inns...
0:00:09 > 0:00:11..landlords have pulled pints for locals,
0:00:11 > 0:00:12travellers,
0:00:12 > 0:00:15and, well, the odd King or two, myself included.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17Try and have a drink now!
0:00:20 > 0:00:22But with 30 pubs closing every week,
0:00:22 > 0:00:25our historic taverns need defending.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27Step! Step!
0:00:27 > 0:00:30We're heading out to discover amazing stories linked to the
0:00:30 > 0:00:32nation's watering holes.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34- Not far to go.- How far?
0:00:34 > 0:00:36- Oh, a couple of miles.- What?
0:00:36 > 0:00:38From the Wars Of The Roses...
0:00:38 > 0:00:40..to shipbuilding on the Clyde.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44We've ditched our bikes so that we can sample an ale or two.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46Get in!
0:00:46 > 0:00:47This is very good.
0:00:49 > 0:00:50So join us for...
0:00:58 > 0:01:01Edinburgh, Scotland's stunning capital.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05But it's a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11Respectable and intellectual on the one hand...
0:01:14 > 0:01:16..dark and menacing on the other.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19A bit like yourself, Kingy!
0:01:19 > 0:01:22Yeah, yeah. Well, today we're delving into what happened when
0:01:22 > 0:01:24those two worlds collided,
0:01:24 > 0:01:28in a tale of murder, mystery and medicine.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32The story of Burke and Hare and, as ever,
0:01:32 > 0:01:34great pubs were at the heart of the...
0:01:34 > 0:01:35operation.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39- BOTH: Oh! - Butterfingers.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41- Practice makes perfect. - This is true.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45Which is why, in 1827, the medical students of Edinburgh University
0:01:45 > 0:01:48needed the real thing to practise on, dude.
0:01:48 > 0:01:49Dead bodies.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51Funnily enough, there was a shortage of volunteers.
0:01:51 > 0:01:56Cue the dastardly Burke and Hare, and their evil, murderous plan.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58SINISTER LAUGH
0:02:02 > 0:02:07We're turning back the clock to Edinburgh, 1827.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11Auld Reekie, as the city is known, was, well, a bit reeky.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16You mean stinky? No wonder!
0:02:17 > 0:02:20Poverty and squalor where rife, as was crime,
0:02:20 > 0:02:23in the dark underbelly of this Gothic city.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28One of the most notorious areas was the Grassmarket, where the
0:02:28 > 0:02:32numerous boozers were dangerous dens of iniquity.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36And in the 1820s, when a certain William Burke and William Hare
0:02:36 > 0:02:39were propping up the bar, you really had to watch your back.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44Well, mate, what a great place to start a historic pub crawl
0:02:44 > 0:02:46in the centre of Edinburgh - The White Hart Inn.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48Aye, but if you'd've come to The White Hart Inn in the 1820s,
0:02:48 > 0:02:51- you could have been putting your life at risk.- Really?
0:02:51 > 0:02:54I mean, I know the Scots were fond of a dram or two, dude,
0:02:54 > 0:02:55but that's ridiculous.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57Aye, which made them ripe for the plucking when
0:02:57 > 0:02:59Burke and Hare came out to hunt their prey.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09The White Hart Inn dates back to 1516.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15It's had its share of celebrity punters over the years.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19But Burke and Hare
0:03:19 > 0:03:21are its most infamous.
0:03:22 > 0:03:27Rumour has it, this deadly duo scoped out vulnerable victims here.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30Writer Martin Conaghan has brought them to life
0:03:30 > 0:03:32in a rather special graphic novel.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36- Martin. - Oh, hello, guys. How you doing?
0:03:36 > 0:03:38Hello, how are you? Very nice to meet you.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40- Yeah, good to see you. - What have you got there?
0:03:40 > 0:03:44I've got a graphic novel about Burke and Hare, a comic book,
0:03:44 > 0:03:48all about the two murderers that went around Edinburgh in the 1820s,
0:03:48 > 0:03:51killing people and selling their bodies off to the doctors.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54The two of them were Irish immigrants that came over
0:03:54 > 0:03:57here in the 1820s to work on the Union Canal.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59They hung about most nights, having a drink.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01You see, I always think of, like, two shady men, you know,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04with top hats and lanterns, in a graveyard
0:04:04 > 0:04:06at the dead of night with a pickaxe.
