When were the coffins found?
In June 1836 five young
boys, hunting for rabbits on the north-eastern slopes Arthur's
Seat, Edinburgh, found 17 miniature coffins hidden inside a
cave.
They were arranged under slates on
three tiers, two tiers of eight and one solitary coffin on the top.
Each coffin, only 95mm in length, contained a little
wooden figure, expertly carved with painted black boots and custom
made clothes.
What do they represent?
No-one knows what they were, why they were buried or who buried
them but people have been trying to resolve the mystery ever
since. At the time of their discovery, The Scotsman suggested
they were used by witches casting death spells on specific
individuals. Another theory is that they were kept by sailors
to protect against death.
Burke and Hare association
They may represent a mock burial, possibly for the 17 known
victims of Burke and Hare. Working in Edinburgh, they sold the
bodies of people they had murdered for dissection in the city's
anatomy classes.
This horrified many Scots, who feared that a dissected body
would not rise to life at the last judgement. William Burke was
caught and executed for his crimes in 1829. Ironically his
body was legally given to an anatomy class for dissection.
We are unlikely to be sure about the meaning of the coffins. It
remains hidden, among many other aspects of death and belief
in Scotland.