The Edinburgh McKenzie Poltergeist

Sir George McKenzie

This Poltergeist harms the living.

George McKenzie was a lawyer who lived in Edinburgh Scotland in the 1600s.

In 1662, King Charles ll wanted a group of Presbyterian Scots—known as Covernanters—to change their religion. They refused. He had once been their ally seeing them as his best hope to restore his crown but he grew to despise them.

King Charles ll in exile.

George McKenzie was the lawyer who signed the persecution papers for these descenters-- ministers and Christians. They then were either executed—many drawn and quartered-- or imprisoned.

Those who avoided execution experienced a fate worse than death. They were imprisoned in a place known as Covernanters Prison.

This prison used inhumane methods. The prisoners were left with little food, exposed to the cold winters—for there was no heat—and those that survived these conditions were eventually sold into slavery.

Covernanters Prison

Mckenzie was a legal scholar who wrote the first Scottish novel. He appeared by day to be a loving husband and father but he was a vile brute with a sadistic side. He had many of the prisoners at Covernanter’s Prison tortured and beheaded.

When George McKenzie died he was buried in Greyfriar’s Cemetery, which was near Covernanters Prison—many of his victims are buried here as well.

At the time of his death he had signed the deaths of over 18,000 enemies of the former King Charles ll.

His burial site, known as the Black Mausoleum, has Poltergeist activity connected to it.

McKenzie's tomb.

McKenzie's coffin.

People became acutely aware of this activity in 1998. A homeless man desperate for someplace warm vandalized the mausoleum that contains George McKenzie’s coffin. He crawled into a nearby empty coffin. It began to shake. He was then covered in the dust of the deceased.

A guard at the cemetery witnessed this event. Both men ran away, terrified. This was just the beginning.

The next day a female passerby looked in through the gates at McKenzie’s tomb. She stated she was “blasted off the steps by a cold force.”

Soon after, another female was found lying unconscious her neck covered in bruises as if someone had tried to choke her to death.

Did the homeless man awaken this angry spirit?

Even more reports about the ghost at Greyfriar’s Cemetery rolled in. The activity became so bad the city council closed this cemetery to the public.

However, a few years later ghost tours of Greyfriars Cemetery were offered.

What is unique about this case is Poltergeist activity normally only lasts a few weeks but in the Greyfriar case the activity is ongoing. Instead of it targeting one person or a family this activity targets many.

In fact, the McKenzie Poltergeist has targeted hundreds of people—especially those that take the tour. To date over 350 people have claimed they were attacked in this cemetery. One hundred and seventy have passed out. More have been physically injured including broken bones.

Attacks done by McKenzie Poltergeist.

It is believed that several of George McKenzie’s tortured victims also haunt this cemetery located on the southern edge of Old Town in Edinburgh.

Scotland’s Mary King’s Close

The street lies beneath modern
Edinburgh

This 7th-century street is considered Edinburgh’s most haunted area. 

Mary King's Close is one of the city's original narrow streets. It was once a bustling densely populated center that was used for market stalls and tenements.

History

          

Like most streets of the time, “the Close” had buildings several stories high that closely hemmed it in. 

In the 1600’s it was common practice to throw human waste out the windows onto the street below--so the upper and middle classes lived on the top tiers away from this filth, while the poor lived on the street level.

Alexander King, who was an advocate to Mary Queen of Scots, named this Close after his daughter Mary. He owned several properties along the street. Mary had a stall where she sold lace.

When the bubonic plague hit in 1645, this street was ravaged. Families that had a sick person in their homes had an “X” chalked on their door. Food was dropped off on their doorstep. No contact was allowed for six weeks--except for the plague doctor-- * until the ill person either died or recovered. 

When possible, the stricken were moved to a plague hospital.

Many of these victim’s bodies were burned to prevent the spread of the disease. It is said that their ashes were mixed with horsehair and dirt, and then were used to construct ceilings in the Close.

Many years after this outbreak, when no one lived in Mary King’s Close, it was walled up and closed for the next 100 years. ** 

The street has so many dark mysteries connected to it, that a myth started to circulate that the Close had actually been walled up during the plague outbreak. And that many people who were ill were closed within its walls. To the chagrin of residents of Edinburgh, this myth still persists today.

