The Life Mask and Death Mask of Burke

Burke & Hare are said to have murdered at least 16 people, possibly up to 30, in Scotland’s capital city of Edinburgh. The infamous criminal pair sold the corpses of their innocent victims to anatomy professor and lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, Dr Robert Knox, who used them for dissection and research. Their chilling crimes in the gothic city ended 181 years ago when Burke was found guilty and publicly executed. Hare escaped the hangman after giving evidence against his partner in crime.

The story of how the two heads and the hangman’s noose ended up at Inveraray Jail, in the west of Scotland, remains unexplained since neither Burke nor Hare were ever held at the prison.  A life mask is thought to have been made of Hare during the trial whilst Burke’s shaven head was cast following his public hanging. A handful of masks are known to exist with one in the USA, Swansea and St Andrews and Edinburgh Universities.

Inveraray Jail, Argyll

Unfortunately, we have never been able to find out how they came to be here at the jail. It may be due to the new ‘science’ called phrenology which was popular at that time. It was believed the shape and contours of a person’s head could dictate their personality and ‘experts’ held talks across the country using casts of the heads of infamous criminals to illustrate their point.

With the increased awareness of Burke & Hare generated from the release of the new movie this weekend, it is a very relevant time to finally put them on display.   We are looking forward to sharing the fascinating artefacts with our visitors this weekend and plan to keep them on display going forward.

What was that?!

With its gruesome history and haunting tales, Inveraray Jail is getting into the Halloween spirit this weekend. Two late night ghost hunts, which are now fully booked, are taking place on Saturday and Sunday night. Unexplained sightings and unusual activity recorded by visitors, staff and paranormal investigators suggest that the establishment is haunted. Meanwhile, the jail’s real life characters are ready to share with visitors how prisoners were treated in the 19th century. 6000 men, women and children were tried and served sentences in the jail between 1820 and 1889. The jail also features in popular TV programme Most Haunted Series 13, which was released on DVD last week.

On the alert!

A psychic medium was said to have picked up a spiritual presence during a real-life ghost hunt at Argyll’s 19th century courthouse and prison, Inveraray Jail, at the weekend.

More than 6,000 men, women and children were tried and served sentences in the jail between 1820 and 1889.

Today, it is a popular visitor attraction and museum at the town of Inveraray, on Loch Fyne.

Paranormal investigations at the jail provide both novices and enthusiasts the opportunity to communicate with the traumatised spirits of old prisoners.

Saturday night’s event, hosted by Ghost Events Scotland, Scotland’s leading paranormal events company, was attended by 16 people.

The evening started with a walk around the location with a psychic mediums.

Mark Turner, paranormal investigator at Ghost Events Scotland, said: “Our psychic medium picked up the presence of a woman in the old prison block. It was thought she was a nasty character who disliked children.”

The event continued in the dark with interactive experiments which included filmed vigils, trigger object experiments, electronic voice phenomenon experiments and a variety of other ghost hunting gadgets.

Ending at 4am yesterday, participants looked at the recordings to see the results.

Mr Turner added: “One of our participants felt a sensation in his ribs as if he had been punched and claimed to have seen a green light moving through the air. A woman also felt that someone was touching her head.

“Our voice recordings, which are recorded below the human hearing frequency, picked up voices in response to questions asked by our participants. It is not clear what is exactly said but there are sounds of loud shouting. Also, in the new prison block, there were sounds of footsteps and tapping.”

The next paranormal investigation at the jail take place on February 20, May 8, September 11 and November 6 next year. Advance booking is essential. For further details www.inverarayjail.co.uk or call 01499 302 381.

Ghost Hunting events open to the public take place throughout the year at Argyll’s 19^th century courthouse and prison – Inveraray Jail.   6000 men, women and children were tried and served sentences in the jail between 1820 and 1889. Today, it is a popular visitor attraction and museum. Unexplained sightings and unusual activity recorded by visitors, staff and paranormal investigators suggest that the establishment is haunted.  With a history of depression, torture, death and damnation and a haunting reputation, the jail was recently an obvious venue for TV programme Most Haunted earlier this year.

Arriving at 10pm at the eerie jail, just off the banks of the misty Loch Fyne, brave event goers are greeted by Ghost Events Scotland, Scotland’s leading paranormal events company.  The opportunity to communicate with the traumatised spirits of old prisoners – without the gimmicks – begins.

