Loyal Tyke, faithful as Greyfriars Bobby
WHEN Greyfriars Bobby sat by his dead owner’s grave in Edinburgh for 14 long years, the story of the faithful dog touched the heart of millions who wondered if it could really be true.
Now, more than a century later, the phenomenon is being repeated with another dog showing his devotion to the master he lost six months ago by spending hours beside his gravestone.
Every day since David Hendry died, Tyke the black Labrador has sat patiently at his grave, refusing to come inside unless put on a lead. Mr Hendry, 53, died in February after a seven- year battle with cancer. He had chosen a burial plot on the Cardney Estate near Dunkeld, Perthshire, which he spent years managing and renovating.
One day, when Mr Hendry’s ex-wife was walking the family’s dogs, she noticed Tyke had gone missing. He was found happily snoozing on top of the grave and, every day since, he has returned.
Mr Hendry’s daughter Katriona Cameron, 30, said: ‘Tyke was very much a “one man dog”. He was completely loyal to my dad and would go everywhere with him.
‘We didn’t take him to the funeral but he must know, somehow, that my dad is buried there. If you gave him water and food, you could leave him there for ever and he’d be quite happy.’
Tyke used to accompany Mr Hendry on shoots, and recently brought a dead chicken to his grave. Mrs Cameron believes he was trying to ‘do his job’ and please his owner, just like old times.
And when Tyke dies, the family plans to bury him in a plot next to his much-loved master.