A Tale of a True-Blue Terrier : Statue of Famous Dog in Scotland Was Knocked Down--But Not Out

Greyfriars Bobby, the most famous dog in Scotland, is moving from his stand at the corner of Candlemaker Row and George IV Bridge to a safer place.

The statue of the little Skye terrier was knocked down by a car in November and suffered a crack in its plinth but was put back up.

“But we’re moving him to a safer position up the road 10 to 20 yards,” said Martin Hannan, an spokesman for Edinburgh’s City Hall. “The council has already bought the land there to do it.”

To move the statue any farther would put it out of context, for Greyfriars churchyard, where Bobby’s master is buried, lies just across the road.

A Devoted Dog

Greyfriars Bobby belonged to John Gray, a countryman who joined the police force in the early 1850s and took the little dog with him on his beat in the slums of Edinburgh Old Town.

Gray died of tuberculosis in 1858 and was buried in the churchyard, his dog following the coffin. Bobby, then in the care of Gray’s son, went back to the churchyard the same night, squirmed under the gate and lay down in the dark at his master’s grave.

For the next 14 years he never left it, except for short walks to Traill’s Eating House for a meal from the owner and tidbits from customers who got to know of his devotion.

Police officers looked out for him by the light of their lanterns. The city’s Lord Provost (mayor) had an engraved collar made for the dog, with a license for the state dog tax attached. The collar is in the city’s Huntly House Museum.

Buried in Churchyard

The dog died in Traill’s home in 1872, and legend has it that Traill secretly buried him in an empty part of Greyfriars churchyard, consecrated ground forbidden to animals. True or not, the dog has his own memorial there: “Let his loyalty and devotion be a lesson to us all. Erected by the Dog Aid Society of Scotland,” and unveiled in 1981.

Another memorial reads: “John Gray, died 1858. ‘Auld Jack,’ Master of ‘Greyfriars Bobby,’ and even in his ashes most beloved. Erected by American Lovers of Bobby.”

The church stands across the road opposite Bobby’s life-size bronze statue, modeled by William Brodie, a member of the Royal Scottish Academy.

Two Hollywood films, by MGM and Walt Disney, were made about Bobby and the story is so moving and popular here that every guidebook to the Scottish capital mentions it. At least two books about Bobby, constantly reprinted, are always on newsstands here.

Statue Renovated

“It wouldn’t be done to visit Edinburgh and not pat the statue on the head,” said City Hall spokesman Hannan.

“The statue was knocked down by a motorist who was lucky not to be lynched, although I heard he was given a right good thumping.

“The statue’s granite plinth was cracked but Bobby is in good nick (condition) after being renovated by the company that refurbished the Eros statue in Piccadilly Circus in London.

“It will get a new plinth and we’re moving the statue to try to make sure that nothing like this happens again,” Hannan said.