Burke And Hare

Welcome to bonnie Scotland.

It is the year of Our Lord 1828.

And this is where I work,

the market square in Edinburgh,

our capital city.

They're calling this

the Scottish Enlightenment.

Enlightenment?

You could have fooled me.

I mean,

look at the state ofthem.

The only people round here

looking to be enlightened

are the medical students.

They come to study

at the feet of our famous doctors.

Edinburgh is the medical capital

ofthe world.

Get yourselves

an education there, lads.

On one side ofthe city,

you have Barclay's School of Anatomy,

And that's run by the esteemed surgeon

Doctor Robert Knox.

Now some say that he's the finest

surgeon in all of Scotland.

All I can say about Doctor Knox

is that he dresses well.

Quite the dandy.

Ah, there's nothing like starting off

a new term with a fresh corpse.

-- Is there, Patterson?

-- Indeed, sir.

Today I think I shall commence

by removing the top ofthe cranium.

It will certainly give the freshmen

something to write home about.

And on the other side ofthe city...

you've got Scotland's

Royal College of Surgeons.

And that's run

by Professor Alexander Monro.

He's...

how do you put it?

Old-school.

That would be an artery.

Anyway, you'll have to excuse me

for a wee moment, ladies and gentlemen.

It's... show time.

Maggie O'Donnell ofthe West Port,

also known as Mad Maggie.

You are convicted ofthe heinous crimes

of thievery,

prostitution, public drunkenness,

and a bad attitude.

Do you have anything to say

before you are consigned to hell?

Aye!

Only that I hope it's as hot down

there as they say it is!

You see, you can only teach anatomy

by cutting up people's bodies.

And the law ofthe land says

you can only cut up bodies

of people like Mad Maggie here,

the recently deceased.

So we sell them

to the highest bidder.

But now, Professor Monro,

the swine,

has used his influence

to pass a new city by law.

Where's the body, Angus?

But we had an arrangement.

Professor Monro at the Royal College

gets all the bodies now.

Now when the demand for

a certain commodity exceeds supply,

it creates a business opportunity

just waiting for the right kind

of clever entrepreneurs to step in.

Ladies and gentlemen, gather round!

Gather round!

My name is William Burke.

Like many of you,

my colleague Mr. Hare and I

came to this land looking for work.

We've dug canals, we've built roads,

we've started a new life.

But none of us has forgotten that

Emerald Isle from which we came.

That mystical land where a man--

- - Get to the bloody point, Willy.

- - Right, sorry.

In the County of Donegal,

on the highest, greenest slopes,

there grows a certain moss

which any educated person will tell you

cures all known afflictions.

The smallest cut,

ladies and gentlemen,

can let in poisons from the earth

and the air,

and before you know it,

your very brain starts to boil.

But a touch ofthe moss from the hills

of Donegal, ladies and gentlemen,

and it's gone in a flash.

A boil appears.

You pay it no mind.

But suddenly there's a second!

And a third!

And before you know it,

the sufferings of Job are upon you!

A wart, madam.

Starts off small, doesn't it?

But without a touch ofthe moss,

it can grow as big as your head!

This is never moss.

It's cheese mould.

They're a pair of confidence men!

You bastards!

Fetch a constable!

Gentlemen!

Gentlemen, the Lord created

the heavens and the earth.

But His greatest work,

His most perfect creation is Man.

The study of human anatomy,

therefore,

is nothing less than a direct insight

into the mind of God.

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