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Mrs McDougall of Burke and Hare fame
Holt, Edward P., 1871, Watercolour
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Mrs McDougall of Burke and Hare fame
Mrs McDougall of Burke and Hare fame
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Item no
11322
Title
Mrs McDougall of Burke and Hare fame
Description
A portrait of an elderly Edinburgh woman standing and facing to the side. She wears a cloth hat, a white overall and her long skirt is stained.
The poet, Donald Campbell has written a poem inspired by this character by Holt:
Helen MacDougall
Her life is hard, she never knows
when some neighbour will surprise her
by bringing up her former woes
if they should chance to recognise her.
She did no more than follow her dreams
yet it seems they all despise her.
Down the close and up the stair,
wearing another name,
Helen MacDougall, lurking there
shrinks in the shadows of shame!
In court Burke cried out 'Oh, leave her be!
She never knew, is not to blame!'
Artist / maker
Holt, Edward P.
Date
1871
Size
22.5 x 11 cm
Type
Watercolour
Location
Edinburgh and Scottish Collection
Edward Holt was an Edinburgh caricaturist and figure painter working in the second half of the nineteenth century. This bound volume contains a large proportion of his surviving work.
See a
newspaper report
from 1829 of the Burke and Hare murder case.
There is a little uncertainty over Edward Holt's name. He is sometimes referred to as Edmund and was more commonly known as Ned.
Exhibitions with this item
The colourful world of Ned Holt
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Related subjects
Clothing and dress
>
Accessories
>
Hats
Crime and punishment
>
Criminals and prisoners
>
Criminals
People
>
Adults
>
Women
Places
>
Scotland
>
Edinburgh
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