h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

...and ask that the title is changed back to 'Burke and Hare - The Bodysnatchers' from 'Burke and Hare - Bodysnatchers'. The definite article in there is actually quite important.

Is this possible?
Thankyou.

Don't bother listening to me then. I'm only the author after all. A simple 'no, sorry' would have sufficed.

Will you at least change the caption on the picture because, as is stated in the article, *Burke and Hare were NOT graverobbers, they were murderers*.

Having just read this on the front page:

#Editor's Selection for Monday: Also known as 'resurrectionists', bodysnatchers Burke and Hare had a grim occupation and no mistake. Read on to discover more about these two legendary grave robbers... #

My stress level is now somewhere between pissed off and downright angry. The whole point of the entry was to dispell the myth that they were graverobbers by offering the real facts. I put a lot of work into that, admittedly while I was procrastinating on a physics paper, but that's not the point.

You could at least have read the entry before commenting

I can see why you're pretty p****d off... if its any consolation, the error on the front page failed to leave me with the impression that Burke and Hare were grave robbers, after I had read your excellent article - What I am trying to say is the message that they were murderers not thieves is clear to the reader, or me at least ...

*wonders if and when any editor types are going to notice this thread*

Right, sorry it's taken me a while to get to this thread - we've been very busy and it's absolutely impossible for us Eds to be subscribed to every page we edit! (In future, if you want to get my attention a little quicker, leave a message on my Personal Space which I do periodically check throughout the day.) Anyway, I am sorry that you're p****d off and that you had to wait this long.

I've changed the picture ALT text to read 'Burke and Hare' (I've omitted the bit about them robbing a grave) and I've changed the title to read 'Burke and Hare - the Bodysnatchers'.

The reason that I mentioned them robbing graves in the first place was because that's what they did (and it says so in your entry!). They might have been murderers too, but they were certainly into digging up the odd grave; they formed just part of a wider nocturnal group which you rightly allude to in your fine entry when you used the term, 'ressurectionists'.

Sam.

Thankyou

Although...the bit about graverobbing was about graverobbers in general, explaning how and why the trade got harder, and why Burke and Hare chose a different approach. The entry also says that Burke denied they ever robbed graves when he confessed to the murders.

Anyway, I do at least know how to get someone's attention now - swear. I shall bear that in mind in future

You're welcome, Dastardly.

There is an excellent bit about these guys in the Edinburgh Dungeon. And that makes it very clear that they did carry out murder to get fresh corpses, though they did on occasions rob graves as well if murder was just not possible.

That must have been tough - there they were, respectable murderers, either having to occasionally drop down to the level of common thieves, or be percieved as having dropped down to the level of common thieves.

WHo'd be a murderer eh?

I don't know but linda liked the exhibit and FC jumped out of her skin.