The empty tomb

1 In the ende of the Sabbath, as it began to dawne towards the first day of the weeke, came Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre.

2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the Angel of the Lord descended from heauen, and came and rolled backe the stone from the doore, and sate vpon it.

3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snowe.

4 And for feare of him, the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.

5 And the Angel answered, and said vnto the women, Feare not ye: for I know that ye seeke Iesus, which was crucified.

6 He is not here: for he is risen, as hee said: Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

7 And goe quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead. And behold, hee goeth before you into Galilee, there shall ye see him: loe, I haue told you.

Matthew 27. 1611 King James Bible

The underground structure in the photograph is a morthouse, a temporary tomb used to protect bodies from bodysnatchers in the early 19th century. At that time corpses were in great demand for dissection in anatomy schools and bodysnatching was a very serious problem in Scotland. This morthouse is in the old graveyard at Hatton of Fintray which lies in the countryside just 8 miles from the anatomy schools of Aberdeen and therefore of great interest to the local body-snatchers.

Mort-houses were exceedingly solidly built windowless vaults, with massive walls and heavy wooden and metal doors. They are to be found mainly in the North-East of Scotland, stretching from Crail in the South to Marnock in the North. Bodies were stored in the mort-house until decomposed and were then retrieved and buried in the usual way. Although mort-houses were largely impregnable the one at Hatton of Fintray was successfully breached. The vault consists of a massive underground vaulted stone chamber, originally lined with sheet metal and covered in turf, and is entered down a flight of stone stairs . The date 1830 is cut into the stone above the doorway which was closed by a massive inner iron door and an outer wooden door. Within the vault there were originally shelves on which the coffins were laid until their contents were beyond the interest of body-snatchers at which point they were removed for burial. The inauguration of the vault took place in July 1830 when a local farmer was deposited in the vault. It must have been a great shock when later that same night he was successfully snatched from the locked vault and his headless corpse found in a sack 3 miles away at Cothall on the road to Aberdeen. The head presumably ended up in one of the Aberdeen anatomy schools.