John Traill
John Traill (11 January 1835 – 8 June 1897) was the owner of Traill's Temperance Coffee House which was regularly visited by Greyfriars Bobby. Early and personal life. Traill was born in 1835 in Dunfermline and was the son of a weaver. He and his wife Mary had two children called Alexander and Elizabeth Ann. Greyfriars Bobby. The story goes that in 1858, Greyfriars Bobby and his owner John Gray ate at Traill's Temperance Coffee House. John Gray who was ill is found dead the next day. Bobby stays at his master's graveside and at the  one o’clock gun he goes back to Traill's coffee house to get a meal. The dog does this for 14 years. Traill was cited by the police for failure to license Bobby, but he argued he did not need a license for the dog as he was not his owner. In Forbes Macgregor's book "Greyfriars Bobby: The Real Story at Last" he points out some inaccuracies about the story. Including that John Traill didn’t own the coffee house until four years after John Gray died and that the one o’clock gun tradition didn’t begin until 1861 . John Traill's grandson John Traill Leitch in response to claims the story of "Greyfriars Bobby" was a hoax said "as it seems quite a common thing for popular authors to pose as authorities on subjects of which they know very little". Traill's Temperance Coffee House. Traill's Temperance Coffee House was a temperance coffee house located on the ground floor of 6 Greyfriars Place. In 1975, 4, 5 and 6 Greyfriars Place were B listed by Historic Environment Scotland. In modern times, Greyfriars Bobby's Bar and Greyfriars Bobby Fountain are located in Greyfriars Place. Later years and  death. In 1895, Oliver Morris painted a picture of Traill which has been on display at the City Art Centre since 1962. Traill died in 1897 and is buried at Newington Cemetery in Edinburgh.