The Greyfriars Cemetery

Greyfrairs Graveyard in Edinburgh Scotland is known as one of the most haunted sites in the world. The haunting is directly linked to the ghost of George Mackenzie, a Scottish lawyer who died in 1691. George Mackenize had a large role in King Charles I’s clash with the Covenanters, a group of christians opposed to the new rule of the Episcopalian church.

In 1679, there was a large battle between the Covenanters and Charles II’s army in which Covenanters were outnumbered and hundreds were taken hostage. George Mackenzie had a heavy hand in the torture and death of many Covenanters. Many who were not imprisoned in Greyfrairs Court were sold as slaves and shipped to the West Indes; However due to some unfortunate twist of fate, the ship that carried the slaves crashed off the coast of Orkney in northern England.

According to accounts dating back to 1990 (when the grave of Mackenzie happen to be disturbed) over 500 people have reported being assaulted by some sort of other-worldly being. Attacks include cuts, bruises, physical pushing, and most commonly black outs. Mackenzie’s grave was ransacked supposedly by a homeless man whom upon seeing an unlocked gate entered the tomb in hopes of finding some sort of shelter. Seeing a coffin, the man broken open the lid in hope of finding anything of value (he was unsuccessful).

Since that night countless reports of poltergeist activity have been claimed; the first of which happened just days after the tomb was broken into. The area around Mackenzie’s tomb in Greyfrairs Cemetry has been completely gated off in a bid to protect future guests from his ghost.

-lionsteeth