Greyfriars Bobby (Puffin Classics)

Product Information

Touching tribute to Greyfriars Bobby and Edinburgh watchman John Gray hosted at Greyfriars Kirkyard". Edinburgh Evening News. 15 January 2020 . Retrieved 2 August 2021. Memorial to Bobby in Greyfriars Kirkyard, erected in 2021 Books and films directly about Bobby [ edit ] A common discussion is over which of two people named John Gray was the real owner of Bobby (one being a night watchman and the other a farmer). [4] In Councillor McLaren's account, Mr Traill in 1871 had spoken about John Gray the farmer. [19] There are 46 of these cemetery dogs upon record, the majority of them having been at large in Victorian times, from France, England, Sweden and the United States. None of the great cemeteries in Paris was complete without a mourning dog, and London had two ‘Greyfriars Bobbys’, at St Bride’s cemetery, Fleet Street, and St Olave’s cemetery, Southwark. There were cemetery dogs in Lee [East London], Liverpool, Newcastle, Dublin and Belfast. In several instances, it was discovered that the cemetery dog had nothing whatsoever to do with the person it was presumed to be mourning. Greyfriars Bobby I lying on his master’s grave, a drawing by F.W. Keyl from Chatterbox magazine, June 22 1867. To make matters slightly murkier, research by an academic at Cardiff University, Dr Jan Bondeson, ( also a prolific author), indicates there were probably two separate Bobbies – a fact which was noted by various media in 2011.

Greyfriars Bobby (novel) - Wikipedia

The 1945 film The Body Snatcher, has an oblique reference to Bobby. The title character John Gray, played by Boris Karloff, while seeking to dig up a corpse in Greyfriars Kirkyard, encounters a dog (named "Robbie") guarding the grave. The dog is killed. [35] Perhaps Bobby represents all dogs – their unquestioning loyalty and faithfulness, especially when food is involved. He came to the Wednesday agricultural markets in the city and took his mid-day meal at a restaurant in Greyfriars Place. The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby, another film, was released in the UK in February 2006 starring James Cosmo and Christopher Lee (released elsewhere in 2005 under the alternative title Greyfriars Bobby). [31] The Edinburgh Castle scenes in this film were actually shot at Stirling Castle. Many expressed reservations that a West Highland Terrier was cast as Bobby, and that new characters were added while one of the major characters in Bobby's life, John Traill, was omitted. [32] The locals kept an eye on him and he was associated with a number of nearby households even as his fame spread. The Greyfriars Bobby legend is bornHowever, it seems that after his night duty down in the Grassmarket, Gray used to have a meal there, and Bobby was fed as well.

Greyfriars Bobby – shedding new light on an old story Greyfriars Bobby – shedding new light on an old story

Though uncommon in Scotland today – maybe because so many folk prefer goggle-eyed, wheezing, in-bred puggy-dog things that they can dress up – there were, they say, 60 breeders in the Edinburgh area alone in Bobby’s time.Bobby is said to have sat by the grave for 14 years. [2] [3] [4] [5] He died in 1872 [4] [5] and a necropsy by Prof Thomas Walley of the Edinburgh Veterinary College concluded he had died from cancer of the jaw. [6] In 1867, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh presented Bobby with a new collar, which is now on display. The collar has a brass plate inscribed with the words…. Another objection to the story of Greyfriars Bobby is that it is part of a pan-European myth of extreme canine fidelity, a sentimental notion that after the master had died and been buried, the mourning dog would keep vigil on the grave. This notion was taken advantage by some canine vagabonds roaming into cemeteries, and remaining there because they were taken care of by kind people who thought the cemetery dog was keeping vigil on the grave of its departed master.