Sleep tight!

Back in the early 1800s the dead could not always rely upon remaining buried for very long. At that time, in Britain, the only bodies available for dissection by anatomists were those of criminals executed for murder and the supply of such bodies was very limited. With the growth of medical teaching in the 18th century, anatomy schools required ever-greater numbers of cadavers for study and body-snatching became by far the most significant source of bodies.

Naturally enough, people were not at all keen on this and took various steps to stop it happening. The evidence of this can still be seen in kirkyards throughout Scotland, including this one at Cluny in Aberdeenshire. The photograph shows how the rich and the poor of the Parish sought to protect their dead from the body-snatchers. The large building on the left is the Fraser Mausoleum, built in 1808 of grey granite in the Roman Classical style, and dedicated to Elyza Fraser of Castle Fraser. The aristocracy could sleep soundly in such a massive and impregnable building, while at the same time continuing to proclaim their importance and their high status in life, even in death.

The poor had to rely on rather simpler defences. Lying in front of the mausoleum there are 4 mort-safes, massive, coffin shaped, granite blocks with a "skirt" of wrought-iron metal work. A mort-safe was designed to placed over and around a coffin in its grave and was then left buried for several weeks. Once the corpse was too corrupt to be of any possible interest to the anatomists the grave was re-opened and the mort-safe was removed to be re-used in further burials.

Zoomify to see the mort-safes clearly.