John Traill (11 January 1835 – 8 June 1897) was the owner of Traill's Temperance Coffee House, which was regularly visited by

Greyfriars Bobby Greyfriars Bobby (4 May 1855 – 14 January 1872) was a Skye Terrier or Dandie Dinmont Terrier who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh for spending 14 years guarding the grave of his owner until his death on 14 January 1872. The story conti ...

Early and personal life

Traill was born in 1835 in

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

, and was the son of a

weaver Weaver or Weavers may refer to: Activities * A person who engages in weaving fabric Animals * Various birds of the family Ploceidae * Crevice weaver spider family * Orb-weaver spider family * Weever (or weever-fish) Arts and entertainmen ...

. He and his wife Mary had two children called Alexander and Elizabeth Ann.

Traill's Temperance Coffee House

Traill's Temperance Coffee House was a temperance

coffee house A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, Caffè americano, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually ...

located on the ground floor of 6 Greyfriars Place. In 1975, 4, 5 and 6 Greyfriars Place were

B listed B, or b, is the second letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' bee'' (pronounced ), plural ''bees''. It represe ...

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) () is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the merger of government agency Historic Sc ...

. In modern times, Greyfriars Bobby's Bar and

Greyfriars Bobby Fountain The Greyfriars Bobby Fountain is a granite fountain in Edinburgh, surmounted by a bronze life-size statue of Greyfriars Bobby, a Skye Terrier who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh for supposedly spending 14 years guarding the grave of his ...

are located in Greyfriars Place.

Later years and death

In 1895, Oliver Morris painted a picture of Traill which has been on display at the

City Art Centre The City Art Centre is part of the Museums & Galleries Edinburgh, which sits under the Culture directorate of the City of Edinburgh Council. The City Art Centre has a collection which include historic and modern Scottish painting and photograph ...

since 1962. Traill died in 1897 and is buried at

Newington Cemetery Newington Cemetery is a cemetery in Edinburgh, Scotland. Technically it lies beyond Newington itself, standing on an awkward elongated kite-shaped site between a railway line and Dalkeith Road, between Prestonfield and Peffermill. History ...

in Edinburgh.

In popular culture

*John Traill is featured in the 1912 novel ''

''. Traill is depicted as the landlord of ''Ye Olde Greyfriars Dining-Rooms'' and is commonly referred to as Mr. Traill. *Traill is played by

Edmund Gwenn Edmund Gwenn (born Edmund John Kellaway; 26 September 1877 – 6 September 1959) was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947), for which he won t ...

in the 1949 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film ''

Challenge to Lassie ''Challenge to Lassie'' is an American drama directed by Richard Thorpe in Technicolor and released October 31, 1949, by MGM Studios. It was the fifth feature film starring the original Lassie, a collie named Pal, and the fourth and final ''Lassie ...

'' based on the novel. *Traill is played by

Laurence Naismith Laurence Naismith (born Lawrence Johnson; 14 December 1908 – 5 June 1992) was an English actor. He made numerous film and television appearances, including starring roles in the musical films '' Scrooge'' (1970) and the children's ghost fil ...

in the 1961 Disney film ''

'' based on the novel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Traill, John 1835 births 1897 deaths Greyfriars Bobby People from Dunfermline Scottish temperance activists