Mortsafes were contraptions designed to protect graves from disturbance. Resurrectionists had supplied the schools of anatomy in Scotland since the early 18th century. This was due to the necessity for medical students to learn anatomy by attending dissections of human subjects, which was frustrated by the very limited allowance of dead bodies – for example the corpses of executed criminals – granted by the government, which controlled the supply.

Demonstrators wear skull masks during an anti government protest, as Chile's President Michelle Bachelet delivers a speech inside the National Congress, in Valparaiso city, Chile May 21, 2016. (Photo by Ivan Alvarado/Reuters)

People participate in a Zombie Walk in Sao Paulo, Brazil, November 2, 2016. (Photo by Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Participants in costume take part in a walk for World Zombie Day 2017, on Place de la Republique in Paris, France, 07 October 2017. More than 50 cities worldwide participate in the worldwide horror festival in which revellers dress up as zombie-related characters. (Photo by Ian Langsdon/EPA/EFE)

Revellers take part in a Zombie Walk in Asbury Park, New Jersey October 4, 2014. Thousands of revellers met in Asbury park to attempt to break the Guinness World Record of the largest zombie gathering in the world and raise awareness for brain cancer. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

A man dressed as zombie takes part in a zombie race to raise funds for children with cancer at the child Hospital Manuel de Jesus Rivera in Managua October 19, 2014. (Photo by Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters)

Four men dressed as zombies participate in a Zombie Walk procession in the streets of Paris October 12, 2013. (Photo by Benoit Tessier/Reuters)

An enthusiast dressed as a zombie takes part in the annual Zombie Walk festival in Prague June 1, 2013. (Photo by David W. Cerny/Reuters)