The Ghost Hunting nights start with a walk around the location with one of Ghost Events Scotland’s Psychic Mediums in search for spiritual presences. The lights go out and the event continues in the dark with interactive experiments which include filmed vigils, trigger object experiments, Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) experiments and a variety of other ghost hunting gadgets.  Ending at 4am, participants look back at the recordings to see the results.

On the Look out for Paranormal Activity

Mark Turner, Paranormal Investigator at Ghost Events said: “We have carried out investigations for several years now at Inveraray Jail.  We are starting to notice several patterns in our findings particularly with the noises and sounds we have recorded.  The jail certainly has a high level of paranormal activity in comparison with many other sites we have visited around Scotland.  This nation is blessed with such rich history so it’s the ideal place to search old buildings and historic landmarks for evidence of the afterlife amid the countless reports of paranormal activity.”

Most of our staff at Inveraray Jail have their own stories on ghostly sightings and unexplained activity around the jail and many visitors share with us their stories and pictures, from a feeling they got in a certain room to an unexplained object in their photograph.  Cell 10 is the one to watch!

For further details or to book event tickets please visit www.inverarayjail.co.uk or www.ghostevents.co.uk

The Judge

The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in the country and it deals with all serious crimes, including murder and rape, and other cases which by reason of the potential length of the sentence in the event of a conviction are too serious to be disposed of in the Sheriff Court.  From early times the effective administration of justice required the judges of the High Court to travel throughout the kingdom on circuit.  In time, three areas were designated as circuits, namely, the northern circuit comprising the towns of Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness;  the southern circuit comprising Ayr, Dumfries and Jedburgh;  and the western circuit comprising Glasgow, Stirling and Inveraray.

The reason why a burgh of modest size and relatively remote location such as Inveraray was included as a circuit town along with the large towns of Glasgow and Stirling is historical.  The office of Lord Justice General, the head of the High Court of Justiciary, was originally held as a hereditary office by the Earls of Argyll.  The office was resigned into the hands of Charles I in 1628 in return for which there was reserved to the Argyll family the office of Justiciar-General for the Sheriffdom of Argyll and Tarbert and the Hebridean Isles.  After the rising of 1745 the hereditary jurisdictions of the Clan chiefs (including that of Clan Campbell) were abolished.  As a consequence, the jurisdiction of the Duke of Argyll ceased and was replaced by that of the High Court of Justiciary.  Argyll and Bute were incorporated into the western circuit with Inveraray designated as the circuit town.

The circuit judges thereafter made periodic visits disposing of such cases as there were.  Lord Cockburn referred in his book, “Circuit Journeys” to a number of visits to Inveraray between 1838 and 1850.  He wrote vividly of the grand scenery of Argyll and commented in less favourable terms on the quality of justice sometimes dispensed by Argyll juries.  As the 19th century progressed business at Inveraray, never abundant, declined, possibly associated with the general rural depopulation of the times.  The journey from Edinburgh for the legal luminaries was tedious.  No railway connected Inveraray to centres of population.  For reasons of convenience the resident sheriff was transferred in 1903 to Dunoon, although that court occasionally sat at Inveraray just as today the sheriff at Dunoon sometimes sits at Lochgilphead.  Many years went by without a case being heard by the High Court.  There was a brief flurry of circuit business in 1908 when two cases were dealt with.

Visits by the court to a circuit town were, until 30 or 40 years ago, accompanied by pomp and ceremony.  They were also major social events.  There was a procession to the court by judge, counsel and local dignitaries.  A military guard of honour was provided;  the arrival of the judge on the bench was heralded by a fanfare of trumpets, and there were dinners and civic receptions.  These days have gone.  The last occasion when the judge inspected a guard of honour is believed to have been in the early 1970s when a detachment of the Gordon Highlanders was reviewed outside the court building at Aberdeen.  In criminal circles in Glasgow, when someone was in severe trouble he was liable to be told:  “It’s the Trumpets fer you!”  But the trumpeters too vanished mainly because, with the growth of crime, visits of the High Court to the circuit towns became frequent rather than occasional.  Circuit dinners were notorious and even scandalous due to the liberal flow of alcohol and much disliked by the Bench because the judges as a body had to subscribe towards the costs of a circuit dinner.  All that remains of the old days is a civic lunch here and there and in some places, prayers said from the Bench by the parish minister.

