In the late medieval and early modern periods, Edinburgh’s medical reputation was built on a very dark trade. Before the days of Burke and Hare, the city’s surgeons were legally entitled to the bodies of those executed at the Grassmarket.

Because the science of preservation was in its infancy, the anatomy theatres in the Old Town were often overwhelmed by the stench of rapid decay. Surgeons would work in rooms so thick with the smell of rotting flesh that they frequently smoked heavy pipes or stuffed their nostrils with aromatic herbs just to stay conscious. It was not uncommon for students to witness a “dissection” where the subject – having been poorly hanged – would occasionally moan or twitch on the table as the first incisions were made, leading to the frantic (and often unsuccessful) attempt to “re-kill” the patient before the lesson could continue.