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Matthew Clydesdale
Matthew Clydesdale, a Lanarkshire miner, was hanged for murder on
the fourth of November 1818. His trial had taken place at Glasgow
and the judges there had ordered that his remains were to be publicly
dissected and anatomized by Professor Jeffrey of Glasgow University.
Following his public hanging, Clydesdale鈥檚 body was taken to the
Medical College at the university. The body was later being used
for a demonstration when the corpse was suddenly brought back to
life by an electric shock administered by Professor Jeffrey. Clydesdale
stood up and looked at the professor and at the astonished students.
Not in the least disturbed, Professor Jeffrey took out a lancet
and plunged it into the bewildered man鈥檚 jugular vein, who fell
on the floor "like a slaughtered ox on the blow of a butcher". This
was the last order for dissection made by the Circuit judges at
Glasgow.
Robert Johnstone
Later in the year, Robert Johnstone, a 23
year old armed robber, was brought to the gallows. As usual, the
Edinburgh crowd turned up in force to witness the day鈥檚 events at
Parliament Square.
Sensationally,after the drop fell at three in the afternoon, Johnstone
was left still alive when the gallows equipment failed. An exceptionally
tall man, Johnstone鈥檚 toes could clearly be seen still touching
the half opened trap doors.The horrific spectacle swiftly turned
the mood of the crowd against the authorities. The City Guard and
magistrates were forced to retreat by missiles thrown by the onlookers.
A man then leapt onto the platform and cut Johnstone down with a
knife, whereupon the crowd rushed the gallows. While the army was
being drafted in to control the mayhem, the unconscious Johnstone
was being carried around by the crowd. They left with the body and
tried to escape down the High Street,until they encountered a force
of constables from the nearby Police Office. Dropping Johnstone
to the ground, the mob turned and ran.
Showing no signs of life, Johnson was taken to the Police Office,
where a surgeon confirmed that he was still alive. Johnstone was
transported back to the gallows by the army, where he was hung for
a second time. The whole affair had taken some eight hours. The
final victim was the English hangman, John Foster. Declared incompetent
by the Edinburgh authorities, his services were never to be required
again by the city.
Burke and
Hare
The crimes of William Burke and William Hare have become part of
Scottish folklore. The pair provided bodies to Professor Robert
Knox at the Edinburgh Medical School. The usual source of cadavers
lay in the robbing of the graves of the recently deceased, but Burke
and Hare preferred to obtain their corpses through the simple strategy
of murder.
At the trial, Hare provided evidence for the crown against Burke
, who was left to face the full force of the law on his own. He
was setenced accordingly on the 28th of January 1829. Due to the
terrible nature of his crimes, provision was made for the treatment
of Burke鈥檚 body following his execution, where an example would
be made of him.
It was inevitable that Burke would be subjected to the same fate
as his victims. On the day following the hanging, Burke鈥檚 body was
dissected for the subject of a lecture by a Professor Munro. The
professor paid special attention to the murderer鈥檚 brain. The public
got their opportunity to revile Burke鈥檚 remains on the 30th, when
an estimated crowd of some 25,000 filed past what remained of the
body. Many spat to show their contempt. Burke鈥檚 skin was tanned
into leather and made into purses and because he had murdered for
money, his own hide became a container for coins.
Burke鈥檚 skeleton can be seen to this day in a glass case at the
Edinburgh Medical School. He had refused his victims the right to
a burial, so it is his fate to never receive one.
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