Whether or not there was a premonition that this might be the last sitting of the High Court in Inveraray, the authorities were prepared to make the most of it.  The opening scene is described in picturesque terms in the edition of the Oban Times immediately following the trial.

“          Shortly before 10 a.m. the pipers of the 8th Argylls struck up a marching tune at the Territorial Hall at the south end of the burgh, and a strong section of this distinguished regiment, under command of Captain Grant Forman, Lochgoilhead, entered the highway at Newtown, and carried on to the Argyll Arms Hotel, where Lord Wark, the presiding Judge, Advocates, and Court officials were in residence.  Other officers present were Lieut.-Colonel Bruce A. Campbell, Soroba House, Oban, Commanding Officer 8th Argylls;  Major Lockie, Secretary of the Territorial Force Association;  Captain and Adjutant George Malcolm yr. of Poltalloch;  Captain Campbell, yr. of Succoth;  and Lieut. Lockie, Drum-Major Seton, D.C.M., and Pipe-Major George MacDonald.  The military were drawn up in two lines.  The old Parish Church bell began to toll, and a large crowd surged on to the ground known as the Mercat Cross in front of the arches leading on to the old beech tree avenue.

Lord Wark stepped out from the hotel, and inspected the guard of honour.  At the sharp word of command, the Territorials fixed bayonets, and the order ‘present arms’ was smartly responded to.  The procession was formed.  Gaily accoutred pursuivants from Edinburgh with silver trumpets;  Inveraray Town Council guarded by two halberdiers in picturesque red coats trimmed with yellow facings.  School children looked on, their young minds filled with wonder and amazement at the brilliant and impressive sight before them.  On such procession their ancestors had gazed centuries ago”.

The procession comprised important people of the county, including Sheriff Principal J.P. Dickson, K.C., Sheriff McMaster Campbell, Campbeltown, the Provost of Inveraray, the Chief Constable of Argyll and his Deputy, and the Vice Convenor of the County representing the Duke of Argyll who, although expected, was unaccountably absent.

The case was one of murder.  At that time the punishment for murder was death by hanging.  Anyone old enough to remember capital murder trials will recall the tense atmosphere in the court as soon as the accused entered the dock because everyone knew that as a result of what might be said and decided in court, that person might die.  If convicted, he would be sentenced by the judge who would briefly put an 18th century tricorn black hat on his head and utter the awful words “This sentence is pronounced for doom”.  It is not surprising therefore that the court room was packed while a large crowd remained expectantly in the streets.

The Crown was represented by Mr. John Cameron, Advocate Depute, who no doubt relished the irony of a Cameron prosecuting in Campbell territory.  The accused was defended by Mr. David King Murray, K.C.  The accused was Thomas Joseph Ledwidge, described in the indictment as “a billiard saloon attendant”.  The incident in question took place in or near Argyll Square, Oban.  Ledwidge was accused of assaulting Hugh Martin of Drimvargie Terrace, Oban by striking him on the face and head and knocking him down, whereby he received injuries from which he died.

The deceased, it appears, was a habitual drunkard addicted to drinking, amongst other things, methylated spirits.  He had many convictions for drunkenness, molesting the police and assault.  On the day in question his behaviour was aggressive and he was making a nuisance of himself in Argyll Square.  The accused came up to Martin complaining about allegedly indecent behaviour by him towards his wife.  A quarrel developed and the accused struck him a blow causing him to fall to the ground.  He was assisted to his feet and then followed the accused, who had made his way towards “Messrs Boots’s shop”.  Martin was shouting at him whereupon the accused gave him what was described by witnesses variously as “a smart blow on the face” or “more a jab than a blow” causing him to fall to the ground.  Martin became unconscious and never regained consciousness.  The medical evidence was that there was no fracture of the skull but there was a haemorrhage within the skull which could have been caused by Martin’s head having come into contact with the road surface.  The post mortem revealed that the deceased was “sodden with drink” and there was medical evidence that the amount of methylated spirits drunk by the deceased had an effect on the arteries whereby blood vessels would tend to be more easily ruptured than normal.  In this discouraging situation for the Crown at the end of its case, the Advocate Depute indicated that he was withdrawing the libel so far as charging the accused with murder but would be asking for a verdict of culpable homicide.  The presiding judge stated that in his opinion the Advocate Depute was exercising “a wise discretion.”

