Friday, March 4, 2016
Books We Love Insider Blog: More Frightful Murders and other Horrible Deeds by...
Books We Love Insider Blog: More Frightful Murders and other Horrible Deeds by...: 17th Century Physicians Dissecting a Body My era is 17 th century London when medical doctors used hanged convicts to study anatomy...
More Frightful Murders and other Horrible Deeds by Katherine Pym
17th Century Physicians Dissecting a Body |
My era is 17th century
London when medical doctors used hanged convicts to study anatomy. They would
cut up the dead to see how men and women’s organs worked. Plague victims were also
dissected. Opening the body, physicians who survived the pestilence found
evidence of the buboes on lungs and other innards, or so they wrote.
The Royal Society used live
animals to experiment on, like transferring blood from one dog to another then documented
the results. Generally, one dog lived (the one receiving the gift of blood) and
the other (who gave the blood) died. Unfortunate.
Body Snatcher at Work |
Into the 18th century
the laws changed. There were fewer hangings and more deportations to penal
colonies. This caused slim pickings in the London cadaver field.
Medical men faltered a bit, then
someone came up with an idea. Why not snatch bodies from the grave? I mean, no
one will know. The dead person won’t care. For the fellas digging up the
bodies, they can take rings and gewgaws left on the body as an added incentive.
Everyone’s a winner.
Well,
not really. Families of the dead and gone got wind of these ‘body snatchers’
and protected their loved ones with a mortsafe (dictionary.com says a mortsafe is
a heavy iron cage or grille placed over the grave of a newly deceased person in
order to deter body snatchers.). These would be used until everyone felt certain the poor dead
person wouldn’t be ‘fresh’ enough for dissection.
Mortsafe |
During the early 19th
century if you were caught digging up a body you could be heavily fined or
deported. Not fun, but hey, the reward was worth the danger. Men in the medical
field took the bodies no questions asked. Everyone was happy—or so one would
think. Unfortunately, greed got in the way of a good thing.
A man in Edinburgh owned an inn
for pensioners. One fellow died owing Mister Hare £4
which annoyed him. Along with another fellow (Burke), Hare removed the
pensioner’s body from the coffin, filled the said box with something equivalent
in weight; then hid the cadaver in an empty room down the hall. The parish
authorities took the coffin away, blissfully unaware there was no body in the
box.
Hare and Burke
sold the body to a physician for £7, 10s, making a tidy profit. The process was
relatively safe. No middle of the night dig in a cemetery. No worries of
getting caught, being fined or deported. The men did not suffer driving rain or snow
down their collars while at a dig, nor did they have to fret over sharp winds
that could easily blow off their caps. Their new boots and carpets remained clean from graveyard dirt. (After all, the men had to spend
their newfound wealth somewhere.) Hare and Burke had found a sweet deal at the pensioners’
inn.
Hare loved
this new, lucrative end of the business. When another pensioner dropped off the
twig, he and his partner repeated the process, but when another pensioner took
too long to pop off, they smothered him with a pillow. It was worth the effort,
for they received £10.
After a
while, the inn ran dry of almost dead persons so Hare and Burke lured vagrants,
drunks and prostitutes into their fine abode. They plied them with drink then
smothered them after passing out. If they wouldn’t obey by slipping into a
drunken sleep, “Burke would pin him down while Hare smothered him, holding his
hands over the victim’s nose and mouth.”
As you would
expect, Hare and Burke became reckless. “First, they killed Mary Paterson, a
voluptuous 18 year old—so free with her body that it was recognized by the
physician’s medical students.” When they “murdered ‘Daft Jamie’, a familiar,
good natured imbecile who made his living running errands on the streets of
Edinburgh”, suspicion raised its dark brow.
The men were
eventually arrested. Burke hanged before a large crowd some say that numbered in the 30,000’s.
His body was dissected on the physician’s table he and Hare had sold so many
bodies to.
But Hare
escaped this wicked end by giving state’s evidence, which meant he pointed his
finger at the physician and his assistants. While in the school, the physician was
stormed by a mob but police intervention saved his life. Even though he
protested his innocence, he lost his profession and was hounded out of town.
And so goes
a sad, woeful tale of murder and other horrible deeds.
~~~~~~
The People’s Almanac by David
Wallechinsky & Irving Wallace, Doubleday & Co., Inc., New York 1975
All pictures come from
Wikicommons, Public Domain
Buy Here |
Labels:
Body dissections,
Body snatchers,
Grave digging,
Hangings,
murder
Author of historical novels set in 1660's London with one novel of the French Revolution.
Thursday, March 3, 2016
If something works, it works. By Diane Bator
Writers love words.
We love them so much, in fact, that we cram as many of
them into one sentence, sometimes without really saying anything or being extraordinarily
superfluous with our vocabulary to the point no one understands what we just
said.