0:04:06 > 0:04:07How did they get the bodies, then?
0:04:07 > 0:04:10So what they did was, they came to places like this
0:04:10 > 0:04:13and they sat, and they would have a drink with, you know,
0:04:13 > 0:04:15some of the people, the locals, a bit of a song and a joke,
0:04:15 > 0:04:16and things like that.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18They would get the people drunk, they would take them
0:04:18 > 0:04:21back to the lodgings where they lived, just up the road,
0:04:21 > 0:04:23and they would get them a bit more drunk.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25The people would fall asleep, and then they would smother them.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27Now, how did they smother them?
0:04:27 > 0:04:30Well, what they did was they lay on top of them,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33held them down, and then pinched their nose, hands over the mouth,
0:04:33 > 0:04:36and that became known as "burking".
0:04:36 > 0:04:38Because William Burke was one of the duo.
0:04:38 > 0:04:43That was their modus operandi of how they got rid of people.
0:04:43 > 0:04:44BOTH: Oooh.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Having a method of murder named after you
0:04:47 > 0:04:49certainly is a dubious honour.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54Aye, but Burke and Hare, they didn't care.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58They cracked on, getting plenty of practice burking their victims.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Turns out dead bodies made you dead rich.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08Why was there a market for, well, dead bodies?
0:05:08 > 0:05:12The people who were learning anatomy and learning to perform surgery
0:05:12 > 0:05:14needed bodies to practise on.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18So a bit of a gold rush developed around the universities,
0:05:18 > 0:05:22all around the country, in London, in Glasgow, in Edinburgh,
0:05:22 > 0:05:26where the surgeons needed to get hold of dead bodies to practise on.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29So Burke and Hare obviously realised,
0:05:29 > 0:05:30"We can make a bit of money out of this."
0:05:30 > 0:05:33So they turned, like, body snatching into murder.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Well, what actually happened was the very first
0:05:35 > 0:05:38victim that they disposed of to the doctors was someone
0:05:38 > 0:05:41who actually died in their lodging house owing them money.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45And they thought, "Well, we don't have to bury this guy,
0:05:45 > 0:05:47"we'll just hand his body into the university,
0:05:47 > 0:05:49"they'll give us money."
0:05:49 > 0:05:50And they took the body along
0:05:50 > 0:05:53and they were given seven pounds and ten shillings for the first body.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57And then they thought, "Well, we can't just wait on people dying,
0:05:57 > 0:05:59"so can we hurry this along a bit?"
0:06:01 > 0:06:02One sniff of cash
0:06:02 > 0:06:05and they spent the next year knocking off 16 poor folk.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11And the man buying up the bodies was Dr Robert Knox,
0:06:11 > 0:06:15an anatomist from the Royal College of Surgeons.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18So did Dr Knox, did he get implicated with the murders?
0:06:18 > 0:06:21Well, it was always suspected that he knew that Burke and Hare
0:06:21 > 0:06:24were committing murder to bring in the bodies, because he had
0:06:24 > 0:06:28the most regular supply, he had the biggest attendance of students.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31It was just they needed the bodies, Burke and Hare needed money,
0:06:31 > 0:06:33and nobody asked any questions.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35So how did all of this come to an end?
0:06:35 > 0:06:38On the occasion of their final victim, they got caught.
0:06:38 > 0:06:39How? How did they get caught?
0:06:39 > 0:06:42Well, they didn't have time to dispose of the body.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45They stuck the body under a bed and hid it with some straw.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47And then there was a bit of a commotion
0:06:47 > 0:06:49and the police were called.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51- Bodies under the bed. - HE SHUDDERS
0:06:51 > 0:06:53That's the stuff of childhood nightmares.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55You're right.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57Just like Burke and Hare, Martin didn't work alone.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02This bloke in the corner is Will, the comic's illustrator.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05And he's scribbling a bit suspiciously, if you ask me.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07So what's Will been drawing over there?
0:07:07 > 0:07:09I don't know, he's been at it a while.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11Let's have a look, Will. Come here, mate.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13Come here. How are you doing?