Because this street was walled up, it is well preserved. The visitor today--250 years later-- can still see the original buildings and layout.

Plague Doctor

 * These plague doctors visited the sick person’s home wearing a bird outfit. The beak filled with herbs was used to lance the ill person’s sores.

** The Close is one of the underground streets in Edinburgh that was buried to make room for modernization. It lies beneath today's City Chambers.

The Hauntings

A mysterious face on
the left wall
Click to enlarge

Tours are given of most of the Close’s buildings. Many of these buildings also have reenactors that portray life in the past.

Mary King’s Close most famous ghost is that of a little girl, nicknamed Annie. 

In 1992, a Japanese psychic was startled when she entered a small room in the Close. She immediately felt sickness, hunger, and a bitter cold envelop the room. She then felt the presence latch onto her leg.

Others have received the message that Annie is sad because she lost her favorite toy. So countless visitors have left Annie gifts in the small room, that is now named after her.

Most believe that Annie’s family probably left her behind when she became ill with the plague.

Annie's Room

Other activity in the Close includes phantom footsteps walking up and down the empty street, and visitors and guides have seen a ghost of a lady wearing a black or grey dress. The spirit of Mary--Alexander King’s daughter is seen.

Witnesses have also reported seeing masculine figures, in the Close that just disappear when approached. In fact, some of these sightings were reported back before the street was walled up.

In one particular chimney, strange noises are heard. When people put their hands inside, they were sometimes scratched.

Compelling Evidence

In 2008, a photo taken by accident is now considered solid proof that the Close is haunted.

Late one Saturday night, the general manager, Stephen Spencer, was checking an infrared camera installed to take pictures of tour groups as souvenirs.

As Spencer stood in the street, he snapped several photos, he then returned to his office to turn the computer system off. He looked at the images he had taken and realized that one of them had captured an exciting picture.

Photo was taken by Stephen
Spencer
Click to enlarge

A translucent rotund figure was standing in the background--the street was closed for the night, and Spencer was the only one there when he took the photo. 

Since several reliable ghost investigators have examined this photo, and they all conclude, it is very compelling.

What is even more impressive is many visitors over the years have described seeing this rotund ghost in the same area.

Some speculate this ghost is Major Thomas Weir, who was known as The Wizard of West Bow. He was strangled and then burnt at the stake in 1670, after publicly confessing to witchcraft, Satanism, and incest.

Yet others think this ghost is Andrew Chesney, a saw-maker who lived in Mary King’s Close, who operated his business until 1892. He is believed to be the last person who lived in the Close. His workshop is highlighted in one of the tours given.

Haunted Object: The Cursed Egyptian Bone

After British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun tomb in 1922, Egypt became “the” place to visit by the world’s elite. 

Sir Alexander Hay Seton or “Sandy” as he was known, 10^th Baronet of Abercorn, and his wife Zeyla traveled from Edinburgh to Cairo in 1936. This trip started a series of events that made Sir Alexander believe that his family was forever accursed. *

In his memoirs Sir Alexander recounts that his and Zeyla’s trip to Egypt was uneventful until they took a tour of a newly opened tomb that lay in the shadow of the pyramids. He stated that a bad feeling overtook him at the time:

“I had a feeling in my bones that something was going to happen over this and it was only with the greatest of difficulty that Zeyla cajoled me into going with her. I wish earnestly to God that we had not gone!”

He recounts how they were led down 30 roughly hewn rock steps where their guide, Abdul led them to a stone slab were the remains of a female skeleton lay uncovered. Seton noted that her skull and leg bones were clearly visible, few ribs were left but her spine was intact. 

As the group moved to leave Seton offered a brief whispered prayer, his wife fascinated hung back to take one more look at the skeletal remains. 

Unbeknownst to Sir Alexander his wife removed a bone and placed it in her pocket. At dinner that evening with her husband she confessed what she had done. The two examined the smallish heart-shaped bone at which point Seton announced it looked like a grotesque digestive biscuit.

