John Foord's Companion

The degree of loyalty which dogs can display towards their owners can be truly remarkable.

In its own way, this simple gravestone in an Corstorphine Old Parish Church is just as poignant, even though the events surrounding it are not well-known, especially when compared with the case of Greyfriars Bobby – this Scottish city’s most famous canine resident.

Corstorphine was originally a village to the west of — and separate from — Edinburgh, Scotland, and is now a suburb of that city.

The engraved inscription on the stone tells of the death of a 75 year old shepherd John Foord, in 1795, but that is only part of the story. He and his sheepdog became caught up in a fierce snowstorm on Corstorphine hills in February of that year, while tending their sheep.

After the blizzard, John Foord was lying dead near a rock, with the body of his sheepdog at his side.

His friends then decided to bring the rock down the hill, and cut it to create his tombstone. They also placed the smaller stone alongside it, to commemorate the death of John Foord’s faithful canine companion, who stayed with him right to the end.

The inscription reads - Here lieth John Foord, sheepherd, who departed this life Feb the 15th 1795 aged 75 years.