0:07:17 > 0:07:21- It's the Burke And Hairy Bikers. - THEY BOTH CHEER
0:07:21 > 0:07:24Oh, that's really quite sinister.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26Oh, flipping heck, isn't it?
0:07:28 > 0:07:31Oh, you know, Si, that conjures up quite an atmosphere.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34That's you and I, depicted as Burke and Hare, standing at the bar.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36- It feels quite chilling, doesn't it? - It does.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39In this very spot, that Burke and Hare may have stood,
0:07:39 > 0:07:43just to entice their victims into their clutches.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46Behold, the newly christened Burke And Hairy Bikers.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50And there have been a few other shady characters around these parts.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55Including more than a few ghosts.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57The White Hart Inn claims to be one
0:07:57 > 0:07:59of the most haunted pubs in the city.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06Ewan Irvine is a ghost hunter, while Susan and Katrina work here.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11They're all convinced ghostly guests regularly drop in.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14I've heard that Edinburgh's, like, one of the most haunted
0:08:14 > 0:08:16cities in Europe.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18Have you got any tall tales?
0:08:18 > 0:08:21It was actually just last week and I needed to change a keg,
0:08:21 > 0:08:24so I'm sort of bolting down the stairs, went past the chef.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26Got downstairs. As I got through to the office,
0:08:26 > 0:08:27I saw someone at the side of me.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29So, of course, I just went, "All right? Hiya."
0:08:29 > 0:08:32And I kept running through, because I was in a hurry.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34I changed the keg and as I got to the cellar I was like,
0:08:34 > 0:08:36"There shouldn't be anyone down there."
0:08:36 > 0:08:37Everyone else was upstairs.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39So I quickly changed the keg and went through,
0:08:39 > 0:08:42thinking someone had got past us and they'd got downstairs,
0:08:42 > 0:08:43but there was no-one there.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45And what about you, Sue? Have you had any experiences?
0:08:45 > 0:08:47Sometimes I've heard, like, footsteps.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51So I've came all the way up the stairs and there was nobody there,
0:08:51 > 0:08:53and went all the way back down. Heard it again.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55All the way back up. And that's happened a few times.
0:08:58 > 0:08:59Still in doubt?
0:08:59 > 0:09:03Well, here's some more spook-tacular evidence.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05Oh, yes.
0:09:05 > 0:09:10In 2013, some Australian tourists took this photo,
0:09:10 > 0:09:15which appears to show a figure, with a hand clearly visible.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19Intrigued by the photo, Ewan and his gang of ghost hunters
0:09:19 > 0:09:21held a late-night paranormal investigation.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26We came along one evening, from about 11 o'clock
0:09:26 > 0:09:31to around about 2:30, and we spent these hours within the pub...
0:09:32 > 0:09:34..and took pictures of the same area
0:09:34 > 0:09:36where that original picture was taken.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39And our picture shows an image
0:09:39 > 0:09:42almost identical to the first one that was taken.
0:09:42 > 0:09:43That's the photo, here.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45- There's a hand.- It's a hand.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47- Oh!- It's lost on there.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50It's quite chilling, isn't it?
0:09:51 > 0:09:54Not half. I'm getting goose bumps all over, mate.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58How would you explain that, Ewan?
0:09:58 > 0:09:59It's the ghost.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05Let's scarper, Dave. No offence to ghosts,
0:10:05 > 0:10:08but I prefer my spirits in liquid form.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14Did you know that 30 years before the time of Burke and Hare
0:10:14 > 0:10:18one of Scotland's greatest minds visited this pub?
0:10:18 > 0:10:20Well, I did know, as a matter of fact, cos you know why?
0:10:20 > 0:10:23It says it up there. Mr Rabbie Burns.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27And I can trump your poet with another poet - Willie Wordsworth.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29He stayed here in 1803, so you can stick that in your pipe
0:10:29 > 0:10:30and smoke it.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35Oooh! Charming, mate. So it's the battle of the facts, is it?
