When we first arrived in Edinburgh, our big touring coach carefully navigated its way through the city’s narrow and winding streets. As we made a relatively sharp turn, I thought I saw a marble fountain with a statue of a small dog on top of it.

Our hotel wasn’t far from where I’d seen this fountain, so after getting settled, we made the short walk back to it. We discovered that this wasn’t just a fountain with a dog statue on it; it was actually a memorial to the city’s famous Skye Terrier, known as Greyfriars Bobby.

As the story goes, a city night watchman named John Gray had a small Skye Terrier named Bobby. Bobby was seen each night accompanying Gray on his long nightly rounds. John and Bobby were a regular sight walking the city’s cobblestone streets. No matter the weather, John and Bobby would be tending to their nightly duties.

 

Then, on February 15th, 1858, John Gray passed away from tuberculosis. Gray was laid to rest in the Greyfriars Church’s Kirkyard (cemetery). Folks began to notice the little Terrier loyally standing guard at John’s grave. No matter what they tried, there was no persuading Boddy to leave his friend’s grave.

Finally, the locals began feeding Boddy, and they built him a shelter near John’s grave. For fourteen years, Bobby remained faithful, keeping constant watch over Gray’s grave until he passed in 1872. Since Scottish law forbids animals from being buried in a human cemetery, little Bobby was laid to rest in a small flower garden just inside the gate of the Greyfriars Church and Kirkyard, and still only a few steps from his master’s grave.

As with traditions, those who visit graves often leave a stone or a coin to mark their presence, but at Bobby’s grave, they leave a stick. Engraved on Bobby’s headstone is, “Greyfriars Bobby, Died 14th January 1872, Aged 16 years. Let his loyalty & devotion be a lesson to us all.”

Grayfriar Bobby’s Memorial

On November 15, 1873, the fountain we saw upon arrival was unveiled as a memorial to the loyalty of the little Skye Terrier. The memorial was commissioned before Boddy’s death by Lady Burdett-Coutts, president of the Ladies Committee of the RSPCA. The bronze statue of Boddy was created from life by sculptor William Brodie shortly before Bobby’s death.

The statue of Bobby is mounted atop a polished granite column, measuring 3 feet high and 20 inches in diameter, above a polished granite basin that’s 3 feet in diameter.

On the monument, there’s a plaque that reads, “A tribute to the affectionate fidelity of Greyfriars Bobby. In 1858, this faithful dog followed the remains of his master to Greyfriars Churchyard and lingered near the spot until his death in 1872.”

Initially, the monument featured a drinking fountain, with an upper fountain for humans and a lower one for dogs. Sadly, the fountain’s water was shut off in 1957, and the monument fell into neglect until it was restored in 1985.

The Greyfriars Bobby monument in Edinburgh is located at the southern end of the George IV Bridge, just past its junction with Chambers Street and close to the junction of Candlemaker Row, near Greyfriars Kirkyard.

Although it’s considered good luck to rub Bobby’s statue’s nose, it’s discouraged by the Edinburgh Council because it damages the bronze.

There have been two motion pictures made about Bobby, one by Walt Disney in 1961 and one in 2005.

 

This post was updated on July 28, 2025