The head was found to be loose, and was once more held up to view;
and after a careful examination of it had been made, and a sketch
taken, and the identity fully established, it was immediately
replaced in the coffin, which was soldered up and restored to the
vault. Of the other two coffins, the larger one had been battered
in about the middle, and the skeleton of Henry VIII, exhibiting some
beard upon the chin, was exposed to view. The other coffin was
left, as it was found, intact. Neither of these coffins bore any
inscription.

In the Appendix to Allan Cunningham's Life of Burns {24} we read of
an examination of the poet's Tomb, made immediately after that life
was published:

"When Burns' Mausoleum was opened in March, 1834, to receive the
remains of his widow, some residents in Dumfries obtained the
consent of her nearest relative to take a cast from the cranium of
the poet. This was done during the night between the 31st March and
1st April. Mr. Archibald Blacklock, surgeon, drew up the following
description:

"The cranial bones were perfect in every respect, if we except a
little erosion of their external table, and firmly held together by
their sutures, &c., &c. Having completed our intention [i.e., of
taking a plaster cast of the skull, washed from every particle of
sand, &c.], the skull, securely closed in a leaden case, was again
committed to the earth, precisely where we found it.--Archd.
Blacklock.'"