0:10:35 > 0:10:39Well, I'll trump your trivia easily with some pub signs.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45And being Edinburgh, I hope they're suitably gruesome. Hit me, Dave.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50Maggie Dickson's is named after a woman
0:10:50 > 0:10:54hanged in the Grassmarket in 1724.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58Before being buried, there came a knocking from the coffin.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00Turned out the hanging hadn't worked
0:11:00 > 0:11:03and she lived the rest of her days
0:11:03 > 0:11:05called "Half-hangit Maggie".
0:11:07 > 0:11:10Well, did you know the Jolly Judge, near Edinburgh's High Court,
0:11:10 > 0:11:13is named after Robert McQueen,
0:11:13 > 0:11:16notoriously known as "the hanging judge"?
0:11:16 > 0:11:18What's jolly about that? I'd have him barred!
0:11:18 > 0:11:21Ha-ha, get it? Legal bar?
0:11:21 > 0:11:22Oh, whatever.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27The Last Drop overlooks the spot where the city gallows
0:11:27 > 0:11:29stood for over 120 years.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33So hanging with your mates down the boozer
0:11:33 > 0:11:34had a different meaning then.
0:11:41 > 0:11:46Back on our Burke and Hare tour and 1828 was definitely a dodgy year
0:11:46 > 0:11:50to be staggering Edinburgh's streets after one pint too many.
0:11:56 > 0:11:57Do you know what, mate?
0:11:57 > 0:12:01It sends a shiver down my spine to think of the poor, unsuspecting,
0:12:01 > 0:12:05albeit inebriated souls that crossed the path of Burke and Hare.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07Aye, these Edinburgh closes are still dank and dangerous.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09I wonder what they were like back in those days.
0:12:09 > 0:12:10Hey, well, you know what?
0:12:10 > 0:12:14I'm just about to meet a bloke to tell us just that, and he's going
0:12:14 > 0:12:18to take me back in time to when your body was worth more dead than alive.
0:12:18 > 0:12:23And I'm going uptown to find out what they did to your dead body once it was sold on.
0:12:23 > 0:12:24Hmmmm, nice.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34Oh, well, Dave, you can keep your dead bodies.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37I'm off to Edinburgh's creepy closes to delve into the darker
0:12:37 > 0:12:38side of 19th-century life.
0:12:40 > 0:12:45Local historian John Baxter's got all the gruesome details.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49- Now, you've got to be John.- I am, indeed.- I sincerely hope you are. How are you, sir?
0:12:49 > 0:12:51Si, how are you doing? Good to see you, welcome.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54- Good to see you, too. Thanks very, very much for meeting me. - You're very welcome.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Well, this, to say the least is, well, atmospheric, I think is the word.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00- Or claustrophobic, one of the two.- Very. Yeah, absolutely.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Can you tell me what this would have been like back in the day?
0:13:03 > 0:13:07- Well, this is where everyone lived, cheek by jowl, the rich and the poor, both together.- Wow!
0:13:07 > 0:13:10The rich at the top of the buildings, away from all the nasty smells and the poverty,
0:13:10 > 0:13:12because at the ground level,
0:13:12 > 0:13:14that is where you have the poor in society.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16Was it the same in Burke and Hare's day, then?
0:13:16 > 0:13:19- Well, it had actually gotten worse by that point.- Got worse?
0:13:19 > 0:13:211820s, by this point the New Town had been constructed,
0:13:21 > 0:13:24so all the very wealthy in society had moved north,
0:13:24 > 0:13:27but that left behind the jumble of the Old Town.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30You had the very poor in society living here,
0:13:30 > 0:13:31and it wasn't very pretty.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35There was crime, was on the up here. There was prostitution,
0:13:35 > 0:13:38there were brothels and there were lots of illegal drinking dens.
0:13:41 > 0:13:47Illegal drinking dens selling ale, whisky and all sorts of home-made moonshine.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51If you don't mind, I've got some stuff that may have actually been drunk at that time.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54It's quite potent, so it's up to yourself if you want to try it.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56Well, you know, I, er...I wouldn't say no.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58So this would be what they were drinking at the time?
0:13:58 > 0:14:02This is very similar. It's come straight out of the still and right into the mouth, essentially.
0:14:02 > 0:14:04Crumbs!
0:14:05 > 0:14:08Well, I'll tell you what, it smells strong.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16It's quite the stuff, isn't it?
