Haunted Edinburgh

The MacKenzie Poltergeist

One of the most famous of Edinburgh's ghosts is the MacKenzie Poltergeist. This unfriendly spook is said to haunt the Covenanters Prison in Greyfriars Graveyard.

George MacKenzie was in charge of the Prison in the 17th Century and - working for King Charles II - persecuted the Scots Presbyterians known as Covenanters.

MacKenzie was also local Advocate and became infamous for the glee with which he would sentence the Convenanters to swing on the gallows. He was most definitely a "hanging judge".

MacKenzie's tomb is near the site of the prison, however this is not where the poltergeist activity takes place. It seems that the ghostly judge prefers to haunt the last resting place of his victims within the prison.

The area has - like much of Edinburgh - been the site of much paranormal activity and ghost sightings over the centuries. However the poltergeist only really became active after an incident in 1998 when a "tired and emotional" local desecrated the MacKenzie tomb.

Since then the MacKenzie poltergeist appears to have been on a rampage and there have been numerous reports of tourists and visitors to the Covenantor's Prison being set upon by an unfriendly entity.

All of which is, of course, excellent publicity for the Edinburgh supernatural tourist industry...