Greyfriars Bobby

Greyfriars Bobby

William Brodie, RSA (1815-1881)

1871, unveiled 1873

Bronze on a fine red granite plinth with basin

George IV Bridge, Edinburgh

This memorial drinking fountain commemorates Greyfriars Bobby, a Skye terrier who reputedly watched over his master's grave in nearby Greyfriars kirkyard for fourteen years. Touched” by Bobby's devotion, the kirk gardener erected a shelter over the grave for him, and Edinburgh's Lord Provost paid his licence fee to save him from being impounded and destroyed: "effectively, Bobby was now owned” by the city" (McNab 307). The dog became so famous that shortly before he died William Brodie was commissioned to model this likeness of him.

  • Close-up of the dog
  • Photograph, caption and commentary by Jacqueline Banerjee, 2009.

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