Greyfriars Kirkyard

Greyfriars Kirkyard is a historic burial ground in Edinburgh's Old Town surrounding Greyfriars Kirk, established in 1562 on the site of a medieval Franciscan friary. The kirkyard is one of Edinburgh's most atmospheric and historically layered spaces, containing the graves of some of the most significant figures in Scottish history. It is best known to most visitors as the burial place of Greyfriars Bobby, the Skye Terrier who reportedly guarded the grave of his master John Gray for 14 years until his own death in 1872. A small bronze statue at the kirkyard gate commemorates him. The kirkyard has deeper historical significance as the location where the National Covenant was signed in 1638, a document asserting the independence of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland from royal interference. The Covenanters' Prison, a walled enclosure in the southwestern corner, was used to detain approximately 1,200 Covenanting prisoners after the Battle of Bothwell Bridge in 1679; many died of exposure in appalling conditions. The Black Mausoleum, the tomb of Sir George Mackenzie who prosecuted the Covenanters, is the focus of Edinburgh's most well-known ghost tour. Elaborate carved stone memorials throughout the kirkyard represent the finest surviving examples of 17th and 18th-century Edinburgh funerary art. The kirkyard is freely accessible during daylight hours; evening ghost tours are available from specialist operators.