Candlemaker Row - 'Greyfriars Bobby'

Category

Library Item

Item no

5886

Title

Candlemaker Row - 'Greyfriars Bobby'

Description

A bronze statue of Greyfriars Bobby, a small Scots terrier, stands on top of a drinking fountain. The statue is positioned at the end of a set of railings that divide George IV Bridge from Candlemaker Row. The buildings of the cobbled Candlemaker Row can be seen and include a locksmiths.

Artist / maker

Hamilton, J. R.

Date

1914

Size

11.6 x 9.4 cm

Type

Photograph

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

This is a photograph by a member of the Edinburgh Photographic Society.

Candlemaker Row runs from the corner of Forrest Road, outside the National Museum of Scotland, down to the Grassmarket. It travels along the east side of Greyfriars Kirkyard.

One of Edinburgh's most best loved stories is the legend of the devotion and loyalty of Greyfriars Bobby. The origins 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, 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 digs 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 however 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 rooms 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 an 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

Architecture > Architectural features > Railings

Architecture > Monuments > Memorial monuments

Architecture > Monuments > Statues

Business > Service industry > Shops

Homes > Residential buildings > Tenements

Landscape > Landscape architectural facilities > Fountains

Places > Edinburgh areas > Old Town

Places > Edinburgh Landmarks > Greyfriars Bobby

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

(55°56′48″N, 3°11′28″W)

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