Current issue

July 2025

General Assembly
Celebrating our Churches

Home  >  News  >  Greyfriars Bobby Remembered

News

Greyfriars Bobby Remembered

Wednesday January 10 2018

The annual celebration of Scotland’s most famous dog takes place this Sunday, January 14, in Edinburgh’s Greyfriars Kirkyard.

Greyfriars Bobby – the Skye Terrier who legendarily guarded his master’s grave for 14 years - died on January 14 1872. His story has inspired films and books; and his headstone in the Kirkyard, and statue just outside, remain major tourist attractions.

Bobby would famously leave the churchyard for lunch every day at the firing of the One o’Clock Gun. The One o’Clock Gun Association has for several years hosted a service at the headstone on the anniversary of his death, attended by civic dignitaries, lookalike dogs and local children.

As the One o’ Clock Gun does not fire on a Sunday, the ceremony will begin at 1.30pm on Sunday. Everyone is welcome.

2018 marks the 150th anniversary of the death of Dr Robert Lee, the minister of Old Greyfriars. Under Dr Lee, controversially, stained glass windows were installed in Greyfriars - the first in a post-Reformation Presbyterian church in Scotland - along with one of the first organs.

Picture by Michael Reeve


Ceremony for Greyfriars Bobby on Anniversary of his Death

Ceremony for Greyfriars Bobby on Anniversary of his Death

Service of commemoration on Sunday

Read More   >


Comments

Catherine Moore - Friday, January 19th, 2018

“Bobby is the symbol for all dogs and tells everybody about their faithfulness.
It is rightful too that Dr Robert Lee is remembered as he is a forgotten part of the Kirk’s history.”


Add a reply

All fields are required. Email address will not be published.

 

Our cookies

We use cookies, which are small text files, to improve your experience on our website.
You can allow or reject non essential cookies or manage them individually.

Reject allAllow all

More options  •  Cookie policy

Our cookies

Allow all

We use cookies, which are small text files, to improve your experience on our website. You can allow all or manage them individually.

You can find out more on our cookie page at any time.

EssentialThese cookies are needed for essential functions such as logging in and making payments. Standard cookies can't be switched off and they don't store any of your information.
AnalyticsThese cookies help us collect information such as how many people are using our site or which pages are popular to help us improve customer experience. Switching off these cookies will reduce our ability to gather information to improve the experience.
FunctionalThese cookies are related to features that make your experience better. They enable basic functions such as social media sharing. Switching off these cookies will mean that areas of our website can't work properly.
AdvertisingThese cookies help us to learn what you're interested in so we can show you relevant adverts on other websites and track the effectiveness of our advertising.
PersonalisationThese cookies help us to learn what you're interested in so we can show you relevant content.

Save preferences