Legend and Lore (part 1)

as you might guess, there are loads of olde stories around this magical place. spun together from generations of retelling, its hard to say what elements are complete truth and what are embellished. nevertheless these tales have weaved their way into the fabric of this city in such a way that no man woman or child who spends more than a week here can hope to avoid them.

holy hell, that was the most pretentious sounding start to a blog in the history of the internet. let's try this...

there are some ridiculous stories around here. i'll be writing about a few of them over the next couple days. here's the first:

The Legend of Greyfriar's Bobby

John Gray was a local man and a parishioner of Greyfriar's Kirk, a branch of the Church of Scotland in the oldest part of Edinburgh. he made his way with his wife and child working as a gardener in the early part of the 19th century. some time in the late 1860's, the harsh weather left the rocky Edinburgh ground unworkable and Gray became unemployed. to avoid the workhouses he became a police officer. the job required a Watch Dog so Gray adopted a Skye Terrier and named him Bobby. total companionship developed between the two and one was nary seen without the other by his side.

in 1856 John was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Bobby stayed with him all hours of the day, perched watchfully on the foot of his bed. on the 8th of February, 1858 John Gray died. friends, family, and members of Greyfriars Kirk took John's body and ceremoniously marched it through the center of town towards his final resting place, Bobby trotting along faithfully behind. they buried Gray in the churchyard of Greyfriar's Kirk with a simple stone and a small patch of flowers. after the service everyone left the churchyard and went back to their homes. everyone, that is, except Bobby. Bobby laid on his master's plot day and night, only leaving for food.

in 1867 it was pointed out that an unowned dog should be put down but the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Sir William Chalmers (who was also a director of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), paid for a renewal of Bobby's licence, making him the responsibility of the city council. And there Bobby sat for fourteen years until his own death in 1871. Bobby could not be buried in the kirkyard but was laid to rest just outside the church wall, about 20 meters from John Gray's plot.

the corner of Candlemaker Row and George IV Bridge.
Greyfriar's Kirk is off to the left.
the Bobby monument is at the intersection with the tall pole.

Greyfriars Kirk (this one is actually not my picture - it was dark when i visited here)

the Bobby monument. etched on both his gravestone and this statue are the words:
"may we all learn from his loyalty"