John Taylor, aged about 5 or 6, standing beside the statue of Greyfriar's Bobby

Recollection

Ruth Humphreys (née Taylor)

Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales

After sending me the photo below of her Dad, the boy on the far left of the middle row of this Longstone Primary School class photo, wearing the boots.

Ruth Humphreys (née Taylor) wrote:

Greyfriar's Bobby Statue

"Here is the photo of my Uncle Billy, standing beside the Greyfriars Bobby statue.

My uncle in Australia says that Billy was born in 1945 and was about 4-years-old in this photo, so the photo would have been taken around 1949. Sadly, my Uncle Billy died many years ago

My dad believes that this photo was taken near Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. He lived nearby.

1948-49?

© Scotsman Publications Ltd. Click here for web site details.
and with acknowledgement to Ruth Humphreys (née Taylor)
for sending me a copy of this photo.

Ruth Humphreys (née Taylor):, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales. June 26, 2014.

Location

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was in Lauriston Place, about 1/4 mile SW of the present location of the Greyfriar's Bobby statue, at the corner of George IV Bridge and Candlemaker Row, close to Greyfriar's Kirk graveyard where Bobby is buried beside his master.

Maybe the 1948-49 photo was taken at the corner of George IV Bridge and Candlemaker Row.

The Plinth

However, I'm puzzled by the position of th dog in the 1948-49 photo, on the pavement.. Whenever I've seen it (even in postcards from the early 1900s) Bobby has been on top of a granite plinth, taking him about 5 or 6 ft above pavement level.

There was:

- a tap (probably now disconnected for 'health and safety' reasons) and basin surrounding the plinth, about 3 ft above the pavement

- another basin, this one with water for dogs, surrounding th eplinth at pavement level.

Here is a photo that I took in 2007, showing Greyfriar's Bobby and the top of his plinth.

Here is a postcard published in the early 1900s by Reginald P Phillimore showing the whole plinth:

Questions

Do you know where the 1948-49 photo was taken and where the plinth might have been when it was taken? If so, please email me

Maybe there will be a caption or article beside the photo in the 1948-49 edition of The Evening Dispatch, but I've not had chance to search for that.

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: July 9, 2014

Recollection

Terry Cox

Fairmilehead, Edinburgh

Thank you to Terry Cox who wrote:

The Statue

"I think that the location of this photo is next to the railings that are beside the plinth.

Compare them with the railings in the 1900 postcard.

Could the statue have been taken down for some reason - to disconnect the water supply or the like?

The spiked railings in the background used to be connected to the end of the shop there, but have since been removed.

Shops

The shop, at 32 George IV Bridge, is now called 'Pizza Paradise'. It it used to be a bookshop. I remember there being boxes of books hung on the railings behind where the wee boy is standing."

Ruth Humphreys (née Taylor):, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales. June 26, 2014.

Removal of Bobby
from his Plinth

I don't know why the Bobby would have been removed from his plinth, but I wondered if it was, perhaps, following a traffic accident that might have damaged the plinth.

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: July 13, 2014

Recollection

Ruth Humphreys (née Taylor)

Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales

Thank you to Ruth Humphreys for writing again to tell me what she has now discovered about this photo, including the date of the photo and the reason why Greyfriar's Bobby is sitting on the pavement rather than on his plinth.

Thank you to Ruth for pursuing this subject.

Ruth wrote:

Answers!

I've been trying hard to track down more information about this photograph:

I got in touch with the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh. The man working there was extremely helpful to me and I am so grateful. He tracked down the photo.

Here is what he wrote to me:

Message from
National Library of Scotland

"We've got a solution to the mystery. Craig at the Scotsman's library got back to me, and it turns out that the photograph was printed in the Evening Dispatch on the 10th October 1950.

I looked out the microfilm copy of that newspaper and found that the photograph appears on its front page under the headline:

'Bobby Off His Pedestal'

and it was accompanied by the short caption below:

Evening Dispatch

'Bobby Off His Pedestal''

'Many were alarmed yesterday when they saw Greyfriars Bobby squatting on the pavement at George IV Bridge, and anxiously inquired if he was being removed from his historic seat.

The workmen, however, explained they were merely repairing a leak in the fountain, and Bobby would be replaced in due course. In the picture four-year-old Billy Taylor gives the dog a friendly pat.'

Evening Dispatch, Page 1 (caption):: October 10, 1950: Page

National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh: August, 2014

Ruth Humphreys (née Taylor):, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales. AugustT 7, 2014