The Three Greyfriars Johns

Here are some more thoughts from our minister. To read more of his ponderings look at his blog.

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Spring in the Kirkyard, as captured by http://www.silentinfinite.com

There is a part of psalm 103 that haunts me, “the days of a mortal are as grass; he blossoms like a wild flower in the meadow; a wind passes over him and he is gone, and his place knows him no more”. When I was minister at St Machar’s Cathedral in Old Aberdeen, the churchyard there was cluttered with memorials to the many thousand of dead who lay all around. Greyfriars Kirkyard is sparse by comparison and yet I have been told that there are tens of thousands buried there, “and their place knows them no more”. So many people with stories to their lives but no memorial. Let me introduce you to three little known John’s all of whom are buried in our Kirkyard and until recently have had no memorial. The first John is John Hope. He came from an illustrious family of 18th century Edinburgh. John’s interests were not however so focussed in the law or medicine as so many of the great and the good of the city. Instead, he became fascinated by the natural world and devoted his life to the study of botany and the preservation of what people nowadays would call, bio-diversity. He founded the first Botanical Garden in Edinburgh, where Haddington Place is now and became the Botanist Royal. He was, I suppose, a pioneer of the need that we now see as so vital to assuring the viability of life on earth, which is respect for and the preservation of the earth’s natural riches. But he wasn’t a successful lawyer or medical man and maybe that is why no memorial existed until last year when a small group got

The father of economics, Adam Smith, as depicted by John Kay

together enough funds to erect a stone on the Flodden Wall adjacent to his family burial ground. It was a privilege to be associated with the dedication of that memorial to an almost forgotten man, who, it turns out, is a great inspiration to us all. If you’d like to read more about John Hope there is a booklet about him for sale in Greyfriars

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The second John is John Kay. He was a barber and caricaturist whose many drawings of Edinburgh worthies poke fun at the great and the good in a way that is not cruel but gently bursts their bubbles. Once again, a group of people gathered funds to erect a memorial and on a wet November day in 2005 the stone to remember John Kay was finally dedicated. This is part of what Alexander McCall Smith said at the dedication ceremony. “So, John, we have not forgotten you. Forgive us for being so late in erecting this monument. But you, I suspect, must have been a forgiving man at heart. For you knew all the foibles of the kenspeckle citizens of this town, and you drew those so lovingly. You showed us them who were; today you show us who we still are. You remind us that we are each members of each other; that there is great good in being part of a community; that each of us, the highest in the land and the lowest, has its part, has her part, and that part is of equal importance, and equally worthy of the artist’s loving depiction”.

The third of our trinity of John’s is John Gray, the master of Greyfriars Bobby. This obscure policeman whose task it

An image of Greyfriars Bobby from about 1865

was to keep order amongst the crowds of traders and hordes of livestock that descended on the Grassmarket on market day died and his dog guarded his grave for 14 years after his death. John Gray inspired astonishing devotion from Bobby. A film was released in 2005 about this eponymous dog, whose name has become so associated with our Kirk. Because of these stories unsung heroes have begun to intrigue me. Is it true that their place knows them no more? The great and the good have their memorials and they are there for all to see in our Kirkyard. So many other less grand people have stories that need to be told too. In the retelling the world becomes a richer place and we see, as Professor McCall Smith rightly says, all from the highest to the lowest have their part to play in the rich weave of our communal life.