Mackenzie's Ghost
Horror Stories - Mackenzie's Ghost
A Liverpool ghost story. It's a dark and windswept night, a hurried walk through one of the quieter parts of town and then, behind you, the sound of footsteps, only for you to see nobody there when you spin around. The tale of William Mackenzie's ghost on Rodney Street is a hugely popular one. In a city filled with tales of Spring-Heeled Jack, and vampires in the Cathedral grounds, it's not a surprise that such an old city has its fair share of tales of the dead.
"His decision to keep his body above ground kept him from the devil but also from heaven too"
But Mackenzie's story is one that lives on more than most. Perhaps it's because of the mysterious granite pyramid which is at the heart of the story, or perhaps it's because it's about a chancer and gambler who took the devil on and lost.
He was born in Nelson, Lancashire, and was the eldest of the 11 children of Alexander Mackenzie, a Scottish contractor, and Mary née Roberts. He started his career as an apprentice weaver but changed to civil engineering, becoming a pupil of a lock carpenter on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in 1811.
He was one of the leading European contractors in the 1840s and, so the story goes a man who loved to gamble. He was known as being lucky too, able to succeed in business and at the poker table. His skills were renowned, able almost to read people's minds at how they played the game.
The story goes that he'd made a deal with the devil: The world's greatest lucky streak, but he'd have to hand over his soul the moment he was put in the ground. Mackenzie had a plan to save himself but keep the loot. He instructed he should be entombed above ground within the big granite pyramid at St Andrew's Church, Rodney Street, sitting upright at a card table and clutching a royal flush in 1851.
His plan would have been perfect except that he forgot that his soul needed to go somewhere. His decision to keep his body above ground kept him from the devil but also from heaven too. Now a man in a large cloak and top hat can be seen wandering around Rodney Street late at night. Indeed he is often heard rather than seen, a soul with nowhere to go.
We should probably just skate over a few issues. The inscription proves that MacKenzie was buried beneath, not inside, the pyramid and that the monument itself was not erected until 16 years after his death. Also the story is not unique to this site. At Saint Thomas à Becket's churchyard in Brightling, East Sussex there is home to a twenty-five foot (7.62 metre) pyramid dedicated to John "Mad Jack" Fuller. Legend had it that Fuller was entombed in the pyramid in full dress and top hat seated at a table set with a roast chicken and a bottle of wine. Sadly, or happily for the spirits, he isn't.
Interred in 1851, William MacKenzie's name is mentioned in many Liverpool guidebooks owing to the fact that grave is marked with an impressive fifteen foot (4.57 metre) pyramid shaped tombstone.
That said the story is still a potent one, local ghost stories always have a romantic tone at their best. Mackenzie's story has an even more gothic version. He turns into an atheist after a loved one dies and after a night of drinking and gambling loses his shirt to an impressive player.
He plays one last hand with the only thing he had left, his soul. As he's an atheist he has nothing to lose, but when the hand turns bad for him he ends up seeing his opponent, Old Nick himself, vanish, claiming his soul when he is buried.
So next time you're walking down Rodney Street at night listen out, and hurry your stride, and certainly don't put your soul down on a game of cards, None of it could possibly go well.
"His decision to keep his body above ground kept him from the devil but also from heaven too"
But Mackenzie's story is one that lives on more than most. Perhaps it's because of the mysterious granite pyramid which is at the heart of the story, or perhaps it's because it's about a chancer and gambler who took the devil on and lost.
He was born in Nelson, Lancashire, and was the eldest of the 11 children of Alexander Mackenzie, a Scottish contractor, and Mary née Roberts. He started his career as an apprentice weaver but changed to civil engineering, becoming a pupil of a lock carpenter on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in 1811.
He was one of the leading European contractors in the 1840s and, so the story goes a man who loved to gamble. He was known as being lucky too, able to succeed in business and at the poker table. His skills were renowned, able almost to read people's minds at how they played the game.
The story goes that he'd made a deal with the devil: The world's greatest lucky streak, but he'd have to hand over his soul the moment he was put in the ground. Mackenzie had a plan to save himself but keep the loot. He instructed he should be entombed above ground within the big granite pyramid at St Andrew's Church, Rodney Street, sitting upright at a card table and clutching a royal flush in 1851.
His plan would have been perfect except that he forgot that his soul needed to go somewhere. His decision to keep his body above ground kept him from the devil but also from heaven too. Now a man in a large cloak and top hat can be seen wandering around Rodney Street late at night. Indeed he is often heard rather than seen, a soul with nowhere to go.
We should probably just skate over a few issues. The inscription proves that MacKenzie was buried beneath, not inside, the pyramid and that the monument itself was not erected until 16 years after his death. Also the story is not unique to this site. At Saint Thomas à Becket's churchyard in Brightling, East Sussex there is home to a twenty-five foot (7.62 metre) pyramid dedicated to John "Mad Jack" Fuller. Legend had it that Fuller was entombed in the pyramid in full dress and top hat seated at a table set with a roast chicken and a bottle of wine. Sadly, or happily for the spirits, he isn't.
Interred in 1851, William MacKenzie's name is mentioned in many Liverpool guidebooks owing to the fact that grave is marked with an impressive fifteen foot (4.57 metre) pyramid shaped tombstone.
That said the story is still a potent one, local ghost stories always have a romantic tone at their best. Mackenzie's story has an even more gothic version. He turns into an atheist after a loved one dies and after a night of drinking and gambling loses his shirt to an impressive player.
He plays one last hand with the only thing he had left, his soul. As he's an atheist he has nothing to lose, but when the hand turns bad for him he ends up seeing his opponent, Old Nick himself, vanish, claiming his soul when he is buried.
So next time you're walking down Rodney Street at night listen out, and hurry your stride, and certainly don't put your soul down on a game of cards, None of it could possibly go well.
