173-178

Author expresses disappointment about the lack of concrete information regarding Mrs. Lovett and her pie shop.
The shop was likely located towards Carey Street end of Bell Yard, possibly where the legal publishers, Butterworth, currently stand.
Acknowledges that stories suggest a lady operated a shop in this location during Sweeney Todd's narrative, but records are unhelpful.
Notes that Bell Yard features in Charles Dickens’ Bleak House (1852-3), in Chapter XV titled "Bell Yard."
Encourages readers interested in the time period to read Bleak House for more context.
Addresses the fact that although some aspects of Mrs. Lovett remain a mystery, it doesn’t significantly detract from the Sweeney Todd narrative.
Hopes future research will provide more insight into Mrs. Lovett and her infamous pie shop.

Reference to the item about Sawney Beane, known as the Man Eater of Scotland.
Appeared in the Magazine of Curiosity and Wonder edited by Thomas Prest in 1835.
Suggested as the inspiration for the story of Sweeney Todd.

Sawney Beane was born in East Lothian, near Edinburgh, during the reign of James VI.
His father was a hedger and ditcher who raised him for the same occupation.
Beane abandoned his home with a similarly inclined woman, settling in a cave in Galloway by the seaside.
The cave was extensive, dark, and often flooded by tides, making it an ideal hideout.
Beane and his wife began their fatal depredations, murdering a person for every robbery.
They resorted to cannibalism, quartering their victims and preserving them as food.
Their family grew significantly due to incest, accumulating a large number of descendants.
They would discard excess remains into the sea, alarming local residents as dismembered body parts were found.

Despite numerous disappearances, locals failed to suspect the den of Sawney.
Innocent individuals were wrongly accused and taken by authorities amidst rising tensions.
As more victims went missing, the region suffered from depopulation.
A critical turning point occurred when a traveler and his wife were attacked; the husband resisted fiercely.
He was able to escape but his wife was brutally murdered, prompting him to inform the authorities.
The news reached the king, who organized a search involving hundreds of men.

The expedition searched extensively, but initially failed to find the cave.
Blood-hounds eventually led the searchers to the entrance of the cave, whereupon they discovered horrifying evidence of Beane's atrocities.
Inside, they found preserved human remains, money, and various stolen items from victims.
Sawney Beane and his family were captured, and the remains were buried on the shore.
As they were marched to Edinburgh, crowds gathered to witness the infamous family.

Once in Edinburgh, the Beane family was imprisoned and later executed without a formal trial due to the cruelty of their crimes.
The men faced brutal punishments, including mutilation before death.
Women of the family were also executed, showing no remorse or regret, but rather cursing their captors as they faced their end.