That's where a great editor comes in.
No matter how experienced the writer, everyone needs a
second or even a third set of eyes to read through their work and clean up the
extra words, the flow of the timelines, and even the typos spell check doesn't
pick up. Sorry, writers, spell check isn't perfect either.
Many publishing houses have their own editors and a traditionally
published author may go through several different edits before their work is
published. Even Stephen King and J.K. Rowling have editors.
For a lot of beginning writers, especially those of us
who do not have an English degree, and people who self-publish, editing is just
as daunting and can create anxiety in our stomachs. Where do we start when
there is no editor who will not cost us a mortgage on a small house?
Critique groups are a great place to start. Find an
online forum. Find a Facebook group. Make connections. Before you trust anyone
with your baby, aka your novel, be sure to read a sample of their work. Even if
you're not a great editor, you should be able to read and understand their work
as well as pick up on errors, grammatical and otherwise.
Writing groups can be local or online as well. Many of
these groups offer critiques from group members. Just remember to take their
input with the proverbial grain of salt. Not all the advice people give will be
helpful, some will be more than willing to help hone your piece, some will be
happy to simply tear it apart until you want to give up and crawl into a cave
with something stronger than sugar in your coffee.
If you let several people read your work and several
people make similar suggestions, be open to re-reading and editing. On the
other hand, if only one or two people point something out, it may just be their
own personal preference and making changes will be up to you and not vital.
Unless they're family.
Word of advice, don't give copies of your work to your
entire family and expect a positive, good critique. Not unless Uncle Bill is an
editor for a major daily or works for a publishing house. Expect kind words and
to hear how great it is. That doesn't mean it is. A neutral third party is
always best.
Good editors and critique providers abound on the
internet. Just keep in mind, you not only get what you pay for, but you still
have the final say about what you end up publishing.
Writing guru Natalie Goldberg gives the best advice on
editing your work: "Be willing to
look at your work honestly. If something works, it works. If it doesn't, quit
beating an old horse. Go on writing. Something else will come up."
Just never give up!
Diane
You can find my Wild Blue Mystery series on Amazon and through Books We Love. My books can also be ordered into any bookstore in Canada.
Labels:
critique partners,
Editing,
Natalie Goldberg,
writing groups
Prolific author, Editor, Associate Publisher, and Book Coach. Also mom of three grown ups and two fur babies.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
HOLIDAYS BY MARGARET TANNER
AN AUSSIE IN LAS
VEGAS - MARGARET TANNER
What can I say? All
the razzle dazzle, flashing lights and excitement, we loved it.
We stayed in the older part of Las Vegas at a casino called the Four Queens
in Fremont Street .
Unbeknown to us there is what they call the Fremont Experience every night. A
domed roof that was several hundred yards long was the venue for an incredibly
colourful laser show. There was music, bands, performers and people walking
around dressed as Elvis Presley, Batman, Superman, Mary Poppins, Dracula and
heaps of other well known characters. Not forgetting the show girls, decked out
in their skimpy costumes, fans and feathers. It was amazing, bus loads of
tourist came down every night to see the display, but we were right in the
thick of it, standing at our hotel door.
Many of the casinos on Las Vegas Boulevard - The Strip, have
themes. We visited Paris Las Vegas which was very French with a giant Eiffel Tower
as the main feature. You could actually take a ride right to the top, but for
us unfortunately, it was too windy, so we missed out. Someone told us that the
Eiffel tower here was exactly 1/3 the size of the Eiffel
Tower in France , but it was still a huge
structure. While we were there I bought the most decadent French pastry I have
ever eaten. It was to die for.
We went through the Bellagio, luxury personified.
Unfortunately, this poor Aussie author didn’t have enough pennies in the piggy
bank to be able to afford to stay there.
Did I mention the shopping? Wow. So cheap. We had to buy an
extra suitcase to bring home all the goodies that we bought.
All in all we had a wonderful time. The only downside was
the trip home, talk about the flight from hell. We were diverted to Sydney because the plane
was running low on fuel, then after sitting on the tarmac for an hour, a
passenger became ill and had to be rushed off in an ambulance, then security
stepped in because the passenger’s luggage was on board and he no longer
was. Three hours later it was all sorted
out, and we took off and headed home to Melbourne.
Website: http://www.margarettanner.com/
ADAM’S FRONTIER BRIDE (WESTERN ROMANCE)
Can a wealthy rancher ever hope to capture the heart of a
beautiful English rose?
