Unspeakable

«If this horrid traffic in human flesh be not, by some means or other,
prevented, the churchyards will not be secure against the shovel of the
midnight plunderer, nor the public against the dagger of the midnight assassin.
«- Editorial, ​The Lancet ​newspaper 1829
«…when there is a difficulty in obtaining bodies, and their value is so great,
you absolutely throw a temptation in the way of these men to commit murder for
the purpose of selling the bodies of their victims.» — Sir Henry Halford,
May 1828
Dr. Knox: ​Cold stiffs may fetch five sovereigns Warmer bodies a few schilling
more Trade in death to make a living
Ghastly currency of gore
Your cadaveric chores, so
Chorus: ​Unspeakable!
Dr. Knox: ​The freshest of corpses through most heinous courses Chorus:
​Unspeakable!
Dr. Knox: ​The warmer the corpse The more rich the reward
In this foul trade of flesh, bone and gore
Dr. Knox: ​Fresher specimens are ever needed The scalpel thirsts for still-warm
death Law and decorum should go unheeded When prices soar for a pound of flesh
So I may slice up what’s left
Chorus: ​Unspeakable!
Hare: ​Just think what we’ll gain When we harvest the slain Chorus:
​Unspeakable!
Hare: ​And the throats we would slit Would never be missed Chorus: ​Unspeakable!
Burke: ​And so business is furthered By cold-blooded murder? Chorus:
​Unspeakable!
Dr. Knox: ​The demand has increased
For the freshly deceased
And so now the living you’ll reap
Hare: ​The cemeteries crawl with sentries
The sexton demands his bribe
Graveyard gates ensure their entries
Remain inhumed inside
Yet another source of bodies
Surrounds us every day
Is not every soul but a corpse to be?
And should we not just speed them on their way?
Solo — Matthew Harvey
Solo — Michael Burke
Chorus: ​Unspeakable!
Burke: ​Compunction be dashed
Though this course may seem rash
Chorus: ​Unspeakable!
Hare: ​There's so much more profit
When we fill the coffins
Chorus: ​Unspeakable!
Hare: ​The tramps and the urchins
We’ll make fodder for surgeons
Chorus: ​Unspeakable!
Dr. Knox: ​They live lives without worth
Death cannot be much worse
Wretched ways to make your purse burst
Chorus: ​Unspeakable!