Greyfriars Bobby

John Gray worked in Edinburgh as a night watchman back in 1850. To keep him company on the long night shift John got himself a dog, a wee Skye Terrier named Bobby. The pair became a familiar sight around the town but in 1858 John died from tuberculosis and was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard.

Bobby refused to leave his master´s grave despite the best efforts of the Greyfriars Kirkyard gardener who eventually gave up and made him a small shelter. Bobby´s fame soon spread and crowds would gather to watch him as he left the grave for lunch each day. Bobby would follow local joiner William Dow to a nearby coffee house which his master used to take him to. He would be fed here and indeed was well taken care of by the residents of Edinburgh.

When a new law came into effect in 1867 which required dogs to be licensed the Lord Provost himself paid the fee for Bobby and gave him a collar with a brass inscription which can now be seen at the National Museum.

Bobby continued to watch over his master´s grave for fourteen years until his own death in 1872. The year after his death a granite fountain with a statue of Bobby on top was erected just opposite the entrance to Greyfriars Kirkyard at the end of George IV Bridge. His headstone reads "Greyfriars Bobby - died 14th January 1872 - aged 16 years - Let his loyalty and devotion be a lesson to us all".