British Billy salutes Greyfriars Bobby

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  • By British Billy
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom -- at least, that's what Aristotle is supposed to have said. I know that, as a cat, I have many wondrous attributes, but being man's best friend isn't one of them. I am far too vain and self-centred a creature for that. I may be a companion, teacher, role model and ethereal creature of grace and beauty, but when it comes to devotion and loyalty, dogs win first prize, though it pains my whiskers to admit it. And Greyfriars Bobby would surely be the champion of them all

Two of my favourite Americans have just returned from celebrating New Year in Edinburgh. As you will know, the Scots refer to the New Year as Hogmanay, and every year Edinburgh, like every Scottish city, town and village, celebrates wholeheartedly.

During their stay, they happened upon the small but life-sized statue of Greyfriars Bobby, and should you go to Edinburgh, I would urge you to do the same, as the true story of this iconic canine's dogged determination will warm the cockles of the coldest heart.

The story of 'the wee dog', as many Scots refer to him, begins with John Gray, a gardener, who, 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, called Bobby, who served as his 'watchdog'. 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 Feb. 15, 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 signal fired from the cannon at Edinburgh Castle that would herald 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 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 14 years, faithful Bobby kept constant watch over the grave until his own death on Jan. 14, 1872.

Baroness Angelia Georgina Burdett-Coutts, President of the Ladies Committee of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 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 Brodie sculpted the statue, and it was unveiled without ceremony in November 1873, opposite Greyfriars Kirkyard. It sits at the corner of Edinburgh's Candlemaker Row and George IV Bridge so that Scotland's capital city will always remember its most famous and faithful dog.

Greyfriars Bobby was held in such high esteem by the people of Edinburgh that he is still the only dog to have been given the freedom of the city by the City Council, and even today his grave always displays fresh flowers. Bobby's headstone reads 'Greyfriars Bobby - died 14 January, 1872 - aged 16 years - Let his loyalty and devotion be a lesson to us all'.