0:14:16 > 0:14:18Cor, it sets fire to your nasal hair.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22That is as rough as a badger's bum.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28I can see why Burke and Hare used this stuff to help knock out their victims.
0:14:32 > 0:14:37Mind you, they weren't the only ones dying to make money from dead bodies.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40John's brought me to the city's famous Greyfriars Cemetery,
0:14:40 > 0:14:43where another gruesome profession was rife.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46So, John, tell me why you've brought us here?
0:14:46 > 0:14:48It's a place where graverobbers, body snatchers
0:14:48 > 0:14:52or resurrection men would come into the graveyards in the dead of night
0:14:52 > 0:14:53and raise bodies from the ground.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55What did their relatives think of that, then?
0:14:55 > 0:14:58Well, you can imagine they weren't too pleased with that whatsoever,
0:14:58 > 0:15:00so they employed a number of methods.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03If you had anything of wealth, you could perhaps use one of these.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07This is a gridiron, or a mortsafe. Essentially, a six-foot cage
0:15:07 > 0:15:09that would go into the ground around the coffin.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12So that was one method. If you were extremely poor,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15your relatives would just have to sit on top of the grave long enough
0:15:15 > 0:15:19to render the body useless, so... Essentially, maybe about nine to ten days.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21- Now, useless, as in decomposed? - Decomposed.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24No use at all to the medical profession.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28There's this kind of sinister cloud that sits over Edinburgh,
0:15:28 > 0:15:31and that thirst for and quest for knowledge...
0:15:31 > 0:15:33Absolutely. Yeah, it's like a really grim profession
0:15:33 > 0:15:35and there were a number of gangs operating.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40With bodies worth over 900 quid in today's dosh,
0:15:40 > 0:15:44and the likes of Dr Robert Knox champing at the bit to buy them,
0:15:44 > 0:15:47it's no wonder graverobbers were chancing an arm.
0:15:54 > 0:15:56And less than a mile across town,
0:15:56 > 0:16:00I'm getting a sneaky peek at some human remains from that very era.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05I've come to Edinburgh's Anatomy Museum to meet
0:16:05 > 0:16:07Professor Gordon Findlater.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15So how far back does the teaching of anatomy go in Edinburgh?
0:16:15 > 0:16:16- 1505.- 1505?
0:16:16 > 0:16:19King James IV of Scotland gave the approval of the body
0:16:19 > 0:16:22of a hanged criminal to be used for the purpose of dissecting.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24And that, in fact, was effectively the establishment
0:16:24 > 0:16:26of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30Executed criminals were the only bodies surgeons were
0:16:30 > 0:16:34legally allowed to dissect until 1832.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40As for Burke and Hare, well, once police got wind of the duo, they were both arrested,
0:16:40 > 0:16:44but justice wasn't necessarily dished out equally.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49Well, Burke got hanged, didn't he?
0:16:49 > 0:16:50Burke got hanged and Hare got a free pardon,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53because he gave evidence against Burke, and so poor old Burke
0:16:53 > 0:16:56was the only one that was found guilty of the murders.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00And Burke's final resting place?
0:17:00 > 0:17:02Here at the museum.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04Oh, yes. I'll just show you this.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07So that is William Burke, the notorious murderer.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10He was condemned to be hanged, dissected and to be put on display.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12That was actually part of his sentence.
0:17:12 > 0:17:13Good grief!
0:17:13 > 0:17:16So he's been hanging here since he was hanged in 1829.
0:17:16 > 0:17:17That was a cruel irony, isn't it?
0:17:17 > 0:17:21That he's ended up in perpetuity at the very place
0:17:21 > 0:17:23- he was servicing, as it were. - Absolutely.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27So, in those days, you talk about the anatomist as almost being like, a bit like a pop star.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29He has an entertainment factor.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31Was there entertainment involved in this?
0:17:31 > 0:17:34Undoubtedly so. I mean, people could come in
0:17:34 > 0:17:38and watch dissections taking place in the old lecture theatre.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40Er, and in Burke's case, however,
0:17:40 > 0:17:43it was never meant to be a public dissection, but there was such
0:17:43 > 0:17:46a clamour by the public to see Burke being dissected that they
0:17:46 > 0:17:49opened up the anatomy department to the public
0:17:49 > 0:17:53so they could actually watch Burke being dissected.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56Blimey! Dissection as a spectator sport.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58It's a bit different from a night at the movies.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01As for how they captured your mugshot?
