The Burke and Hare

The Burke and Hare pub/strip joint/lap dancing club, one of Edinburgh's less salubrious venues, is situated on West Port.

Over a period of about ten months in 1828 a series of murders were committed along the West Port. The killings were attributed to two Irish immigrants, William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses of their 16 victims, 'allegedly" to Doctor Robert Knox as dissection material for his private anatomy school.

After their arrest Hare turned King's evidence and was eventually released. Burke, however, was found guilty and hanged at 8.15 am on 28 January 1829, a day of torrential rain, in front of a crowd 25,000 strong. In accordance with the Murder Act then in force Burke was then publicly dissected in the anatomy theatre of the University's Old College by Professor Alexander Monro. Burke's skeleton is still displayed at the University of Edinburgh's Anatomy Museum, and his death mask and items made from his tanned skin are exhibited at Surgeons' Hall.