Burke and Hare murders Elizabeth Byrd used the events in her novels "Rest Without Peace" (1974) and "The Search for Maggie Hare" (1976). The murders have also been portrayed on stage and screen, usually in heavily fictionalised form. David Paterson, Knox's assistant, contacted Walter Scott to ask the novelist if he would be interested in writing an account of the murders, but he declined, despite Scott's long-standing interest in the events. Scott later wrote: Burke and Hare murders The Burke and Hare murders were a series of 16 killings committed over a period of about ten months in 1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland. They were
Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway west to east broadly miles north of the centre of Edinburgh. As the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh was of supreme commercial importance, and the port of Leith became Scotland's principal port. Its first harbour was constructed immediately after 1710. The harbour facilities were much extended between 1800 and 1817. Newhaven, to the west of Leith, also served as a ferry port; its modest harbour facilities were improved after 1792 by the building of a jetty, and in 1825 a basin was formed by the construction of an L-shaped pier. Other small coastal communities on the Forth engaged in fishing and