I am an award winning multi-published Australian author. I love delving into the pages of history as I carry out research for my historical romance novels. I pride myself on being historically correct. Many of my novels are inspired by true events, with one being written around the hardships and triumphs of my pioneering ancestors in frontier Australia. Outside of my family and friends, writing is my passion.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
WHAT'S IN YOUR FUTURE (or present or past?) by Shirley Martin
Amazon |
Fortune-telling is as old as civilization. You may recall the biblical story of Joseph (Book of Genesis, Chapter 37 and following chapters.) Sold into slavery by his resentful brothers, Joseph was taken to Egypt. There, he gained the Pharoah's attention because of his ability to interpret dreams. The Pharoah told Joseph of his dreams, and Joseph interpreted them to mean that Egypt would have seven fruitful years of harvest and seven years of famine. The Pharoah realized that he should store corn from the fruitful years so that he would have a supply of grain to distribute during the seven years of famine. (More on dreams later.)
Scrying is another form of prophecy. It's not necessary to have a crystal ball; any reflective surface will do. The scryer must have absolute silence and clear her/his mind of all distracting thoughts. If the scryer has a certain piece of information she is seeking, e.g., the location of a certain person, she should concentrate on that before beginning scrying, then put it out of her mind before focusing on the task at hand.
Now, I'm going to stick my neck out and say that I think there is validity to scrying. I can't give a reason for my belief but can only say that there may be logic connected with the skill.
In my fantasy romance, "Night Shadows," Fianna,the heroine, flees home to escape an unwanted suitor. She escapes to Moytura, the capital city of Avador. Forced to support herself, she obtains a position as a fortune teller at a tavern. She has a magic mirror that enables her to look into the past, present, and future. She thus supports herself by the money she earns as a fortune teller.
Seances were probably more common during the Victorian period than they are today, although no doubt many seances are held during our time..The word "seance" means sitting. A group of people meet for a metaphysical purpose. Usually six to eight people are involved in this gathering, and they usually sit with a medium who is the channel through which the spirit communicates. There may be a variety of reasons for holding a seance, but mostly the object is to contact the spirit of the dead. The majority of seances are held in the late evening.
Some seances meet solely to hold a "rescue," aimed to help those spirits that don't realize they are dead and enable them to cross over.
Tea leaves can be used as a means of prophecy. In my latest fantasy romance, "Magic Mountain"
Amazon |
there is a scene in which the elven king reads the tea leaves of the human heroine, Princess Olwen. This method of prophecy was a favorite around the time of the last century and up to the 1930s and '40s. Gypsy Tea Rooms were popular at that time.
After the tea is drunk, there should be very little of the leaves left in the bottom of the cup. The client tips the cup and rotates it three times before upturning the cup in the saucer. Then the cup is turned right side up, and the diviner studies the pattern of the tea leaves as they are distributed about the inner surface of the saucer. How does this process reveal anything about the past, present, or future? This method of prophecy, called tasseography, has an elaborate interpretation system, so for both the client and the diviner, it apparently reveals the desired revelation.
Astrologers believe that there is a very real relationship between the heavens and the earth. They believe that every element of the cosmos influences the whole. Originating in Mesopotamia, this art has been practiced for 5,000 years. The sun signs are the names of the twelve main divisions of the zodiac: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. One of my fellow authors, Janet Lane Walters, has done astrology forecasts in the past, along with a partner. Some day I'd like a forecast done for this most untypical Leo.
Known as the Sleeping Prophet, Edgar Cayce was an American mystic of the twentieth century. While in a trance, he answered questions ranging from healing, wars, Atlantis and future events. He used his mystical powers to heal people. While asleep, he was able to diagnose a person's sickness and pronounce the cure.
Not all of his prophecies have been realized. We have yet to discover Atlantis.
There are many more means of prophecy, enough to fill a book. But this list may give you and idea of how important fortune-telling is to people, and the different ways of achieving these revelations.
Now to return to the subject of dreams. There are four levels of sleep, and dreams usually occur in the theta level, and usually, too, with the REM (rapid eye movement) stage.
I believe we are all psychic to some extent; I know I am. And I believe that dreams can tell people about the past, present, and future.
Years and years ago, (more years than I care to count), my youngest son attended kindergarten. A neighbor friend had a son in kindergarten at the same time, so we walked our boys to school together. One morning, I told my friend about a dream I'd had the night before. It was a short dream but so vivid I woke up with tears in my eyes. I saw a small private plane crash to the ground and burst into flames. My friend and I discussed the dream for a few minutes, both of us saying we hadn't seen anything in the news about a plane crash. I forgot about the dream until about fifteen years later when my friend's retired husband was taking flying lessons. He crashed the plane and it burst into flames, killing him instantly.
Please check out my website at www.shirleymartinauthor.com
My books are sold at Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noible, KOBO, the Apple 1Store and other sites where ebooks are available online.
I was born and raised near Pittsburgh. Married for 44 years, now a widow.
I write historical, paranormal, and fantasy. . You can order my books from amazon.
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