In Western cultures the dog is the proverbial symbol of fidelity, a reputation it has acquired by its habit of remaining faithful to one owner regardless of circumstances. One of the best known examples of this phenomenon was provided by a Skye Terrier called Greyfriars Bobby, which in 1858 joined his master's funeral procession and then remained in the vicinity of his grave in Greyfriars churchyard in Edinburgh until his own death fourteen years later. According to one account, Bobby also died lying stretched across his master's resting place and by special permission the grave was allowed to be opened, and the faithful little creature was interred beside him who he had loved so well. A statue and drinking fountain were later erected opposite the main gates of the churchyard in memory of Bobby.The story of Greyfriars Bobby is far from unique. European folklore recounts similar anecdotes, and as early as the first century AD the Roman writer Pliny described several comparable incidents, one of which created such a stir in Rome that it was inscribed in the National Records. In this case the dog belonged to a condemned slave and according to Pliny it could not be driven away from him in prison and when he had been flung out on the steps of lamentation would not leave his body, uttering sorrowful howls to the vast concourse of the Roman public around, and when one of them threw it food it carried it to the mouth of its dead master, also when his corpse had been thrown into the Tiber it swam to it and tried to keep it afloat, a great crowd streaming out to view the animal's loyalty.
If such an incident could produce a profound impression on the normally ruthless Roman populace, it is not difficult to imagine the superstitious awe and reverence it might have inspired in people belonging to earlier and less sophisticated cultures. For them, the animal's behavior would have conveyed not only a deep sense of loss but also an apparent desire to recall the dead person to life or to join him in death. Assuming a belief in some form of spiritual continuity after death, these people could have concluded that the dog's services were needed in the next world. Such an idea could gradually have developed into religious cults and practices in which the dog as sacred en tity came to represent a mediator between life and death as well as a spiritual guide and protector in the world beyond the grave. This theory would help to explain the ancient custom of burying people with their dogs. Archeologists have unearthed vast numbers of joint dog-human mortuaries from pre-Columbian locations in North and South America, and from Neolithic and Bronze age sites in Japan, China, Europe, the Near East and North Africa. The oldest of these graves was found at a site called Ein Mallaha in northern Israel. It contained the remains of an elderly human and a five-month-old puppy who had been buried together 12, ooo years ago. Perhaps in recognition of the bond which had joined them in life, the dead person's hand had been placed on the puppy's shoulder a timeless and eloquent gesture of friendship.
