- 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.
Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly
prohibited without the written consent of Reuters Limited
|
