It has been a while since we had a school assembly Dog of the Month award here at Mobile Ed, and today is a fitting day to honor this one.

Today, January 14, in 1872, a small Skye Terrier passed away in Scotland, reportedly at the age of 18 years. This little fellow has become famous through books, movies and legend and is known to the world “Greyfriars Bobby”.

The story goes that in old Edinburgh, an older man passed away and was buried in Greyfriars Kirk. According to the popular story (and the Disney movie). The man's dog, Bobby, was so devoted to the deceased owner that he refused to leave the grave and guarded it for the next 14 years. At first the graveyard keeper tried to shoo the dog away, but was eventually won over. Bobby was also aided by the owner of a local restaurant who fed him scraps. A certain jealous rivalry arose between the two men over the affections of the dog. Then the story came to a climax. An emergency arose when overzealous authorities locked up Bobby as a stray. But a herd of local children, along with the restaurant owner and the Kirkyard keeper (now reconciled) were able to prevail upon the judge and Bobby the story ended happily as Bobby was made an official ward of the City Council.

When Bobby himself finally died, he was buried at the Kirkyard, and a statue of him erected to honor his loyalty and devotion.

It is a great story, and if you love good dog yarns, it is well worth finding a copy of the very well made old Disney movie which came out in 1961 but still holds up very well today.

Sadly, modern revisionist history has unearthed information about the story that somewhat deflates the original.

But the tale itself is so endearing that it transcends the truth behind the story and rises to another cultural level. Who can deny the emotional power of the love of a dog for it's owner? And the transformational power of the dog's love and it's affect on the surrounding people of Edinburgh is equally moving.

So, today, on the one hundred and forty-first anniversary of his sad demise, we once more elevate good little Bobby to heroic stature, by crowning him with that ultimate honor, Mobile Ed Production's Dog of the Month!

Geoff Beauchamp is the Regional Manager of Mobile Ed Productions where "Education Through Entertainment" has been the guiding principal since 1979. Mobile Ed Productions produces and markets quality educational school assembly programs in the fields of science, history, writing, astronomy, natural science, mathematics, character issues and a variety of other curriculum based areas. In addition, Mr. Beauchamp is a professional actor with 30 years of experience in film, television and on stage. He created and still performs occasionally in Mobile Ed's THE LIVING LINCOLN