Greyfriars Bobby's Collar

Category

Museums & Galleries Item

Item no

30425

Title

Greyfriars Bobby's Collar

Description

The collar given to Greyfriars Bobby by the Lord Provost of Edinburgh in 1867. Leather collar with brass plaque, ring and buckle.

Date

1867

Size

42 x 2 cm

Location

Museum of Edinburgh

Accession number

SH.2006.105

One of Edinburgh's best-loved stories is the legend of Greyfriars Bobby. It's a story of loyalty and devotion that spans time. The origins of the Skye Terrier are shrouded in mystery. In one version of the story, he was owned by John Gray, an Edinburgh Police Constable, who died in February1858 and was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard. According to legend, Bobby sat devotedly by his grave for 14 years.

Another version of the Bobby legend, which was the subject of Eleanor Atkinson's book (1912) and the Walt Disney film, is that he belonged to John Gray, (Auld Jock) a shepherd from the Pentland Hills, who died on a visit to Edinburgh in 1858. There was a shepherd named John Gray who had lodgings in Bristo place, opposite Greyfriars Kirkyard, and died within days of John Gray the policeman. He was however buried not at Greyfriars but in East Preston Street graveyard.

It is well documented that Bobby became a familiar figure around Greyfriars Kirkyard, where he was fed and given shelter by local residents. Sergeant Scott of the Royal Engineers trained Bobby to associate the One O'Clock gun with his dinner time and from 1862 his appearances at Traill's Restaurant at
6 Greyfriars Place became a daily spectacle.

In 1867 a new duty on dogs was introduced, putting Bobby in danger as he had no legal owner. By now his story had reached important public figures and the Lord Provost, William Chambers, paid the licence fee and gave Bobby this inscribed collar. Bobby died in 1872 and a year later a memorial, commissioned by Baroness Burdett-Coutts, was unveiled.

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Related subjects

Animals > Mammals > Dogs

People > Politics and government > Lord Provosts

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

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