The background to the story is as follows~
Theoretically, a homeless man looking for shelter came into the graveyard looking for shelter on a rainy December night. The gate had been left unlocked by mistake. (In The Ghost That Haunted Itself, the BBC gets the blame for driving a truck into the east gates). This homeless man then decided to try to get into Mackenzie’s tomb, as it was one of the most sheltered ones in the whole graveyard.
He looked through the grille at the front and must have seen a small crack of light. Intrigued by the light, he climbed over some railings and saw a small opening at the back of the tomb where it nearly connects with the graveyard wall- the railings run between the mausoleums near the wall. (In recent years the railings have managed to come down one way or another, vandalism, but now anyone can get to the back of Mackenzie’s tomb. There is a very tiny aperture and it’s possible a small person could squeeze through. Only just, but stranger things have happened and were just about to.)
The homeless man found he could fit through and, once inside, saw there was a stairway down to a vault below where the bodies actually went. He found several coffins and attempted to open one, as there may have been something valuable buried with the bodies- they were nobility, after all.
Meanwhile, a man was walking his dog in the graveyard. He heard the homeless man trying to get into the coffin, and wandered towards the tomb wondering what was making the noise. Then the homeless man fell through a hole in the floor into a pit full of mouldy skeletons. As you would be, he was terrified, screamed, and ran out of the tomb. The dog walking man thought he was Mackenzie’s ghost and ran away. The homeless man thought the dog-walker was running away from a zombie behind him and ran after him.
We can only assume the dog walker informed the police about this because apparently they investigated the tomb. And burial methods were always just plain random in that graveyard.
A little while after this disturbance the Mackenzie Poltergeist became active.
The first instance was at the Mackenzie Mausoleum when a woman looking through the grille at the front was knocked backwards by a blast of cold air.
‘City Of The Dead Tours’ (run a tour around Greyfriars, and this tour is the only way to get into the Black Mausoleum) put forward these disturbances as what started up the poltergeist. It was named ‘The Mackenzie Poltergeist’ after the fact the first attack was by his tomb.
However, that was the only incident around Mackenzie’s tomb. After that the poltergeist moved into The Black Mausoleum, a little tomb in the Covenanter’s Prison with no connection to Mackenzie.
There’s not any evidence that the poltergeist is the ghost of *anything*. It’s never spoken- although laughing and growling has been heard - but it certainly hasn’t shown any signs of being a person.
Some Local news headlines ~
Ghost tour operators today claimed a notorious Edinburgh poltergeist has gone into overdrive - allegedly attacking at least 20 tourists in the last month.
The ghost of 17th century nobleman Sir George MacKenzie, which is said to haunt the Covenanters Prison in Greyfriars Kirkyard, is said to have been increasingly lashing out over the last month.
Tourists claim they have been left with scratches, welt marks, bruises and feelings of nausea, with some saying they have been knocked to the ground.
Jan Henderson, director of the City of the Dead Tour at the Kirk, said: "I have no idea why there has been such an increase in this spate of attacks The poltergeist has gone into overdrive over the last month with 20 single incidents.
"All the tour guides are experiencing tourists passing out, being scratched and bruised. I think it is great because when I started the tours I was a cynic so if there is something there then wonderful.
"They [tourists] have all collapsed at the door of the mausoleum, which shows it isn’t psychosomatic, because they didn’t know everyone falls down there. "
Suzannah Shields, 27, an advertising manager from Sheffield, said after going on the late night tour a large blood blister the size of a thumb appeared under her left eye the next morning.
"It didn’t hurt but it was horrible and took a week to go."
And Karyn Perrin, 37, a legal assistant living in London, said she had a painful experience when she visited the prison. "I felt light-headed, I had pins and needles and didn’t feel like my hands were mine. I kept fighting it but felt nauseous and had palpitations. That’s when I got hit in the head, it was inside like my brain was being slapped. I managed to get out and couldn’t stop crying. It was like I was grieving."
• Story originally published by:
The Edinburgh Evening News / Scotland - Sept 17.01
Scottish Graveyard
Scene Of 80 Ghostly Attacks In 18 Months
[Original headline: Ghost fear of tourists at Greyfriar’s Kirkyard]
It is claimed to be one of the spookiest places in Edinburgh.
And now a whole book of tourists’ tales about ghouls, ghosts and poltergeists in Greyfriar’s Kirkyard have been published in a book.
More than 80 people say they have been attacked in the last 18 months at the Black Mausoleum, where the 17th century judge, Lord Advocate Sir George MacKenzie, is buried.
Their witness statements appear in The Ghost That Haunted Itself.
The graveyard was supposed to have been exorcised last year by an Edinburgh clairvoyant. The Rev Colin Grant later said he thought the experience would kill him and weeks later, he dropped dead.
In the book, an 11-year-old boy also describes how mysterious injuries appeared on his body.
Kevin Marks, from Yorkshire, wrote: "When I was standing in the tomb, something soft, like cotton wool, was touching my eyes and cheek. There was nobody doing this to me. The next day I woke up with a black eye and scratches on my face and neck."
Tourist Mandy Burgen, 38, from Cornwall, wrote: "In the tomb, I felt a pain, just above my chest. After the tour, I unfastened my top and found a large red mark where the pain had been.
"I showed it to the others and, as they looked, three welts rose up in the same place. The next day they were gone."
So just what is it?
A hoax dreamt up by the tourist board and a tour group? Over-active imaginations? The ‘Pheromone Theory’ put into practise? Mass hysteria?
This may explain the attacks within the groups, but what of the hauntings in the houses that back onto Greyfriars? Some residents report odd goings on their homes………….
Hammy x x x
). The flats and houses that have reported ghostly visitaions all back onto a certain point where the graveyard touches the actual buildings (it's built on a steep hill).
