* Greyfrairs Cemetery Edinburgh, Scotland * Dorsey Mansion Springer, New Mexico * Leap Castle , Ireland * Greyfrairs Cemetery Edinburgh, Scotland Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a number of notable Edinburgh residents are interred at Greyfriars The graveyard is associated with Greyfriars Bobby, the loyal dog who guarded his master's grave. Bobby's headstone at the entrance to the Kirkyard, erected by the Dog Aid Society in 1981, marks his actual burial place in an unconsecrated patch of the Kirkyard - a peculiarity which has led to many misunderstandings and fictions about his burial. The dog's statue is opposite the graveyard's gate, at the junction of George IV Bridge and Candlemaker Row. The grave of Edinburgh police officer John Gray, where the dog famously slept for 13 years, lies on the eastern path, some 30m north of the entrance. The stone is modern, the grave originally being unmarked. George MC Kenzie Since 1999, when a homeless person broke into Mackenzie's stone coffin for the night, Greyfriars Churchyard has been the epicentre of an escalation of unexplained events linked to the ghost of Mackenzie; known colloquially as the Mackenzie Poltergeist. The Mackenzie Poltergeist has been called the most well-documented paranormal phenomenon in the world. Even before 1999, there had been reports of unusual disturbances in the graveyard. Between 1990 and 2006 there were 350 reported attacks and 170 reports of people collapsing. Visitors reported being cut, bruised, bitten, scratched and most commonly blacking out. Some complained later of bruises, scratches and gouge-marks on their bodies. Most attacks and feelings of unease occurred in MacKenzie's Black Mausoleum and the Covenantors Prison. In 2000, an exorcist, Colin Grant was summoned to the graveyard to perform an exorcism ceremony; he was said to have picked up "evil forces" and claimed that the forces were too overpowering and feared that they could kill him. A few weeks later, he died suddenly of a heart attack. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dorsey Mansion Springer, New Mexico The Dorsey Mansion is a log and stone mansion built in 1878 by Stephen W. Dorsey, a controversial carpetbagging Republican who served as United States Senator from Arkansas during the Reconstruction from 1873 until 1879. The mansion is located on US Route 56, east of Springer, New Mexico. In the late 1880s he established the nearby town of Clayton, New Mexico, which he named for his son Clayton. Dorsey attempted to become a leader of the Republican party in New Mexico, but his debts and lawsuits thwarted his ambitions. By 1892, Dorsey and his wife were almost destitute. For a while, the Dorseys operated the Mansion as a tuberculosis sanatorium. They moved to Los Angeles, where Dorsey's wife Helen died in 1897, and Dorsey died in 1916, almost penniless. After Helen's death, the Mansion was badly encumbered by creditor's liens. In 1901, the Mansion was sold at auction to Solomon Floersheim, one of the creditors. There were a series of owners during the first half of the 20th century. These included Dr. H. B. Masten (1902), William Van Bruggen (1907), Lewis Griggs (1912). The Post Office and Mercantile closed in the 1950s, and many of the outbuildings collapsed. K.E. Deaton bought the property and adjoining 40 acres (160,000 m2) in 1966, and tried to renovate the Mansion. After Deaton's death, his heirs sold the property to the State of New Mexico in 1973. The New Mexico State Museum concluded that the Mansion was too expensive to renovate properly. On December 4, 1987, the Dorsey Mansion State Monument was sold to Dr. Roger W. Akers and Sandra Henning. They are the current owners. At present, the Mansion is not open for tours. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leap Castle County Tipperary, Ireland Perhaps the most haunted castle in Ireland is Leap Castle. More than 400 years ago, in 1532, brother turned against brother to shed blood. One was a warrior who rushed into the chapel and used his sword to slay the priest who was his brother. The priest fell across the altar and died. The chapel is known as Bloody Chapel since that time. The dungeon in the castle is called an oubliette. Prisoners pushed into the oubliette fell eight feet onto spikes coming up from the floor. Leap Castle is also haunted by an Elemental, a dark evil creature about the size of a sheep and has a human face and black pools for eyes. It smells of rotting flesh. It's a great place to go for a ghost hunt. See if you agree with the paranormal "proof."

• published: 18 Sep 2013
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