Greyfriars Kirkyard — the Mackenzie poltergeist

OVERVIEW

The kirkyard of Greyfriars Kirk at the south edge of the Old Town, in use since the 1560s and the burial place of Greyfriars Bobby's master, of the poet Allan Ramsay and of Sir George Mackenzie (1636–1691), Lord Advocate under Charles II. In 1679, after Bothwell Brig, some 1,200 Covenanters were held for months in a walled enclosure at its south-west corner, since called the Covenanters' Prison; Mackenzie prosecuted them and his domed mausoleum stands a few yards away.

HISTORY

In December 1998 a homeless man sheltering in the mausoleum broke into the coffins below and fell through the floor into a pit of bones. From 1999 the City of the Dead night tours took groups into the locked Covenanters' Prison and to the 'Black Mausoleum', and their guide Jan-Andrew Henderson began collecting what happened to people there; his book The Ghost That Haunted Itself (2001) and the Scotsman's reporting are the record. An exorcism was attempted in 2000.

REPORTED ACTIVITY

The tours count several hundred visitors who have reported cold spots, scratches and bruises appearing on the skin, nausea and faints inside the enclosure; sceptics point to cold, dark, suggestion and a guide with a good story. It is the best-documented modern 'poltergeist' site in Scotland and is documented by the people selling it, which the entry says.

VISITING

The kirkyard is open daily and free; the Covenanters' Prison is locked and entered only on the licensed tours. A working graveyard — no climbing on tombs.