Posted on 09/04/2011 3:23:55 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
EDINBURGH, Scotland—To millions of people around the world, he's the loyal dog who kept a lonely vigil at his master's graveside.
Greyfriars Bobby, a Skye terrier, supposedly spent 14 years pining by the grave of his owner, a local known as Auld Jock who died in 1858. The tale of devotion has beguiled generations of visitors to Scotland's capital and inspired dozens of children's books and a 1961 Disney film, "Greyfriars Bobby: The True Story of a Dog."
Greyfriars Bobby .But to Swedish historian Jan Bondeson, the 150-year-old legend of the dog that stuck it out through snow, hail and freezing temperatures is nothing more than a shaggy dog story cooked up to lure tourists to Edinburgh's rain-soaked Greyfriars cemetery—and some locals and dog lovers are howling.
Dr. Bondeson, a 48-year-old consultant rheumatologist at Cardiff University in Wales, visited Edinburgh several times to study the matter for a new book and now proclaims that Bobby was just a stray trained to hang out in the cemetery.
In his retelling of the tale, Dr. Bondeson argues that a pair of canny Edinburgh men concocted the Greyfriars Bobby story to stir up trade at a... (see link)
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Powerful image. Can understand what that dog is going through. Normally I avoid funerals. Do not like bad news situations. But I did have something happen to me once at a funeral. It was very personal and highly unbelievable (don’t ask). Lets just say some lost souls tend to hang around those they love for awhile.
Not the same as “hanging around a lonely graveyard for 12 years”.
The endless lingering in some of these stories I do find hard to believe, although I’m not saying it couldn’t happen. Another possibility is simply the dog decided he could be “homeless” as a stray dog would be, living on the scraps of others while he adopts the gravesite as his home.
I agree. It’s just someone that is a spoil sport that doesn’t want anything to do with nice.
Dr. Bondeson, a 48-year-old consultant rheumatologist at Cardiff University in Wales, visited Edinburgh several times to study the matter for a new book and now proclaims that Bobby was just a stray trained to hang out in the cemetery.Sounds like a great scam, either way. :') I'm just glad I'd never heard of this cloying, ridiculous dog story, and I'm still glad I have Scots ancestry. :')
OK, I won’t ask, and I avoid ones I can but sometimes I feel I have to show up. The dog picture is so sad, he’s been cared for by a buddy while he was in Afghtanistan, and it raises questions I suppose I ought not to ask.
Dogs and animals can have better senses then humans. So they can perceive things that can be difficult for humans to perceive (earthquakes for example). I bet if someone stood at the entrance to the church holding that dogs favorite treat, he would have looked up but would have staid put, right in front of that coffin.
Have they ever forgiven Elizabeth I for chopping the head off of Mary, Queen of Scots?
:p
Because you dressed like a floozy?
;<)
Bobby actually belonged to the the heroine of San Jacinto -- the Yellow Rose of Texas. She saved Sam Houston and caused the defeat of Santa Anna by keeping old Santa Anna in his tent in flagrante delicto; and he missed Houston's attack, being indisposed at the moment. His troops milled about in confusion without their leader. Travis gathered up the little dog and shipped him back to Scotland after they couldn't find Rose when the battle smoke cleared.
I know dogs have senses or hightened senses we don't have, they are smart, but I doubt they can process information the same way a human would do.
It could be a sign that only certain people involved would comprehend. I do think at times dogs see spirits though.
I am inclined to believe the original story. It is possible for a smaller dog to live 16 years.
As a veteran and a life-long dog lover (I currently have three), that photo just broke my heart the first time I saw it. Brought me to tears that quick, it did.
I understand that one of Chief Tumilson’s friends is going to keep Hawkeye. I hope that works out.
I had a beagle who lived to 17.
“It is possible for a smaller dog to live 16 years.”
Sure is. My Boston Terrier made it to within a few days of fifteen. That’s pretty long in the tooth.....and he still had most of them!
I know of two German Shepherds who made it to 14+ years, one of whom was my dog’s mother. For a large breed dog that is a long time.
Possible. They are mans best friend for a reason. Do not know the particulars of that specific image situation, so my comments are based on the anomaly in general. And generally speaking, if they did exist, you probably could not just see spirits or souls in the normal sense. Otherwise we would have a bunch of good images of them by now. Perhaps another sense we have no clue about is involved. Why do animals know earthquakes are coming ? Can they sense something that cannot be seen or heard ?
I had a Golden Retriever who lived to 15 1/2. My daugher’s Standard Poodle lived to 16 1/2, and my accountant’s Golden lived to 16. These are all BIG dogs whose lives are generally shorter.
Bobby only lived in the graveyard - protecting his master’s grave - during the daytime. At night he went with his adopted family. At noontime he went to a local pub for his main meal of the day. He participated in parades and folks used to line up to see him go in and out of the graveyard during his lunchhour.
He was made a citizen of Edinburgh. He was given a collar by the city and there are many photos of him and his collar. He was a local celebrity and like most celebrities, he lived the good life.
His master’s name was John Gray, a policeman. Bobby is buried near the kirk but not in consecrated ground.
It really is a true story!
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