For 150 years, the story of a tiny terrier guarding his master’s grave for 14 years has melted hearts and drawn millions to an Edinburgh churchyard. But what if this timeless tale of canine devotion was actually an elaborate, highly profitable Victorian tourist trap?

This episode digs into the blurry line between myth and fact behind Greyfriars Bobby. We follow the real man the dog supposedly belonged to, trace how the legend was sanitized for books and Hollywood, and examine the historical research suggesting the whole thing may have been a clever stray, a bait-and-switch, and a community that protected a money-making story at all costs.

• The truth about owner John Gray, a night watchman required to keep a watchdog on his dangerous police shifts, not a romantic shepherd
• How the Lord Provost’s purchase of Bobby’s license and collar functioned as a calculated 1867 PR move
• Jan Bondeson’s research into 60-plus documented ‘graveyard dogs’ across 19th-century Europe surviving by performing mourning
• The bait-and-switch theory that the original Bobby died around 1867 and was quietly replaced to keep tourist money flowing
• Disputes over the dog’s breed and even which John Gray he belonged to, with coffee-house owners embellishing ties to sell to tourists