By Tim Binnall
Authorities in Scotland have opened an investigation into troubling allegations that a miscreant managed to find their way into a 'haunted' historic tomb and disturbed the body inside, including taking pictures alongside a centuries-old corpse! According to a local media report, the Edinburgh Police received a tip about the strange incident which occurred at the final resting place of Sir George "Bloody" Mackenzie. An infamous figure in Scottish history, the 17th-century official earned his macabre nickname after ordering the execution or imprisonment of over 1,000 Protestant Covenanters during the 1670s.
His mausoleum, located the Greyfriars Kirkyard graveyard in Edinburgh, has become something of a tourist destination where visitors traditionally recite a poem 'daring' the dark arbiter to emerge from his grave and face them. To that end, as one might imagine, rumors have also long circulated that Mackenze's spirit haunts the area and that his ghost can occasionally be seen prowling the grounds of the cemetery. However, it would seem that one misguided ne'er-do-well took the tales surrounding the site a bit too far when, police say, the proprietors of the graveyard inadvertently sent him the keys to the historic tomb.
Rather than simply return the keys, the accidental opportunity to explore the legendary mausoleum apparently proved to be too tempting to this individual, who proceeded to visit the site with a friend. The duo are said to have not only entered the tomb, but they then opened one of the coffins and shockingly examined "Bloody" Mackenzie's centuries-old remains. As if all of this were not unsettling enough, the pair allegedly went so far as to take pictures alongside the corpse. Since authorities are aware of the identity of this individual, said to be a tour guide, one presumes that the photos will wind up being used as evidence should their investigation conclude that the claims of disturbing the historic grave are true.