The Daily Dispatch: August 9, 1861., [Electronic resource]

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Remarkable instance of Canine attachment

--A circumstance occurred very recently at Portiere, Isle of Skye, which may be added to the many chapters recording the fidelity and attachment of dogs to their masters.-- A rumor spread through the town one morning, that on the previous night the dogs had torn open the grave of a young man who had died of fever, and was laterred some weeks previous. So painful and shocking an occurrence caused great excitement in Portiere; but in the course of the day Sheriff Fraser and others having inquired into the facts of the case. found the facts to be not only of a less revolting nature, but fraught with the deepest interest. When the young man was buried, his dog followed his funeral to the churchyard, and was with difficulty removed. It returned again and again to the spot, and, unobserved, had dug into the grave until it reached the coffin. At Portres, as in many other parts of the Highlands, the people bury their dead in a very superficial manner, making only shallow graves. The dog had gnawed through the coffin when the fact was discovered, but the body of its dead master was untouched, and there the faithful animal was found eagerly looking into the grave "I doubt," says our correspondent, "if there be on record a more striking instance of canine attachment, for you must bear in mind that four or five weeks had elapsed since the interment, and the churchyard is six miles from the house where poor Norman's father lives. "