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Scenes from the Walt Disney Movie “Greyfriars Bobby” and statue of Bobby below.
n 1853, during an unusually cold winter, a gate, Grassmarket, Greyfriars Kirkyard (the
gardener named John Gray moved to Ed- church cemetery), Candlemaker Row, Heri-
Iinburgh with his wife and son, 13. After ot's Hospital grounds, and the Cattle Market.
several weeks of unemployment, Gray (nick- He faithfully patrolled the area by foot on his
named "Auld Jock") got a job with the police 8-hour shift, six days a week.
department--even though he was 40 years
old, considered a senior citizen in those days. Since the police were assigned dogs to accom-
pany them, Gray was reportedly first given a
His salary was a modest 13 shillings a week, collie, followed two years later by a Skye Ter-
which included humble housing in the Hall's rier puppy named "Bobby" in honor of being
Court area, dubbed "Hell's Kitchen" by the a British police dog. Devoted partners Gray
poor folks who had to live in the rat-infest- and Bobby would stroll the grimy, smoky
ed slum that had poor sanitation and little streets of Victorian Edinburgh.
drinking water.
In a patient manner that earned respect of
Gray's beat was the densely crowded, the townsfolk, Gray dealt with the criminals
crime-ridden area that included Upper Cow- and drunks (whisky was real cheap then) on
Photo by Sharon Whitley Larsen
Wine Dine & Travel Summer/Fall 2015 79
