Aileen Aroon, A Memoir Part 22

_Scotsman_, January 17th, 1872:--Many will be sorry to hear that the poor but interesting dog, Greyfriars Bobby, died on Sunday evening, January 14th, 1872. Every kind attention was paid to him in his last days by his guardian Mr Trail, who has had him buried in a flower plot near the Greyfriars Church. His collar, a gift from Lord Provost Chambers, has been deposited in the office at the church gate. Mr Brodie has successfully modelled the figure of Greyfriars Bobby, which is to surmount the very handsome memorial to be erected by the munificence of Baroness Burdett-Coutts.

"'Edinburgh Veterinary College, _March_, 1872.

"'To those who may feel interested in the history of the late Greyfriars Bobby, I may state that he suffered from disease of a cancerous nature affecting the whole of the lower jaw.

"'Thomas Wallet.

"'Professor of Animal Pathology.'

"There are several notices of an interesting nature in the following numbers of the _Animal World_ concerning Greyfriars Bobby:--November 1st, 1869; May 2nd, 1870; February 1st, 1872; March 2nd, 1874.

"The fountain is erected at the end of George the Fourth Bridge, near the entrance to the Greyfriars churchyard. It is of Westmoreland granite, and bears the following inscription:--'A tribute to the affectionate fidelity of Greyfriars Bobby.'

"In 1858, this faithful dog followed the remains of his master to Greyfriars churchyard, and lingered near the spot until his death in 1872. Old James Brown died in the autumn of 1868. There is no tombstone on the grave of Bobby's master. Greyfriars Bobby was buried in the flower plot near the stained-gla.s.s window of the church, and opposite the gate."

Poor Bobby, then, pa.s.sed away on a Sunday evening, after watching near the grave for fourteen long years. He died of a cancerous affection of the lower jaw, brought on, doubtless, from the constant resting of his chin on the cold earth. I trust he did not suffer much. I feel convinced that Bobby is happy now; but no stone marks the humble grave where Bobby's master lies. I wish it were otherwise, for surely there must have been good in the breast of that man whom a dog loved so dearly, and to whose memory he was faithful to the end.

The picture of Greyfriars Bobby here given is said to be a very good one, see page 239. You can hardly look at that wistful, pitiful little countenance, all rough and unkempt as it is, without _feeling_ the whole truth of the story of Bobby's faithfulness and love.

"Ah!" said Frank, when I had finished, "dogs are wonderful creatures."

"No one knows how wonderful, Frank," I said. "By the way, did ever you hear of, or read the account of, poor young Gough and his dog? The dog's master perished while attempting to climb the mountain of Helvellyn. There had been a fall of snow, which partly hid the path and made the ascent dangerous. It was never known whether he was killed by a fall or died of hunger. Three months went by before his body was found, during which time it was watched over by a faithful dog which Mr Gough had with him at the time of the accident. The fidelity of the dog was the subject of a poem which Wordsworth wrote, beginning:--

"'A barking sound the shepherd hears,' etc.

"And now, Ida, I'll change the tone of my chapter into a less doleful ditty, and tell you about another Scotch, or rather Skye-terrier, who was the means, in the hands of Providence, of saving life in a somewhat remarkable manner. Though I give the story partly in my own words, it was communicated to me by a lady of rank, who is willing to vouch for the authenticity of the incident."

"PEPPER."

Pepper was our hero's name. And Pepper was a dog; but I am unable to tell you anything about his birth or pedigree. I do not even know who Pepper's father was, and I don't think Pepper knew himself or cared much either; but had you seen him you would have had no hesitation in p.r.o.nouncing him one of the handsomest little Skye-terriers ever you had beheld.

Pepper was presented to his mistress, the Hon. Mrs C--, by her mother-in-law, the late Lady Dun D--, and soon became a great favourite both with her and all the family. He was so cleanly in his habits, so brave and knightly, so very polite, and had a happy mixture of drollery and decorum about him which was quite charming! Every one liked Pepper.

But "liked" is really not the proper word to express the strong affection which the lady portion of the household felt for him. They loved Pepper. That's better. He was to them the "dearest and best fellow" in the world.

But woe is me that the best of friends must part. And so it came to pa.s.s that Pepper's loving mistress had to go to town on business, or pleasure, or perhaps a mixture of both.

Now, everybody knows that the great wondrous world of London isn't the place to keep dogs in, that is, if one wishes to see them truly happy and comfortable. For as they don't wear shoes, as human beings do, they find the hard, stony streets very punishing to their poor little soft feet. Then they miss the green fields in which they used to romp, the hawthorn fences near which they used to find the hedgehog and mole, the crystal streams at which they were wont to quench their thirst, and the ponds in which they bathed or swam. Besides, there is danger for dogs in London. The danger of losing their way, the danger of being stolen, and the still greater danger of being run over by carts or carriages.

But that isn't all, for in the country you can keep even a long-haired Skye clean--clean enough, indeed, to sleep on the hearthrug, or even curl himself up on ottoman or couch, without his leaving any more mark or trace than my lady's m.u.f.f or the Persian p.u.s.s.y does; but a Skye-terrier in London is quite a different piece of furniture. London mud is proverbially black and sticky, and when a Skye gets thoroughly soused in it, why, not to put too fine a point on it, he isn't just the sort of pet one would care to put under his head as a pillow.

Taking Pepper to London, therefore, would have involved endless washings of him, the risk of his catching cold, and, dreadful thought! the risk of offending the servants. True, he might be kept to the kitchen, but banished from the society of his dear mistress, and compelled to a.s.sociate with servants and the kitchen cat; why, poor little Pepper would simply have broken his heart.

So the question came to be asked--

"Maggie, dear, what _shall_ we do with Pepsy?"

