In 1705, Margorie McCall passed away due to a fever, and was rushed to be buried in order to prevent the disease from spreading.
On that fateful night, grave robbers set out to take Margorie’s wedding ring, and to their shock, when they dug her up, she was sitting up – she had been buried alive! The looters suddenly fell to the ground, petrified.
Margorie took the journey back to her home, only to have her husband pass away from the shock of seeing her!
It was a tragic situation for Margorie McCall, but she managed to move on and find happiness again. In the end, upon her death she was laid to rest in her original grave.
Back a century or more ago (or even today in some areas), premature burial was not an uncommon occurrence. In Lurgan, Northern Ireland, it was fortunate that there were ‘resurrectionists’ operating in the area at the time; these were graverobbers who would steal corpses to sell to anatomy schools or take anything of value from the corpse.
Though this tale is often reported to have taken place in other places and at different times, it is likely just folklore. Nevertheless, many people in Lurgan will swear to its truthfulness and point to Margorie’s headstone as proof, even though it was erected 150 years after the events supposedly occurred.
After reading about the strange case of Margorie McCall, read about these 44 of the most unusual deaths from history.
