This is a phrase that irritates me because, although I know what it means, I can't for the life of me figure out what the individual words mean. Since there are a number of Scottish persons here, perhaps some one could enlighten me. Google's no help. It's from a well known little poem.

    Up the close and down the stair,
    Butt and ben with Burke and Hare.
    Burke's the killer, Hare's the thief,
    Knox the boy that buys the beef.

Any suggestions?