Greyfriars Bobby

In the early 19th Century, a man named John Gray joined the Edinburgh police force. One of the requirements of this post was a watch dog, so he bought a Skye Terrier that he jokingly named Bobby.

John Gray and Bobby did their rounds for years until Gray fell ill with tuberculosis in 1858 and died. They buried him in Greyfriars Churchyard. For the next 14 years, until the dog's own death, Bobby kept watch over the grave, leaving only to get food.

At 1:00 each day, when the gun would fire from Nelson's Monument so ships could set their clocks (this still occurs), crowds would gather by Greyfriars Churchyard to watch Bobby leave for his lunch.

Bobby's loyalty is now revered here in Edinburgh, and he has his own gravestone, a statue, and pubs named after him. Yesterday we stopped by his grave, and there were flowers and tributes left. One nearest the grave, written by a kid, said,"Bobby, you were a very brave dog."

All of this makes us long for Bug. She looks quite like the statues of Bobby, and maybe she even has some Skye Terrier in her. Jack says she still sneaks into John's room to sleep on his pillow. We would like to believe it's largely because she misses John. However, we suspect that while that may be a part of it, the larger reason is that she likes sleeping on a soft spot from which she's been forbidden.