While in Edinburgh, Scotland a couple of weekends ago, we learned about The Greyfriars Cemetery on a three hour tour.  Inside Greyfriars Cemetery is a prison now referred to as Covenanters Prison where about 1200 prisoners were kept and 1000 were killed within five months in 1679 by a man called Sir George Mackenzie.  At this time, anyone who was Presbyterian and refused to change their religion by the wish of the king was sentenced to the prison that was run my Mackenzie.

This was not your typical prison you may think of today.  It is outside, and each cell is made of brick and without a ceiling, leaving inmates completely open and unprotected from the outside elements.  Mackenzie was especially brutal to inmates.  There was a rule that after a certain time at night, no one was allowed to move, and if they did not follow this rule, the inmate next to them would be killed, leaving their cell mates blood on their hands.  Mackenzie was known for his pure brutality and has since been nicknamed “Bloody Mackenzie”.  When he finally died, he was buried in Greyfriars Cemetery after having so many deaths on his hands, it has been thought that his soul could not rest.

There have been many mysterious acts that have been recorded surrounding Covenanters Prison.  Many people have found bruises and cuts, been put into a coma, and even completely lost their mind, after visiting the prison in more recently years.  It has been thought that Mackenzie is still haunting his mausoleum and causing all of these mysterious injuries making Greyfriars Cemetery one of the most haunted places on the earth.

I am one of those people who are greatly interested in supposed hauntings and finding out if they are real or not.  For obvious reasons, the cemetery is under lock and chain, not allowing people to wander in and out as they please.   There are, however, tours that run and bring groups into the cemetery.  Those going on the tour do have to note and I believe sign a waiver saying they will not hold the company responsible if anything may happen to their physical or mental health during or after the tour.

I really wish that I had known about the tour before I left Edinburgh because I most definitely would have gone.  Because of this new found information, I am determined to return to Edinburgh one day (hopefully soon) and go on the tour to find out for myself if it really is haunted.