Introduction

In the fourteenth century, accidentally burying someone who was still living happened more often than you think. John duns scotis philosopher, was once believed to have been interred prematurely in 13 o eight and found lying dead on the floor beside his sarcophagus with his hands all cut up. It was this fear that eventually led to the invention of the safety coffin which involved some kind of mechanism to alert the living up above that the person below them had been prematurely buried. Essie dunbar didn't have a bell or a string, but she certainly let everyone know what it happened to her. She suffered from an epileptic seizure that sent her falling to the floor. A local doctor