Kirkyard
Scotland isn’t short on churches, called kirks, nor the kirkyards that surround them. Within these kirkyards are markers telling stories; some sad, some tender, some even hinting at a more sinister end, but many telling of lives lived doing a common thing – a minister, a housewife, a cobbler, a fisherman – in a manner that would make them missed by those they left. And while some tell extraordinary tales, few capture imaginations, or hearts, like Bobby.
In the city of Edinburgh, lived a night watchman named John Gray, known to most as “Auld Jock”. Auld Jock’s constant companion was his dog, a wee Skye Terrier named Bobby. The two were inseparable, until on February 15th, 1858, Auld Jock succumbed to tuberculosis and died.
Leading his master’s funeral procession to the kirkyard of Greyfriars Cemetery, Bobby refused to give up his vigil, and despite the caretaker’s many attempts at running him out of the kirkyard, Bobby refused to leave his master’s resting place.
Only at one time each day would Bobby leave. As the firing of the one o’clock gun rang out from Edinburgh Castle every day, Bobby would leave his post, run to the eating house which he had frequented with Auld Jock, grab a quick bite, and return to Jock’s grave.
Bobby’s fame, and news of his loyalty, grew. Realizing that Bobby was unlicensed without an owner, and in peril of being gathered up by authorities, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh presented Bobby with a new collar and permanent legitimacy, which is now on display. The collar’s brass plate was inscribed
“Greyfriars Bobby – from the Lord Provost, 1867, licensed”
Well loved and cared for by the people of Edinburgh, Bobby remained faithful to one master all his days, standing guard over him for 14 years until his own death on January 14th, 1872. Buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard in the unconsecrated area of the cemetery and just seventy-five yards away from his master’s grave, his headstone was unveiled by His Royal Highness, The Duke of Gloucester, and honors the little dog with words we would all want to be said of us:
“Greyfriars Bobby
died 14th January 1872 – aged 16 years
Let his loyalty and devotion be a lesson to us all”