Burke and Hare



Tae help the folk in medical school, word is passed around

A body nae mair than ten days auld will bring in fourteen pound.

It's a terrible thing, but truth tae say ---in this age o' greed

A man's worth little when he's alive, but plenty when he's deid.



cho:

An' it's doon the close an' up the stair

A but-an'-ben wi' Burke and Hare

Burke's the butcher, Hare's the thief

And Knox is the man that buys the beef.



So in the dark of mony a nicht, when a' guid folks are sleeping

By the dyke and in the kirkyard come twa shadows creeping.

An' mony a man that's cauld richt thru an' safely hid away

He never thocht it wisnae the last he'd see the licht o'day.



But no contentit wi' howkin' deid, a ploy that aye gets harder

They've started pickin' healthy folk, and then committin' murder.

An' a' arood the countryside creeps a fearsome pair---

Be ye man or wife or wean, ye're nae safe from Burke and Hare.



Men and women, auld and young, the sickly and the hale

Were murdered, packed up and sent off tae Knox's human sale.

That man o' skill wi' subjects warm was frequently supplied,

Nor did he question where or how the person brought had died.



But noo auld Reekie can sleep at last; these two will trade nae mair

It's the gallows tree for William Burke, and a pauper's grave for Hare.



@outlaw @Scots

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