A Funeral Party - Exhumed

«…a most extraordinary circumstance that took place on Friday night,

the 31s​ t​ October 1828, in a House in the West Port, Edinburgh,

where an old Woman of the name of Campbell is supposed to have been Murdered,

and her Body Sold to a Medical Doctor.»

— ​Edinburgh​ ​Broadsheet​ 3r​ d​ of

November, 1828

«Up the close and doun the stair

But and been with Burke and Hare

Burke’s the butcher, Hare’s the thief

Knox the boy that buys the beef» — ​19t​ h​ century Edinburgh skipping rhyme

Hare: ​Follow me to my humble lodging

What’s mine is yours, such as it may be

Dr. Knox: ​Enjoy the hospitality, soon you’ll be cold dead anatomy

Hare: ​Along the narrow, crooked wynd

Then through the close, this house you’ll find

Dr. Knox: ​So many honored guests to fete, always an empty bed to let

Chorus: ​A funeral party

Hare: ​Drink up, the hour is growing late

Chorus: ​A funeral party

Dr. Knox: ​The fete will end when you meet your fate

Hare: ​Here you may rest from your journeys

And warm your bones with a dram of whiskey

Dr. Knox: ​Drink to what’s left of your health, soon you’ll be another corpse

to sell

Hare: ​Intoxicated, the room starts to spin

And at that moment our night work begins

Dr. Knox: ​Quietly asphyxiate, you see your end, but far too late

Chorus: ​A funeral party

Burke: ​Drink up, the hour is growing late

Chorus: ​A funeral party

Dr. Knox: S​ tuff the carcass in a crate

Narrator: ​All revels must come to their end

So for the constable the tenants send

False friends meet most unpleasant ends

The corpus delicti now made evident

Solo — Matthew Harvey

Solo — Michael Burke

Solo — Matthew Harvey

Chorus:​ A funeral party

Burke: ​Step inside and have a quaff

Chorus: ​A funeral party

Hare: ​Where guests soon shuffle off

Chorus: ​A funeral party

Narrator: ​Protests of innocence rebuffed

Chorus: ​A funeral party

Narrator: ​The life of the party — snuffed