"Oh! I have it," said Maggie; "send him down to Brighton on a visit to dear Mrs W--y; she is such a kind creature, knows all the ways of animals so well; and, moreover, Pepper is on the best of terms with her already."

So the proposal was agreed to, and a few days afterwards Mrs W--y received her little visitor very graciously indeed, and Pepper was pleased to express his approval of the welcome accorded him, and soon settled down, and became very happy in his Brighton home. His greatest delight was going out with his temporary mistress for a ramble; there was so much to be seen and inquired into, so many pretty children who petted him, so many ladies who admired him, and so many little doggies to see and talk to and exchange opinions on canine politics. But Pepper used to express his delight at going for a walk in a way which his new mistress deemed anything but dignified. People don't generally care about having all eyes directed towards them on a public thoroughfare like the Brighton esplanade, or King's Road. But Pepper didn't care a bark who looked at him. He was intoxicated with joy, and didn't mind who knew it; consequently, he used, when taken out, to go through a series of the most wonderful acrobatic evolutions ever seen at a seaside watering-place, or anywhere else. He jumped and barked, and chased his tail, rolled and tumbled, leapt clean over his own head and back again, and even made insane attempts to jump down his own throat. Inside, Pepper was content to romp and roll on the floor with a pet guinea-pig, and chase it or be chased by it round and round the room, or tenderly play with some white mice; but no sooner was his nose outside the garden gate, than Pepper felt himself in duty bound to take leave of his senses without giving a moment's warning, and conduct himself in every particular just like a daft doggie, and had there been a lunatic asylum at Brighton for caninity, I haven't a doubt that Pepper would have soon found himself an inmate of it.

One day when out walking, Pepper met a little long-haired dog about his own size and shape, but whereas Pepper was dressed like a gentleman Skye, in coat of hodden-grey, this little fellow was more like a merry man at a country fair, or a clown at a circus. He had been originally white, pure white, but his master had dyed him, and now he appeared in a blue body, a magenta tail, and ears of brightest green.

"I say, mistress," said Pepper, looking up and addressing the lady who had charge of him, "did you--ever--in--all--your--born--days--see such a fright as that?"

"Hullo!" he continued, talking to the little dog himself, "who let you out like that?"

"Well," replied the new-comer, "I dare say I do look a little odd, but you'll get used to me by-and-by."

"Used to you?" cried Pepper--"never! You are a disgrace to canine society."

"The fact is," said the other, looking somewhat ashamed "my master is a dyer, and he does me up like this just by way of advertising, you know."

"Your master a dyer," cried Pepper, "then you, too, shall die. Can you fight? I'm full of it. Come, we must have it out."

"Come back, Pepper, come back, sir!" cried his mistress. But for once Pepper disobeyed; he flew at that funny dog, and in a few minutes the air was filled with the blue and magenta fluff, that the Skye tore out of his antagonist. The combat ended in a complete victory for Pepper.

He routed his a.s.sailant, and finally chased him off the esplanade.

Pepper's life at the seaside was a very happy one, or would have been except for the dyed dog, that he made a point of giving instant chase to, whenever he saw him.

Pepper next turned up in Wales. Sir B. N--had taken a lovely old mansion between C--n and Ll--o, far removed from any other houses, and quite amongst the hills, and after seeing his wife and sister settled in the new abode, he went off to Scotland. A week after his departure, the two ladies got up a small picnic to Dolbadran Castle, whose ruins stand upon a steep rock overhanging the lake. Pepper of course accompanied the tourists, and the whole party returned at night rather fatigued.

Mrs C--went to bed, and soon fell into a sound sleep, from which she was aroused by Pepper; he was barking at the bedside. She got up, gave him some water, and returned to bed, but Pepper continued to bark and run about the room in a very strange way; he seized the bedclothes, and pulled at them violently. So she put him outside the door in a long pa.s.sage, which was closed at the other end by a thick green-baize covered door.

Poor Mrs C--was fated to have no rest. Pepper barked louder than ever, he tore at the door, and scratched as if he wished to pull it down; so his mistress again left her couch, and taking up a small riding-whip, proceeded to administer what she thought to be well-merited correction.

Pepper did not appear to care for the whip at all; he only barked the louder, and jumped up wilder; he even caught Mrs C--'s nightdress in his mouth, and attempted to drag her on towards the end of the pa.s.sage.

You must be going mad, she thought. I'll put you out of the house, for you will alarm the whole establishment; and thus thinking, she returned, followed by Pepper, who continued to clutch at her garments, into her room, put on her dressing-gown, and proceeded to carry her intention into effect.

Directly she opened the door at the end of the pa.s.sage, she saw a bright light streaming from a sort of ante-room at the top of the staircase, on the opposite side of the corridor, and at the same moment became sensible of a strange smell of burning wood.

She flew across, and was nearly blinded by the smoke that burst forth immediately the ante-room door was opened. The whole house was on fire, and it was with considerable difficulty that Mrs C--, Lady N--, and the domestics, escaped from the burning ma.s.s.

Had Mrs C--been five minutes later before discovering the flames all must have perished; for there was a great quant.i.ty of wood-work in the house, and it burnt rapidly.

It matters little how the fire in this case originated, the fact remains that this Skye-terrier, Pepper, was the first to discover it, and his wonderful sagacity and determination, combined to save his friends from a fearful death.

"Ida," said Frank, refilling his pipe, "you are beginning to wink."

"It is time you were in bed, Ida," said my wife.

"Oh! but I do want to hear you read what you wrote yesterday about the poor blind fiddler's dog," cried Ida.

"Well, then," I said, "we will bring the little dog on the boards, and make him speak a piece himself, and this will be positively the last story or anecdote to-night."