Greyfriars Bobby, Edinburgh

Greyfriars Bobby is a granite fountain carrying a life-size bronze statue of the dog it commemorates. As local legend has it, this Skye Terrier or Dandie Dinmont Terrier spent 14 years watching over his owner John Gray’s grave, until Bobby died on 14 January 1872. The fountain stands beside Greyfriars Kirkyard and near the National Museum of Scotland, at the southern end of George IV Bridge.

Lady Burdett-Coutts commissioned this memorial shortly before the dog’s death, and William Brodie created the statue from life. The memorial was unveiled on 15 November 1873 and holds the distinction of being Edinburgh’s smallest listed building, with category A status. Look at the polished granite column, its basin, and the drinking trough set into the paving. The nose has become a luck-rubbing tradition, although the city council discourages it because the practice damages the structure.