Greyfriars Bobby was a Skye ٹیریر who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh after reportedly spending 14 years guarding the grave of his owner, John Gray, until he died himself on 14 January 1872. A سال later, Lady Burdett-Coutts had a statue and فاؤنٹین, چشمہ erected at the southern end of the George IV Bridge to commemorate him.
Several کتابیں and films have been based on Bobby's life, including the novel Greyfriar's Bobby (1912) سے طرف کی Eleanor Atkinson and the films Greyfriars Bobby (1961) and The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby (2006).

The story

Bobby belonged to John Gray, who worked for the Edinburgh City Police as a night watchman, and the two were inseparable for approximately two years. On 8 February 1858, Gray died of tuberculosis. He was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard, the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in the Old Town of Edinburgh. Bobby, who survived Gray سے طرف کی fourteen years, is کہا to have spent the rest of his life sitting on his master's grave. Another account[citation needed] has it that he spent a great deal of time at Gray's grave, but that he left regularly for meals at a restaurant beside the graveyard, and may have spent colder winters in nearby houses.

In 1867, when it was argued that a dog without an owner should be destroyed, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Sir William Chambers—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.

Bobby died in 1872 and could not be buried within the cemetery itself, since it was and remains consecrated ground. He was buried instead just inside the gate of Greyfriars Kirkyard, not far from John Gray's grave.

In memory

Bobby's headstone in Greyfriars KirkyardA lifesize statue of Greyfriars Bobby, was created سے طرف کی William Brodie in 1872, almost immediately after the dog's death. This was paid for سے طرف کی a local aristocrat, Baroness Burdett-Coutts. This stands in front of the "Greyfriars Bobby's Bar", which is located near the south (main) entrance to Greyfriars Kirkyard. The statue originally faced toward the graveyard and pub but has since been turned around, allegedly سے طرف کی a گزشتہ landlord of the pub so that the pub would appear in the background of the many photographs that are taken each year.[citation needed] The monument is Edinburgh's smallest listed building. It was restored in totality in 1985 when the entire red granite base was remodelled. Originally built as a drinking fountain, it very aptly had an upper فاؤنٹین, چشمہ for humans and a lower فاؤنٹین, چشمہ for dogs. This had the water supply cut off (as with all Edinburgh's drinking fountains) around 1975 amidst health scares. Both basin areas were infilled with concrete soon after. After being daubed with yellow paint, allegedly سے طرف کی students, on General Election night in 1979, and being hit سے طرف کی a car in 1984, restoration became critical.

A red granite stone was erected on Bobby's grave سے طرف کی The Dog Aid Society of Scotland, and unveiled سے طرف کی the Duke of Gloucester on 13 May 1981. Since around 2000 this has been utilised in a shrine-like manner, with sticks (for Bobby to fetch) frequently being left and occasionally dog toys, flowers etc. (see base of attached photograph)

The monument reads:

Greyfriars Bobby

Died 14 January 1872

Aged 16 years

Let his loyalty and devotion be a lesson to us all.

Guided tours of the Kirkyard are دیا سے طرف کی a number of groups, including the Greyfriars Bobby Walking Theatre and the Greyfriars Kirkyard Trust.

On 25 September 2009, the BBC reported that the statue had undergone a form of 'vandalism'. Protestors against Donald Trump building a golf course had visited statues in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Stirling replacing the faces of the statues with that of Donald Trump, and in some cases, also attaching a set of toy golf کلب to the statue. The 'vandalism' to the statue of Greyfriars Bobby consisted of a face mask of Trump being placed over Bobby's face.

Books and films

Another view of the statue.The book Greyfriars Bobby سے طرف کی Eleanor Atkinson, which greatly embellished the story, and made John Gray a farm labourer, known as "Auld Jock". The 1961 film Greyfriars Bobby: The True Story of a Dog was based on this book.
The Illustrated True Story of Greyfriars Bobby سے طرف کی John Mackay.
Another film, The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby, was released in the UK in February 2006 starring Oliver Golding and Christopher Lee (released elsewhere in 2005 under the alternative عنوان Greyfriars Bobby). The Edinburgh قلعہ scenes in this film were actually shot in nearby Stirling Castle, whilst many had reservations on casting a West Highland White ٹیریر as Bobby, and for adding new characters while leaving out one of the later major characters in Bobby's life, John Traill.
Challenge to Lassie (1949), an earlier film based on Atkinson's book, but replacing Bobby with Lassie.
In the 1945 film The Body Snatcher, Boris Karloff's character (incidentally named Gray) digs up bodies from graves. One of these bodies is that of John Gray. Bobby tries to stop him from taking the corpse, but is struck over the head سے طرف کی Boris Karloff's character, and killed.
In the PBS kids' series, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, Patty Larceny put a کالر on the statue of Bobby and walked him away in the Season 3 episode Little Dog Gone.
Scottish-Canadian Celtic-Punk band The Real McKenzies wrote a song as a tribute named "The Ballad of Greyfriars Bobby" that appeared on their 2008 album, Off the Leash.