The Lost Greyfriars Bobby

THE story of Greyfriars Bobby is famous in Scotland and beyond.

In the late 1850s, John Gray, a night watchman with Edinburgh Police, got a Skye Terrier called Bobby to keep him company on long shifts. The pair soon became inseparable.

When John died of tuberculosis in 1858, he was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard, but his loyal dog Bobby never left his side. For the next 14 years, Bobby kept watch over John’s grave until his own death in 1872, when he was buried just a few feet from his owner.

His gravestone can still be viewed at Greyfriars Kirk, and his collar is on display at the nearby Edinburgh Museum.

Now, a new book, Finding Greyfriars Bobby, has been released, but it is not a retelling of this familiar 19th-century tale.

Instead, it tells the story of another Greyfriars Bobby: the real-life dog who starred in Disney’s 1961 film.

Initially famous for his role, Bobby faded from memory after his death in 1974, and the location of his grave near Dolphinton in the Scottish Borders was eventually lost as the land changed hands.

But the story did not end there. Dave Hunter, author of the new book and nephew of the family who owned Bobby, set out to find the dog’s grave and bring him home to Edinburgh, the city of his namesake, to be laid to rest.

We spoke to Dave about this more modern – but no less inspiring – tale of devotion.

Stornoway stray to silver screen star

The "new" Bobby’s story has several beginnings.

Initially, it starts on the Isle of Lewis, where the future film star started life as a stray before ending up in a shelter.

“The story goes that there was a girl, a 19-year-old in Stornoway, who went to the animal rescue centre and bought Bobby, who she named Tam originally,” Dave explains.

“She bought him for 12 shillings, which is 60 pence in new money, and took him home.”

Around the same time, across the ocean, another strand of the story was beginning.

“Walt Disney loved the story and he decided towards the end of the 1950s that he wanted to make the film,” Dave says.

“He came to Edinburgh, scouted around, put adverts in Scottish newspapers that they were looking for a dog to play the title part in the film.”

The message reached Stornoway too, and Tam was sent to Edinburgh to audition.

“This little dog from Stornoway wasn't even a pure Skye Terrier,” Dave adds. “But he bore an uncanny resemblance to the statue.

"Finalists, around 20 dogs, were taken to a film studio in London and Walt Disney walked up and down the line, stopped and personally picked up Tam and said, ‘This is it, he's Bobby’ – and the rest was history.”

And that is when the story of Bobby, the furry film star, began.