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Man's Best Friend - Greyfriars Bobby
John Gray a gardener, together with his
wife Jess and son John arrived in Edinburgh around 1850. Unable to
find work as a gardener he avoided the workhouse by joining the
Edinburgh Police Force as a night watchman.
To
keep him company through the long winter nights John took on a
partner, a diminutive Skye Terrier, his ‘watchdog’ called Bobby.
Together John and Bobby became a familiar sight trudging through the
old cobbled streets of Edinburgh. Through thick and thin, winter and
summer, they were faithful friends.
The
years on the streets appear to have taken their toll on John, as he
was treated by the Police Surgeon for tuberculosis.
John eventually died of the disease on the 15th February 1858 and
was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard. Bobby soon touched the hearts of
the local residents when he refused to leave his master's grave,
even in the worst weather conditions.
The
gardener and keeper of Greyfriars tried on many occasions to evict
Bobby from the Kirkyard. In the end he gave up and provided a
shelter for Bobby by placing sacking beneath two tablestones at the
side of John Gray’s grave.
Bobby’s fame spread throughout Edinburgh. It is reported that almost
on a daily basis the crowds would gather at the entrance of the
Kirkyard waiting for the one o'clock gun that would signal the
appearance of Bobby leaving the grave for his midday meal.
Bobby would follow William Dow, a local joiner and cabinet maker to
the same Coffee House that he had frequented with his now dead
master, where he was given a meal.
In
1867 a new bye-law was passed that required all dogs to be licensed
in the city or they would be destroyed. Sir William Chambers (The
Lord Provost of Edinburgh) decided to pay Bobby's licence and
presented him with a collar with a brass inscription "Greyfriars
Bobby from the Lord Provost 1867 licensed". This can be seen at the
Museum of Edinburgh.
The
kind folk of Edinburgh took good care of Bobby, but still he
remained loyal to his master. For fourteen years the dead man's
faithful dog kept constant watch and guard over the grave until his
own death in 1872.
Baroness Angelia Georgina Burdett-Coutts, President of the Ladies
Committee of the RSPCA, was so deeply moved by his story that she
asked the City Council for permission to erect a granite fountain
with a statue of Bobby placed on top.
William Brody sculptured the statue from life, and it was unveiled
without ceremony in November 1873, opposite Greyfriars Kirkyard. And
it is with that, that Scotland’s Capital city will always remember
its most famous and faithful dog
Bobby's headstone reads "Greyfriars Bobby - died 14th January
1872 - aged 16 years - Let his loyalty and devotion be a lesson to
us all".
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