0:18:01 > 0:18:03That's another matter altogether.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06So if you come round the corner here, you can actually see a
0:18:06 > 0:18:08life mask of William Burke and a life mask of William Hare,
0:18:08 > 0:18:13and on the top shelf there we have the death mask of William Burke
0:18:13 > 0:18:16and the life mask of Robert Knox, who received the bodies from Burke and Hare.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18Crikey, what a collection.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21Given that there was no way of taking photographs in those days,
0:18:21 > 0:18:25this was the way they actually made likenesses of individuals.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28And if that wasn't a vivid enough portrait,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31Gordon's got one more gruesome treat for me.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34So, Gordon, why have you brought me here?
0:18:34 > 0:18:38Well, this is a scrapbook which somebody put
0:18:38 > 0:18:40together at the time of the Burke and Hare murders.
0:18:40 > 0:18:41Right.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44And it's a collection of newspaper cuttings...
0:18:44 > 0:18:46Actually from that time?
0:18:46 > 0:18:47From that time.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51"This is written with the blood of William Burke,
0:18:51 > 0:18:57"who was hanged at Edinburgh on 28 January 1829 for the murder
0:18:57 > 0:19:00"of Mrs Campbell or Doherty.
0:19:00 > 0:19:05"The blood was taken from his head on 1st February 1829."
0:19:05 > 0:19:08So it's a letter written in Burke's blood.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10I suspect, obviously, by an anatomist or
0:19:10 > 0:19:14a surgeon in training who was present at the dissection of Burke,
0:19:14 > 0:19:17because there's no way he would have had access to the blood of his head.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20But he took it on himself to write that letter,
0:19:20 > 0:19:25obviously realising the infamy of Burke and how maybe 100
0:19:25 > 0:19:28and however many years later we'd be standing and reading it.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31- What an extraordinary tale. - Isn't it just?
0:19:31 > 0:19:34Don't know about you, but I fancy a drink now.
0:19:34 > 0:19:35I'm not surprised, Myers.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39All that gore's enough to send you straight down the boozer, isn't it?
0:19:39 > 0:19:44And we all know traditional pubs would be nothing without their
0:19:44 > 0:19:46passionate punters.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49So let's meet an Edinburgh local who loves his local.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56The Sheep Heid Inn -
0:19:56 > 0:19:58that's Scottish for head, in case you were wondering -
0:19:58 > 0:20:02claims to be Edinburgh's oldest surviving public house.
0:20:03 > 0:20:08You'll find it in Duddingston, an ancient village in east Edinburgh.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10It's full of history and tradition
0:20:10 > 0:20:13and is the regular watering hole of Anthony Martin.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15Cheers.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20I love this pub because there's local people come in,
0:20:20 > 0:20:23there's people I know, there's people I can talk to, there's people
0:20:23 > 0:20:27I can share the good and bad of life with.
0:20:27 > 0:20:28It's a remarkable place.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33It's so old, it's got so much history,
0:20:33 > 0:20:36and personal history as well as ancient history.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41I've been coming here since I was at school across the road just round the corner.
0:20:41 > 0:20:42It's a lovely local.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46This goes way back to the 14th century.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50There must have been so many characters in here over the years.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52Topping the list of supposed dram-drinking visitors
0:20:52 > 0:20:54are Bonnie Prince Charlie
0:20:54 > 0:20:55and Mary, Queen of Scots.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00Mary, Queen of Scots, this was seemingly the stopping point
0:21:00 > 0:21:05or halfway house between Holyrood Palace and Craigmillar Castle.
0:21:06 > 0:21:11It's very, very likely that she was sitting in these rooms with
0:21:11 > 0:21:14her courtiers while they're preparing the horses to
0:21:14 > 0:21:16carry on for the final part of the journey.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19Bonnie Prince Charlie did his battle plan
0:21:19 > 0:21:21for the Battle of Prestonpans here.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25September 1745, he was sitting in here...
