Actual Education Interactive Guided Tours

Bodysnatchers and Burke and Hare
Due Late 2009

'Bodysnatchers' - the very phrase struck terror into the hearts into Old Edinburgh residents in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Not everyone stopped at stealing corpses however and you may be surprised to find that the two infamous Irishmen Burke and Hare have one little surprise... William Burke and William Hare were not bodysnatchers...nor were they the first to realise that murder was often preferable to grave robbing...

This unique virtual tour takes you around some of the Edinburgh locations linked to the bodysnatchers and also to the two Irish murderers. Perfect if you wish to take your own tour around some of the scenes of Edinburgh’s dark and horrible past…

Features

• Over 50 panoramic scenesscene has 'full screen' capability
• Each tour takes you around areas of Edinburgh linked to this fascinating period in our history
• All the important locations are covered
• This tour consists of detailed, interesting text and accompanying audio
• This tour acts as the perfect accompaniment to an actual visit to Edinburgh's Old Town

Bodysnatchers Tour 1 -
Bodysnatchers, Resurrectionists and Anatomists

This virtual tour reveals the darker side of Edinburgh's Enlightenment. Greyfriars Kirkyard, St Cuthbert's Kirkyard, New Calton and Colinton Kirkyard are all visited as we learn about the impact that the Resurrectionists had on life (and death) in old Edinburgh. We learn about the Edinburgh Mob and its frequent riots and 'Half Hangit Maggie Dickson' who survived her own execution...and a tug-of-war between her family and the medical students who were trying to haul her off for dissection at an anatomy theatre!

Burke and Hare Tour 2 -
Poverty in Old Edinburgh

Our second virtual tour lets us discover just how hard life was for Edinburgh’s poor. This is important for our understanding and we visit Blackfriars Street, now a busy side street off the Royal Mile but once a stinking Wynd of slum houses where crime and vice were rife…perfect preying grounds for murderers Burke and Hare who we meet in our next tour.

Burke and Hare Tour 3 -
Burke and Hare, The West Port Murderers

The third guided tour takes you around locations forever linked to two Irishmen who would almost definitely have faded into obscurity had it not been for their murderous spree in 1828. William Burke and William Hare, together with Nelly McDougal and Maggie Laird preyed on some of the poor and unfortunate people who they encountered in and around Edinburgh's Old Town. The site of their slum dwelling in Tanner's Close in the West Port, near to the Grassmarket features in our tour as does Stevenlaw's Close where 'Daft Jamie' Wilson spent his last night before he was murdered by Burke and Hare. We also take in the locations of other murders.

Although much of Edinburgh's Old Town was swept away in the Improvement Acts of the Victorian period, the streets remain and it is possible to retrace the footsteps Burke and Hare would have taken, using a little imagination of course.

We learn about the Christmas Eve to Christmas Day trial and the Lawnmarket for Burke's date with destiny at the old execution spot at the head of Libberton's Wynd.

See some screenshots from our panoramic images at the Bodysnatchers and Burke and Hare Screenshot Gallery.

................

(Panoramic scene from our "Bodysnatchers and Burke and Hare Interactive Guided Tour". Use your mouse to control this scene. Double click to access the 'full screen' feature.)

(Video preview of our "Bodysnatchers and Burke and Hare" CD-ROM)

(Click the 'play' button to see a slideshow of screenshots from our "Bodysnatchers and Burke and Hare Interactive Guided Tour" CD-ROM)

(Our "Bodysnatchers and Burke and Hare Interactive Guided Tour" CD-ROM cover)

You may also be interested in the following Interactive Guided Tours;

The Edinburgh's History Collection - Interactive Guided Tours of Edinburgh's Old Town and other Edinburgh topics.