For securing the dead.

I am down in the Kingdom of Fife to give an evening lecture on the history of grave robbing in Scotland; Echoes of the Resurrection Men.

To get myself into the mood in the afternoon I visited the ancient town of Crail where there is a fine mort-house to be found in kirkyard. Over the door this message is engraved into the stonework:

ERECTED for securing the DEAD
ANN : DOM : MDCCCXX1826

In the early 1800s corpses were in great demand for dissection in anatomy schools and bodysnatching was a very serious problem in Scotland. Mort-houses were exceedingly solidly built windowless vaults, with massive walls and heavy wooden and metal doors. They are to be found mainly in the North-East of Scotland, stretching from Crail in the South to Marnock in the North. The dead were securely stored in the mort-house until they were decomposed and were then retrieved and buried in the usual way.