0:21:26 > 0:21:28..getting wined and dined,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31enjoying his evening and up for it,
0:21:31 > 0:21:33and getting his lieutenants up for it.
0:21:33 > 0:21:34And that's brilliant.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41But Anthony reckons this pub's a knockout for another reason.
0:21:43 > 0:21:44Skittles, anyone?
0:21:47 > 0:21:48Ohhh!
0:21:49 > 0:21:51It's quite painful in the morning when you get up,
0:21:51 > 0:21:55cos you do thump yourself about, landing on your knees.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00Skittles dates back to around 1630,
0:22:00 > 0:22:02and this alley is one of the oldest in Scotland.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08King James VI is even said to have played here and had such a good time
0:22:08 > 0:22:11that he gave the landlord a ram's head snuffbox.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16Anthony is certainly bowled over by the Sheep Heid.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18See what I did there, Kingy?
0:22:18 > 0:22:19Genius, dude, genius.
0:22:24 > 0:22:25BAGPIPE MUSIC
0:22:25 > 0:22:30Back on our historic Edinburgh pub tour, we've come to the Royal Mile.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34Yep, time to "hang out" in another boozer.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38Here, mate, what happened, then, to Burke and Hare?
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Well, I can tell you all about that. I mean, Hare, well, he literally got
0:22:41 > 0:22:46away with murder, as did Dr Robert Knox. But Burke...
0:22:46 > 0:22:47..hanged.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51Crumbs. Here, what about Deacon Brodie's, then?
0:22:51 > 0:22:55Well, I do believe that it witnessed the whole very, very public spectacle.
0:22:55 > 0:22:56Did it?
0:22:58 > 0:23:03Sitting on the Lawnmarket since 1806, Deacon Brodie's has
0:23:03 > 0:23:07witnessed its fair share of public executions.
0:23:07 > 0:23:12Even its namesake, Deacon Brodie, went to the gallows in 1788.
0:23:12 > 0:23:17But if you were in this pub 40 years later in January 1829,
0:23:17 > 0:23:21you would have had a cracking view of Burke's hanging.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25Professor of Law Lindsay Farmer can give us the lowdown on the stringing up.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30- Hello, Lindsay. Dave, nice to meet you.- Hi, nice to meet you. - Nice to see you.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34- I've got some beers in for you. - Ah, you kind man!- What a nice fellow! Cheers for those.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36Lindsay, I believe that this pub had something to do with
0:23:36 > 0:23:38the Burke hanging. Is that right?
0:23:38 > 0:23:44After 1785, the public executions in Edinburgh took place here in the Lawnmarket.
0:23:44 > 0:23:49So William Burke was hung just outside of the front door of the pub here,
0:23:49 > 0:23:51and there was said to be a crowd of around about
0:23:51 > 0:23:54- 20-25,000 people on the Lawnmarket. - Really?- Wow!
0:23:54 > 0:23:59Which, it was claimed, was the biggest crowd at the time for a public execution.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01So I've got here a picture, also.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04This is a contemporary print and you can see the platform.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07- So would that be us here? The building we are in now? - That's right.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10That's remarkable! People are hanging out of the windows and everything.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12Outside on the streets of the execution, there would be hawkers,
0:24:12 > 0:24:15there'd be people selling pies, people selling food.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17There would be, you know, there'd be drinks.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20You know, you have to remember, this was in the days when there wasn't TV.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23This was how the message of the law was got across.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26Crikey, Kingy! These hangings sound brutal.
0:24:26 > 0:24:31A drunken crowd eating pies and baying for blood.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35That sounds like an average Saturday afternoon at the footy, if you ask me, Dave.
0:24:35 > 0:24:40Burke was one of the last public executions, so it kind of fell out
0:24:40 > 0:24:42of fashion then as a public spectacle.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46It did, and people's attitudes changed. So people,
0:24:46 > 0:24:49instead of seeing this as a kind of a public lesson,
0:24:49 > 0:24:52they started to regard it as something horrifying,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55as something that no respectable member of society would want to see.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59I can't say I blame them.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02A public hanging would definitely put me off my pint.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06Hear, hear, mucker. But, as you know, Burke wasn't the only infamous
0:25:06 > 0:25:10Edinburgh villain to be snared by the hangman's noose outside this boozer.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15It connects in an interesting way to Deacon Brodie...
