The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1900-03-07
The Touching Story Of an Edinburgh
Dog.

Dog.
Greyfriars' Bobby was just q little
dog, loving, humble. faithful little
deg, whose name and act of love have
been remembered for years, and whose
story will be told even to future gener-
ations, for the sake Of its touching ex-
ample Of loving faithfuIness to the
dead
When Bobbyis master died and was
buried in Greyfriars' churchyard, Bob
by, with the other mo1rners, followed
the remains to the grave. After the
ceremonies were concluded, the mourn
ers returned to their several homes
and duties. all but Bobby. Was it that
he had no longer q home, and no longer
any duties? Nobody knows. but there
Bobby remained--there in the church
yard with his dead
No stone was raised TO mark the rest
ing place Of Bobby's master, but close
beside it another grave IS covered with
Hat stone, which is just high enough
above the ground for = small dog to lie
under it There he could lie and watch
the place where all he cared for in the
world was laid. If you could see that
damp, cold, narrow, little spot where
BOboy made his house and home for
ali the rest of his loving little life, your
heart woald ache to think that the life
Of even dumb beast could be so dreary.
Through the long. cold days and the
colder nights, he kept his vigil, wait
ing, watching always for one that never
came, and whose voice he was never
more to hear. From the back win
dOws of the houses in Candlemaker
row, which aIe quite near To the grave,
the people could see the homeless and
friendless little dog keeping his lonely
watch, and many bit Of bread and
meat was thrown 10 him to eat.
But people do not always think of
hungry dogs outside, and Bobby might
have fsred badly sometimes if he had
not had other friends. On High street,
not far from Greyfriar's ehurehyard,
was restaurant, kept by a kind-heart-
ed woman Bobby formed a habit Of
going TO her every day, and he was
never refused meal. She may have
been friend of his dead masters or
she may have known Bobby himself
before his masters death, otherwise he
would not have been likely to 90 so
far However that may be, BObby's
visits were quite regular and punetual.
They have custom in Edinourg Of
firing gun at l O'Clock from the Cas-
tie, which is quite near the cemetery.
That was B0bby's dinner signal, aud
every day, at the o'cloek gun-fire, he
deliberately got up and set out for his
daily meal. No doubt he had diseov-
cred that the workmen in the neigh
bOrhoOd were about finishing their
midday dinner when the gun fired,
and that may nave been the origin of
his practice, for they always made him
welcome, and il was not only the leav-
ings Of their dinners that fell to Bobby
Indeed, he seems to have been gen
eral favorite, but nobody could ever
induce him to stay long away from his
masters grave.
There he lay, day in and day out,
sometimes in sunshine. bot oftener in
gloom, for where does it rain as often
as in Scotland? ? Sleeping through the
long, cold winter On the cold, wet
ground, with cold stone above him
for his only shelter, there Bobby was
Always to be found. For fourteen years
the patient creature watched and wait
ed, and At lSsJ-may We not hope ?-he
found his master. One morning Bob
by was seen lying dead on the long
loved masters grave.
A few years age, Baroness Burdett
COutts, when on visit to Edinburgh,
heard the touching story Of Greyfriars'
Bobby, aud thought it a pity that so
remarkable an instance of animal
fidelity should be forgotten. SO, To
perpetuate his memory, she erected a
drinking fountain IL stands on the
street at the end Of Candlemaker row,
almost opposite to the iron gates
through which one passes to enter the
graveyard. On the top is the figure of
little dog, aud below is the following
inscription:
''GreyfriArs' Bobby, from the life,
Just before his death. A tribute to the
affeetiOnate fidelity Of Greyfriars' Bob
by. Ia ISIS this faithful dog followed
the remains Of his master to Greyfriarsi
ehurehyard, and fingered near the spot
until his death in lS72 Erected by the
Baroness Burdett CO1tts, ls32 Our
4 u5ur.f ErfapIa