Mausoleum of Sir George Mackenzie allegedly targeted by tomb raider
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Sir George Mackenzie
The mausoleum of the institutional writer Sir George Mackenzie, who became lord advocate 1677, has allegedly been violated by a tomb raider.
Known as Bluidy Mackenzie for his treatment of the Covenanters he is famous nowadays for haunting the kirkyard at Greyfriars in Edinburgh, filling visitors with fear and dread.
Police Scotland and Edinburgh City Council have launched an investigation over claims the manager of a tourist firm gained access to the mausoleum and removed the lid of one of the coffins before taking a photo of the corpse and examining it “in order to determine its sex”.
It is understood the key was “accidentally” given to the alleged tomb raider.
A police source said: “We get asked to investigate all manner of things which the public never hear about and this must one of the most macabre and bizarre. It is, however, a serious offence and not the first time that Edinburgh’s historic kirkyards have attracted the wrong types.”
In 2003, a man called Sonny Devlin broke into the tomb and beheaded the corpse of Sir George. He was thought to be the first person charged with “violation of a sepulchre” in more than a century.
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