The accused gave evidence to the effect that Martin was pestering him and waving his hands in an aggressive manner.  In trying to get rid of him, he finally gave him a jab.  He had no intention of seriously hurting him.

After speeches from counsel and directions given by the judge, the jury retired and after five minutes they returned with a unanimous verdict of not guilty.  To have convicted Ledwidge of culpable homicide, the jury would have had to be satisfied that he had assaulted Martin and that the result of the assault was his death.  That verdict was clearly open to the jury if they were satisfied that the blow was of the character described as “a smart blow.”  On the other hand it was open to the jury to regard “the jab” as described by the accused in evidence as a means merely of ridding himself from Martin’s unwelcome attentions without any intention to do him any harm.  Whatever the legal niceties the jury clearly took a broad and unhesitating view of the justice of the matter.

When the verdict was announced applause broke out in the court and the public were rebuked by Lord Wark, saying, “This is a court of justice.  It is not a theatre”.  This admonition was quite appropriate in the circumstances, but in a wider context his Lordship was arguably wrong.  Looking at the pageantry of the occasion, the guard of honour, the halberdiers, the trumpeters, the tolling of the Parish Church bell, the procession, the crowds, the wigs and gowns, the tension of the trial, and the jury’s verdict, it can be fairly described as pure theatre.  It is said that afterwards there was some mutterings from higher authority about the cost of such a magnificent display as a setting for a trial concerning a minor scuffle which happened to have fatal consequences.  In retrospect, it does not matter.  Justice had been dispensed at justiciary level since at least the late Middle Ages and Inveraray justice was raised to permanent, if controversial, prominence by the Appin murder trial and the novels of Robert Louis Stevenson.  So it was fitting that the end of this long association should be carried out with style.

After scolding those who applauded in court, Lord Wark addressed the magistrates and Town Council congratulating them on the rarity of serious crime in Argyll.  It was over 25 years since the High Court had been in Inveraray and he sincerely hoped that “Another similar period would elapse before another court was held.”  In fact, exactly 20 years later a order was made making Oban the circuit town for Argyll instead of Inveraray.  Only the handsome court house and jail now so well exhibited remain as a memorial to these times.

In reporting the trial which was about to take place the Oban Times stated “Lord Wark will hold an official or circuit dinner in the evening in the Argyll Arms Hotel at which there will be at least 30 guests.”  There is no record as to how well this occasion was enjoyed.

Is this a Ghost?

A snapshot taken by a visitor to Inveraray Jail in Argyll has fuelled debate over whether the almost 200-year-old year old court house and prison is haunted.

The jail, which is recognized as one of the spookiest places in Scotland, is a popular destination for paranormal investigators, including the team for tv’s Most Haunted, who spent a night at the jail earlier this month.

Over the years many visitors to the former prison by the side of Loch Fyne in Argyll have complained of uneasy feelings, strange noises and, in some cases, taken photographs which later show unexplained images.

As the County Court anyone from the surrounding area sentenced to prison or transportation would have spent time in the jail where children as young as seven could be detained for minor crimes and subjected to whippings or pointless manual labour.

“The place in the prison that most people react to is cell 10. It doesn’t tend to be something people see so much as a feeling they get there. During the height of the X Files days we used to call it Cell X for obvious reasons,” said Gavin Dick, manager of Inveraray Jail.

“In the kitchen, which is in many ways the most unremarkable room we have had people sense that there’s someone cowering behind the door. There are various areas that cause reactions, and not just on ghost hunts.”

One woman, who visited the jail with her husband and young daughter, complained of having sensed an ‘unsettling presence’ in the prison and was surprised to discover a blurred image in one of her photographs which she didn’t notice when the picture was taken.

”We found the jail very interesting but for myself very scary,” she wrote to prison staff after the event.

”I felt really ill in the old jail. As soon as I walked in my chest tightened and I felt very sick and dizzy.

”I felt as if someone was with us all the way round and was watching us. I couldn’t wait to get out.

”When we got back to our guest house we looked at our photos and to our amazement there is a misty figure standing between the airing cells [in the court yard].

”We cannot explain things but we felt very strange. There is definitely something there. If we were uneasy in the daytime what must it be like at night in the pitch black?”

A recent event at Inveraray Jail, organised by paranormal research team Ghost Finders Scotland, uncovered what they believe to be good examples of Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP).

EVP, made famous in the film White Noise starring Michael Keaton, are electronic recordings that reveal sounds resembling words which many paranormal investigators interpret as the voices of ghosts.

