Margorie McCall.

The fear of being buried alive is as old as the hills. Famous bards such as Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe have written grisly stories regarding it. Macabre tales of narrow escapes when people who were discovered buried alive when grave robbers opened their coffins. Contorted, twisted, petrified bodies of those poor unfortunates who upon waking found themselves trapped in a box doomed to a horrific death. Here follows a story of one such woman who found that being buried alive would become a terrible reality.

 

Margorie McCall c1705.

 

Margorie McCall was married to a doctor and they lived in Lurgan, County Armagh. They were very happy and content with their lot in life. Unfortunately Margorie became ill and although her husband was a doctor he was extremely worried. It should be remembered that in the early 1700s medical science was not what it is today and simple illnesses we would consider as easily cured today could prove fatal at that time. Sadly poor Margorie was to succumb to her fever and she passed away, she was buried in Shankhill Church of Ireland Cemetery not far from where they lived in Church Place. Her burial was a speedy one for at that time fever was feared as it was known to spread; this should have been the end of the story.

 

Margorie was buried still wearing a beautiful gold wedding ring. Her husband could not remove it from her finger due to the fact that her fingers had swollen since her death. People talked of the buried treasure and the Resurrection Men were listening. Here was a chance to make some easy money, not only could they sell the body but they were in for a bonus. That evening, before the ground she was buried in had time to settle upon poor Margorie’s coffin the boys paid a visit. In the graveyard they worked under cover of darkness, digging down silently until they heard the scrape of the spade upon the lid of her box, they reached down and prised off the lid.

 

They saw the glitter of gold upon her finger. Realising the story they had heard was true they attempted to remove the ring, it would not budge. Well times were hard and money was as tight as that ring so they decided they were not about to let such a prize go to the surgeon’s slab. She was dead already so she wouldn’t need her finger would she? It was agreed, that they would cut off the finger to free the ring. Unfortunately for them the shock of the knife slicing through her finger was just what she needed to wake her up from the catatonic state she had been in. She sat up, eyes wide and screamed like a Banshee. Some say that one of the body snatchers had a heart attack and dropped dead on the spot, others say they took off like the devil himself was after them never to be seen again. They were even reported as giving up their rather profitable trade. Margorie rose from her grave and began to stagger to her nearby home

 

Back at the house her husband was sat talking to some relatives that had remain behind after the burial when he heard a bang at the door. He stood up, went to the door and opened it. There like a scene from The Shining stood his wife (HI Honey I’m Home). She was still wearing her dirt covered death shroud and she was dripping blood from her part severed finger. Some stories tell us that he dropped dead from fright and was buried in the plot of ground his wife had recently vacated. The poor relatives are not mentioned and it’s unsure whether they were pleased to see her alive or upset to see him drop dead.

 

It is said that Margorie went on to re-marry and to have a number of children. Some say she was even pregnant when she rose from the grave. She is still seen wandering the cemetery at night, although you would think she had had enough of that place. If you visit the graveyard you will see her gravestone, upon it is written “Here Lies Margorie McCall, Lived Once, Buried Twice”.

 

It is also said that some people in order to scare their children at Halloween hide behind the curtains and jump out shouting “it's me, it’s me, it’s Margorie”