Sir Alexander forgot about the bone until he and his wife returned to Edinburgh. Zeyla brought the bone out and the two decided to display it within a former glass clock case in their drawing room. 

The events that followed this challenged his families’ innocence and ultimately tore them apart. Within moments of the bone being set upon the table in the Seton’s drawing room, panels from the ceiling crashed down almost hitting them. 

During the next weeks the families sleep was disturbed by sounds of bumps, bangs and thuds.

During this time a young cousin who visited the Seton household saw a “ghostly woman dressed in strange clothes” float by. Other guests in the following weeks also spotted this strange apparition in the home's halls. 

Chairs began to be thrown about and the glass case that the bone rested in mysteriously broke. The legs of the table that the bone sat upon shattered and broke several times. By this time the household was in a major uproar. Sir Alexander locked the drawing room door and determined to keep watch.

Nothing happened so he went to bed. But several hours later his wife woke him up stating that someone must have broken into the house. He grabbed his revolver and headed downstairs, he met his daughter’s nanny on the stairs—she was in hysterics. 

She stated that something was moving around in the drawing room. He went back upstairs to retrieve his keys and when he and Zeyla unlocked the drawing room door a chaotic scene greeted them. 

Chairs were upset, books were flung about but the bone was undisturbed upon the table. Sir Alexander was surprised to find the windows in the room where all locked and secure.

Believing they must have a poltergeist Sir Alexander told his wife he intended to destroy the bone. She forbade him to do this, which caused a prolonged fight between the two. 

A reporter from the Express getting wind of what was occurring in the Seton residence started to hound Sir Alexander for answers—he refused to comment. But later when this same reporter requested to borrow the bone he allowed it. The Express reporter returned the bone without incident but was later involved in a serious car accident.

The activity calmed down for a while but one night as the Seton’s returned from their various engagements the nanny approached them once more in a panic. She had been hearing loud noises in the drawing room all night and then glass shattering. 

She admitted she was too afraid to enter the room. When the Seton’s did they found that everything was undisturbed except for the bone and table it sat upon. The table rested on its side the bone lay in several pieces on the floor.

A reporter from the Scottish Daily Mail was called in to take pictures of it. He like the first reporter borrowed the bone but the next day he returned it because he had become seriously ill. 

The family prayed and peace returned to house briefly then on Boxing Day they invited over one hundred guests for dinner. Zeyla’s friend had pieced and glued the bone back together and placed it back in the drawing room. 

As the guests were served cocktails in an adjourning room the conversation inevitably turned to the bone. At this point the table the bone sat upon hurled itself violently across the room hitting the opposite wall. 

A maid and Zeyla’s cousin Gert both fainted. Even though no one had been in the room where the table had moved people panicked and and the party broke up quickly.

The American papers picked up on the story after this incident. Again, Sir Alexander was hounded. Meetings were held with hundreds of attendees to determine what might be going on. 

The family received thousands of letters from concerned citizens. Howard Carter who had made the initial Tutankhamun find penned one of these letters. He stated,

“…that inexplicable things could happen and would continue to happen.”

Sir Alexander determined, now requested his uncle a Roman Catholic monk ** to come out and “exorcise” the bone—he did this while Zeyla was not at home. 

Once the bone was blessed Seton destroyed the bone by burning it. Years later, he stated this returned peace to his house but Zeyla never forgave him and their marriage disintegrated soon afterwards. ***

* At the time many stories where being published about the supposed “Curse of the Pharaohs”. This curse refers to a wide held belief that if anyone disturbed the remains of an ancient Egyptian, especially a pharaoh that person would then be cursed.

** Sir Alexander Hay Seton was not a catholic but his uncle was. His daughter, Egidia was six at the time. She recalled seventy years later the day her Uncle Charles arrived at the house, causing a scandal, from the Benedictine Abbey at Fort Augustus.

“He was in charge of the wine and spirits up at the Abbey and I rather think he was their best customer. He came down and waved his hands over the bone a bit and incanted something.”

*** Even though the activity in the house settled down, Sir Alexander stated that the curse continued to make his and his families lives difficult. At the end he stated he believed in the curse.