George Allison, 61, a works manager from Glasgow, who took part in a recent ghost hunt at Inveraray jail is convinced he caught a voice on tape.

“People were talking about a ghost which had been running about in the corridor poking people in the back. When I asked if there was anyone there, and if they had hit someone, we could clearly hear a voice say ‘yes, I have’ when the tape was played back.”

Ghostly experiences

A booming interest in death is breathing new life into old haunts.
The search for ghosts and all things paranormal has created a multi-billion pound industry with more than 60 per cent of people admitting they believe in the spirit world.

Where once hotels, visitor attractions and retailers would never admit to having a ghost or anything supernatural they are now queuing up to promote life after death experiences with charities, amateur ghost hunting groups and organised businesses all joining in.

“There’s certainly been a vastly increased interest in the paranormal, not necessarily an increased intellectual interest, but an increased general interest thanks to television,” said Richard Holland, Editor of Paranormal Magazine.
“Once upon a time the last thing a hotel would want you to know would be if the bedroom you were staying in was haunted for fear of driving off custom, now I’m sure they’d take out a double page advert to tell the world.
“Ten years ago the psychical research society counted something like 15 or 20 ghost hunting groups in the country, people who actually went out to try to find evidence of ghosts. Now there’s more than 300.
Among Scotland’s spookiest places open to the public for paranormal investigation is Inveraray Jail by the side of Loch Fyne in Argyll.
Over the years many visitors to the former Victorian jail and court house have complained of uneasy feelings, strange noises and, in some cases, taken photographs which later show unexplained images.
As the County Court anyone from the surrounding area sentenced to prison or transportation would have spent time in the jail where children as young as seven could be detained for minor crimes and subjected to whippings or pointless manual labour.
“The place in the prison that most people react to is cell 10. It doesn’t tend to be something people see so much as a feeling they get there. During the height of the X Files days we used to call it Cell X for obvious reasons,” said Gavin Dick, manager of Inveraray Jail.
“In the kitchen, which is the blandest and most unremarkable room we have had people sense that there’s someone cowering behind the door. There are various areas that cause reactions, and not just on ghost hunts.”
One woman, who visited the jail with her husband and young daughter complained of having sensed an unsettling presence in the prison and was surprised to discover a blurred image in one of her photographs which she didn’t notice when the picture was taken.
”We found the jail very interesting but for myself very scary,” she wrote to prison staff after the event.
”I felt really ill in the old jail. As soon as I walked in my chest tightened and I felt very sick and dizzy.
”I felt as if someone was with us all the way round and was watching us. I couldn’t wait to get out.
”When we got back to our guest house we looked at our photos and to our amazement there is a misty figure standing between the airing cells [in the court yard].
”We cannot explain things but we felt very strange. There is definitely something there. If we were uneasy in the daytime what must it be like at night in the pitch black?”
A recent event at Inveraray Jail, organised by Ghost Events Scotland – a business launched three years ago by self-styled paranormal research team Ghost Finders Scotland – uncovered what they believe to be good examples of Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP).
EVP, made famous in the film White Noise starring Michael Keating, are electronic recordings that reveal sounds resembling words which many paranormal investigators interpret as the voices of ghosts or spirits.

“EVP experiments date back to the early 20th century,” said Mark Turner, a paranormal investigator with Ghost Finders Scotland.

“Before that people like Thomas Edison, who invented the light bulb, believed that if people were going to communicate with the spirit world it would be through electronic means.
“He actually thought he would be able to design a devise which would enable him to communicate with the other side.
”Guglielmo Marconi, who invented the telegram, had the same idea about communicating with the spirit world but nothing came of it.”

