Even Guide Gets Scared On Edinburgh Ghost Tour
Posted on Tuesday, August 10 @ 10:43:35 PDT by poster |
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Anonymous writes "By Paul Majendie 8-10-2
EDINBURGH (Reuters) -- Even the guide gets scared on the tour of a misty Edinburgh graveyard where a poltergeist reigns supreme.
And the "City of the Dead" tour makes no bones about the dangers involved, warning those out for a good scare: "There have been 220 attacks by the infamous poltergeist. Of these, 60 have resulted in a tour member collapsing."
Tour guide David Pollock, shepherding 50 trusty souls into Greyfriars cemetery at the dead of night, is the first to admit: "I find it very scary. When things happen, it gets to you."
But fearless fans just can't get enough of the tour, specially staged every year at midnight during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
"Some Fringe shows are lucky to get 50 people in a month. I get 50 people walking around here twice a night," Pollock told Reuters.
He delivers the fright show with great panache, clinking the keys of the graveyard gate as the crowd huddles together and nervously laughs at his blood-curdling tales.
The 17th century villain of the piece is "Bloody" George McKenzie who condemned to death thousands of Covenanters, Scottish Presbyterians who signed a "National Covenant with God" and embarked on a religious crusade against the English King.
After being tortured in horrendous conditions in prison, many Covenanters were executed outside the walls of the adjoining cemetery and then buried back inside. In a macabre twist, McKenzie was buried right next to their prison.
Early in 1999, a tramp seeking shelter broke into McKenzie's tomb, desecrating the coffin and plunging though the floor of the small building into another tomb filled with bodies.
Edinburgh City Council decided to lock the tomb gate after a string of visitors complained of intense cold and of sweet but sickening smells coming from it.
But a small tour company applied for permission to conduct nightly walks and the council agreed.
That's when the trouble started.
The poltergeist -- so it seems -- would not rest, prompting several teams of psychic investigators and mediums to come and hunt for the supernatural phenomenon.
Spiritualist minister Colin Grant tried to exorcise the mausoleum but died soon afterwards.
All these trials and tribulations are related with relish to the quivering visitors by tour guide Pollock -- and there is no doubt he is a believer.
"There is something there," he said. "In the two and a half years I have done this job, I have carried out 19 people unconscious. I have even felt myself being punched hard and yet there was nothing there in front of me."
As the thrillseekers troop out of the chill tomb after a mercifully quiet night for the poltergeist, he is hardly reassuring.
"If any cuts or bruises appear on your body over the next day or two and your boyfriend or girlfriend is not responsible, we would like to hear from you. This is the best documented poltergeist in the world."
Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved."
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