Discovering a city by night can be rather eye-opening, and well worth it to stay out past the 'Witching Hour'. And I wasn't disappointed. Edinburgh provides a feast of history after dark, as well as some exceptionally talented and engaging Scots men and women to serve it.
First up, Mercat Tours. It's truly worth the few quid to spend time with a guide who can engage a group of people from a variety of places for nearly two hours with the history and ghostly encounters of several centuries.
Our guide, Faith, was well-versed, and thoroughly engrossing as she regaled us with some damn nasty tales of just how much fun people had watching their fellow citizens being tortured.
I have a strong stomach, but even I found the discussion pegging at least a eight-point-five on the Ick-Factor Scale as she explained just exactly what happens to a person's tongue after its bound between two sticks and slowly tightened.
That was just the punishment for lying.
Tell that one to the kids next time they fib and see what happens.
Not for the squeamish, certainly. But an absolute must to liven the atmosphere for the ensuing tales of ghostly sightings.
The tour wound down with a tour of some of the vaults located beneath South Bridge.
These vaults, like so many of the underground passages in Edinburgh, have their own stories to tell (some of them seriously sinister).
It appears quite a few psychics have verified that some of the occupants are still very much 'alive' and active in the vaults and it makes for a fantastic setting.
I managed to take an interesting pic of Faith in the vaults.
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Tour number two: The City of the Dead Tour given by Black Hart Entertainment.
It can never be said that I am a chickensh*t. I went on the next tour by myself. Mel flat out refused to attend, so I left her at the pub.
This tour takes you into Greyfriars Cemetery and into Covenanters Prison and the Black Mausoleum where exists the Mackenzie Poltergeist, which is claimed to be the best documented supernatural case in history. (Check out Black Hart's site and read about the poltergeist and all the accounts. Whether or not you are a believer in the supernatural, the evidence of something seriously weird going on is very compelling.)
Because of this, these guys don't screw around. It's very clearly stated on their Website and in their leaflets:
WARNING: The Mackenzie Poltergeist can cause genuine physical and mental distress. You join the tour at your own risk.
Um, so, definately not frae the faint of heart.
Our guide for the evening was Gerry. Like a one-man Hamlet, Gerry's storytelling talent engaged a crowd of twenty-plus for at least two full hours. How he managed that without going horse, I have no idea. Gerry, if you read this, you rocked it, dude!
Edinburgh boasts more folks buried under it then live people currently inhabiting it. Add that little piece of knowledge to an ass-numbingly cold, windy night, complete with the sound of leaves 'shooshing'* over the shadows of many a damaged headstone, and you've got yourself a whole lot of Creepy going on.
Freaking awesome!
I'm not going to go into the history of the Covenanters Prison. There are a ton of sites that can give you the history better than I can. Suffice it to say, if you take this tour (encounter or not) you will not be dissapointed.
*shooshing is a word in my world.
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