EVP experiments started in the 1920s when Hereward Carrington, a psychic researcher stated experimenting but it wasn’t until 1959 that the first known case of EVP was reported.
“It happened to Friedrich Juergenson, a Swedish filmmaker. You have to remember that at the time Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) equipment wasn’t available to everyone, it was only the affluent of society with a lot of money or filmmakers who could afford it.” said Mr Turner.
“He was out in a field recording bird sounds for a production he was working on and he got home and analysed the results and what a shock he got when he heard a voice saying ‘my little friedel.’ which was his mother’s nickname for him when he was the child.
“His mother had died 25years earlier. So he undertook years and years of research into this subject. Since then there have been thousands of EVP researchers over the years.”
One recent convert to the cause is George Allison, 61, a works manager from Glasgow, who took part in a recent ghost hunt at Inveraray jail.
“People were talking about a ghost which had been running about in the corridor stabbing people. So I asked ‘are you the one that’s been running about in the corridor and have you stabbed anyone in the back?,” he said, still shaking at the thought.
“When we played it back it said very clearly ‘yes I have.’ It was really terrifying.”
However, according to scientists, people are likely to hear what they want to hear when they put themselves into a scary situation.
Those who watch programmes along the lines of Most Haunted and take an active belief in the paranormal are more likely to interpret these experiences as ghostly, claim the experts.
“If you are sitting waiting for something ghostly to happen in the dark, chances are you are going to get a bit scared; and by getting scared you become even more vigilant and jumpy, so the slightest little thing like a creak can have you jumping out of your skin,” said Dr. Caroline Watt, parapsychologist at the Koestler Parapsychology Unit in Edinburgh University.
“You would be almost guaranteed to have an unusual experience by going on one of these vigils.
“Some places have a reputation and it is hard to escape that. In Mary King’s Close in Edinburgh there is a room called Annie’s room, which is full of children’s toys – so if you know anything about Annie’s room then you expect that you will see or hear the ghost of a child in there.
“Knowing about the place you are going to can affect your interpretation of the experience, it does prime you.”
Among those benefiting from the renewed interest in the spirit world are charities which have found some people far more keen to take part in a sponsored ghost hunt rather than a parachute jump or fun run.
In just five nights Sense Scotland managed to raise more than £22,000 through their connections with Ghost Event Scotland.
“The first one sold out which set the scene for the rest, we’ve held five events with them now and raised over £22,000.” said Andy Hughes, events organiser with Sense Scotland.
“I knew when I decided to use them that programmes like Most Haunted had helped draw the paranormal to the attention of the public, so there was a growing interest in this type of thing among people who had probably never had the opportunity to experience anything like this directly.”

The life and death masks of notorious murderers Burke and Hare along with a genuine hangman’s noose were found lurking in an old store room sparking a mystery as to how they got there.

Neither of the infamous murderers, whose reign of terror came to an end 180 years ago last month (Jan 28) with the public execution of Burke, was ever held at Inveraray nor was anybody ever hanged inside the prison

Unfortunately very little is known about either head, or for that matter the hangman’s noose, and how they came to be here.

Burke and Hare are among the most notorious of Scotland’s criminals but contrary to popular belief the two Irish Labourers were not grave robbers.

Although they supplied bodies to the anatomist Dr Robert Knox, at Surgeons Square, for dissection the pair found it easier to kill rather than dig up their victims.

Prior to the Anatomy Act of 1832, the only legal supply of corpses for medical experiments and teaching were of people condemned to death by the courts.

However as the need to train medical students increased the number of executed criminals fell so Dr Knox was only too glad to receive the fresh bodies from the Irish men without any questions.

It’s believed Burke and Hare murdered at least 16 people and possibly as many as 30 before their crimes were discovered. Hare turned Kings Evidence and escaped the hangman while Burke was publicly executed and his body exhibited before being skinned and dissected.

A number of ghoulish souvenirs were kept, including a book, business card case and a snuff box bound in pieces of his skin. His skeleton is still kept under lock and key at Edinburgh University.

The activities of the former navvies, who had originally moved to Edinburgh to work on the Union Canal, caused a sensation around the world.

At the time, a new ‘science’ called phrenology was a popular as it was believed the shape and contours of a person’s head could dictate their personality and ‘experts’ held talks across the country using casts of the heads of infamous criminals to illustrate their point.

A life mask is known to have been made of Hare during the trial and Burke’s shaven head was cast after his public execution in front of 25,000 people on January 28, 1829.

Although a handful of masks are known to still exist, with at least one in the USA, one in a museum in Swansea and copies at the universities of St Andrews and Edinburgh, they are very rare.

Although there was much public anger at the fact that Hare was allowed to go free all attempts to bring further charges against him failed and he escaped the mob to England.

He is said to have died a blind beggar in London or even emigrated to the United States.

We are now considering whether to exhibit the masks and the mysterious hangman’s noose alongside their existing house of horrors such as an original cat o’ nine tails, thumbs screws, whipping table and a tongue holder for nagging wives which are used to illustrate the history of crime and punishment in Scotland.  Let us know what you think.