Bobby Waits for the Yeti Now

Statue of Grefriars Bobby, Facing
George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, Scotland
Praktica Film Camera, May 1986

Once, in Edinburgh, Scotland, there was a little Skye Terrier that went by the name of "Bobby." For the TRUE story of Bobby, click here, here, and many other places, including at least two movies. This is the story of Bobby's statue after it was erected.

You see, Bobby, to all appearances a statue, was fond of watching Yeti (cyclaris vehicularis) cyclists ride by. He longed to be alive again and run after them, nipping at their heels and trying not to get caught in their spokes.

Over the years, he became devoted to the Yeti that passed by, guarding them against harm. It seemed much more sensible to watch over them, than to face towards Greyfriars Kirk, where the master of his true life predecessor was buried.

Alas, in his new role, the people of the city did not fully respect him. They turned off his fountain in 1957, and threw empty beer cans at him as may be seen in the photo. Still, he kept at it, protecting a passing Yeti seen in the photo (remember, traffic in Scotland drives on the wrong side of the road, perhaps explaining why Scottish Salmon are famous around the world, but that would be another story)

As the years passed, the city grew more respectful towards the Bobby statue, naming pubs after him and cleaning him up. They added plaques and the usual historical stuff. They also decided to make Edinburgh "Bicycle Friendly" by adding infrastructure such as bike lanes. Unfortunately, as sometimes happens, the infrastructure was decided on by people that didn't ride bikes, and that didn't know about the Warrington Cycle Campaign. In Britain, as in the US, the city fathers tried to keep cars from crashing into each other, which made things even worse for all but the motorists, and even made them more irritable. Nowadays, Bobby's road looks like the photo below. The Yeti have all left, but Bobby still loyally waits, hoping they'll return some day. Some say that when the Yeti return, Bobby will come to life. But of course that'd be bad for tourism, though it might make for a good reality show...

Click on picture for larger version from Google Street

PS: Yes, I THOUGHT of calling this post "Return of the Yeti." That title, however, seemed a little too much for even such as Rantwick, eh?