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Oh, right! This is where we are now, the pub, the Deacon Brodie.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21Deacon Brodie was a famous Edinburgh citizen,
0:25:21 > 0:25:25the model for the Jekyll and Hyde story for Robert Louis Stevenson.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28He was a cabinet-maker. He would visit the homes of his clients,
0:25:28 > 0:25:31he would take impressions of keys, and then he and his gang would go
0:25:31 > 0:25:36back at night and use the keys they'd made to break in and burgle.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38So Deacon Brodie was also one of the first people to be
0:25:38 > 0:25:43hung here in the Lawnmarket, and he was launched into eternity, as they say.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46- What a thought!- I'm very glad it's a thing of the past.
0:25:46 > 0:25:47Yes, me, too. Indeed.
0:25:48 > 0:25:53The days of hanging might be over, but that gruesome duo Burke and Hare
0:25:53 > 0:25:56live on in Edinburgh's pub music.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59And here is a man who can give us a wee tune - Robin Laing.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01Hello, Robin, it's Dave.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04If we can hear him above the Rabbie, that is.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07So, Robin, what sort of events inspire your music?
0:26:07 > 0:26:10Stories about things that happened in Edinburgh.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12Stories about industrial heritage.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16Interesting stories. I love stories, especially the gruesome ones.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19So have you got any ones for - particularly the gruesome ones -
0:26:19 > 0:26:20have you got any ones for Burke and Hare?
0:26:20 > 0:26:25I have, yes. I wrote a song, oh, many years ago now in the 1980s,
0:26:25 > 0:26:27about Burke and Hare.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30I probably was under the same misapprehension,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33as most people in Edinburgh these days, that they were body snatchers.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37- Aye.- Yes, yeah.- They were just serial murderers.- Aye.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39Mm, that's pretty gruesome.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42So what was it that inspired this song?
0:26:42 > 0:26:45A great story, and I came across it listening to kids doing
0:26:45 > 0:26:48skipping rhymes about, er...
0:26:48 > 0:26:52Up the close, and doun the stair But and ben wi' Burke and Hare.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55Burke's the butcher, Hare's the thief,
0:26:55 > 0:26:58Knox the boy that buys the beef.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01And, you know, kids love this story of Burke and Hare.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05- So can we hear it?- Of course. It's called Burke And Hare.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07# Burke and Hare were a terrible pair
0:27:07 > 0:27:09# Their deeds were beyond belief
0:27:09 > 0:27:12# They worked underground in Edinburgh town
0:27:12 > 0:27:14# The cruellest kind of thief
0:27:14 > 0:27:17# For they stole the life from the city's poor
0:27:17 > 0:27:19# The city's waifs and strays
0:27:19 > 0:27:21# Got them drunk, laid them on the bunk
0:27:21 > 0:27:24# And smothered their lives away, the swine.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26# They smothered their lives away. #
0:27:29 > 0:27:30That's brilliant.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36From murderous schemes and ghostly goings-on
0:27:36 > 0:27:39to a couple of public hangings.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43Crikes, it's been a striking 19th-century Edinburgh pub crawl.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47Tell you what, though, glad I was only born 30 years ago.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50Tee-hee-hee! Give over, will you?
0:27:51 > 0:27:56Si, we have to end a great day in the city of contrasts with a wee dram.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58Och, aye.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03Pub trivia time. Do you know the difference between a surgeon and a barber?
0:28:03 > 0:28:06Well, one cuts hair - not that we've seen that for a while -
0:28:06 > 0:28:08and the other one dissects bodies.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11Well, up to 1745, they were one and the same,
0:28:11 > 0:28:15and the barber-surgeon would be responsible for such tasks as
0:28:15 > 0:28:18shaving your beard, pulling your teeth, lancing your boils, letting your blood
0:28:18 > 0:28:20and even performing minor surgery.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25- Really?- Yep.- Flippin' heck!
0:28:25 > 0:28:26Well, I'll tell you what, mate.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29Next time I go to the barber's, I'm going to be careful what I ask for.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31TOGETHER: Slainte!