Chorus: Burke and Hare were a terrible pair, their deeds were beyond belief They worked underground in Edinburgh town, the cruelest kind of thief
Aye they stole the lives of the city's poor, the city's waifs and strays Got them drunk and tied them tae a bunk and smothered the lives away
And in the Tanner's Close in the old Westport, those rottens had their lair And manys a wretch from there was fetched in a box up to Surgeon's Square For ten pounds each was the priced they reached for the contents of every box And they denied folks lives to satisfy knives of anatomist Dr. Knox
Chorus
So sixteen souls departed this world at the hands of the villainous crew "Well it sure beats work", says lazy bugger Burke and Hare took a similar view But there evil ways and their drunken days, very soon were cut short For they grew to smart and let down their guard and very soon they were caught
Chorus
Ah, but William Hare he took a terrible scare, he turned super-grass with glee He snitched on mate and left him to his fate, while he got away Scot free But William Burke he dangled and jerked as the hangman ended his life And in a final twist that famed anatomist cut him up with his surgeon's knife
Chorus
For they stole the lives of the city's poor, the city's waifs and strays Got them drunk and tied them tae a bunk and smothered the lives away The swine, smothered the lives away