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Having conducted outdoor ghostly themed walking tours in Edinburgh for over 40 years we've encountered a number of unusual incidents which we'd like to share with you. Some of those incidents may be described as co-incidental while others verge on the unexplained.
Do you ever tell someone a funny story and their response is ... a little below what you hoped? An anecdote going down like a lead balloon often initiates the phrase, "You had to be there". This blog may have to end with those words, as it contains anecdotes relating to our evening ghostly walking tours with "jumper-ooters". We think the stories are amusing, but you'll need to be the judge of that.
While conducting our afternoon walking tours around Greyfriars Cemetery, we have noticed an intriguing new local ritual unfolding before our very eyes. According to a certain Tour Guide (who will remain nameless), it is good luck to "slap the bum tree". A number of tour groups are now pausing at this tree, situated near the Flodden Wall, whereupon the Tour Guide encourages guests to slap the tree three times for good luck. This may sound completely nutty; however, perhaps we do not need to look far beyond the gates of the Kirkyard for clues as to the inspiration of this new custom.
As Halloween looms, we are preparing ourselves for what will be the most surreal 31st October we've experienced since 1985. Can you believe it? Thirty-five years of ghoulish endeavours in the Old Town of Edinburgh on what was always our busiest night of the year.
The summer of 2020 was a surreal experience for all of us.
It was a double-edged sword for tourist guides as tourism ground to a halt. The upside, however, was an eerily quiet capital city to explore; including Greyfriars cemetery, which was a joy to wander through as the kirkyard was as silent as its long-term occupants.
It's great to be back on the streets of Edinburgh's Old Town conducting our evening outdoor walking tours.
We've adapted very quickly to a socially-distanced tour with a limit of 15 guests in each group. It's been a creative challenge reinventing aspects of the trip which require audience participation, but so far so good. For their part, the customers attending the tours -- a mix of locals and visitors -- are acclimatising well to the "new normal" by keeping a respectful distance from other family groups and wearing face-coverings when required.
Alexander Clapperton (deceased) is the chief guide on the Witchery Ghosts & Gore Tour. We found him on George IV Bridge ... well, we found his name in the Edinburgh Room of the Central Library on George IV Bridge, where we do much of our local research. We very much liked the sound of his name, 'Clapperton', and the fact he'd been a Director of the Edinburgh Western Cemetery Company. He passed the 'looking for an historical character with an interesting name who can conduct one of our walking tours test' with flying colours.
The term jumper-ooter (or jooter, for short) was invented by our co-founders Robin Mitchell and Colin Macphail on a warm summer's night in June 1984. In those ancient pre-jooter mullet-haired days of auld, Robin and Colin, resplendent in the full Highland garb, conducted personal walking tours of Edinburgh's Royal Mile.
It's not every day you find eight pumas looking at you across the counter of our little shop, but that's the experience our counter-ghouls had this week when stars of the Argentinian national Rugby Union team (nickname: Los Pumas) arrived to meet my colleague Alexander Clapperton and friends for a tour.
As every ghost's favourite night of the year rolls around again, we have cooked up a delicious deal with our friends at three of the Grassmarket's best-loved eateries.
