Greyfriars Bobby, Shopping Centres, Daily Shopping
Greyfriars/Franciscan
The term Franciscan/Greyfriar is most commonly used to refer to members of Catholic religious orders, founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. As well as Roman Catholic there are also small Old Catholic and Anglican Franciscan communities. It can also be applied to ideals he inspired in many movements in the modern age.
The most prominent group is the Order of Friars Minor (commonly called simply the "Franciscans"). They seek to follow most directly the manner of life the Saint led. This Order-actually divided among three separate groups-is a mendicant religious order of men tracing their origin to Francis of Assisi. The three separate groups, each considered a religious order in its own right, are the Observants, most commonly simply called "Franciscan friars," the Capuchins, and the Conventual Franciscans. They all live according to a body of regulations known as "The Rule of St. Francis".
Greyfriars Bobby
Greyfriars Bobby was a Skye Terrier who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh after reportedly spending 14 years guarding the grave of his owner, John Gray, until he died himself on 14 January 1872. A year later, Lady Burdett-Coutts had a statue and fountain erected at the southern end of the George IV Bridge to commemorate him.
Several books and films have been based on Bobby's life, including Greyfriars Bobby by Eleanor Atkinson, and the films Greyfriars Bobby (1961) and The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby (2006).
The 2009 film Hachiko: A Dog's Story, starring Richard Gere, Joan Allen, and Jason Alexander, is set in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, but based on earlier events in Japan. It similarly honors the loyalty of a remarkable Akita Inu dog known as "Hachi."
Bobby belonged to John Gray, who worked for the Edinburgh City Police as a night watchman, and the two were inseparable for approximately two years. On 15 February 1858, Gray died of tuberculosis. He was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard, the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in the Old Town of Edinburgh. Bobby, who survived Gray by fourteen years, is said to have spent the rest of his life sitting on his master's grave. Another account has it that he spent a great deal of time at Gray's grave, but that he left regularly for meals at a restaurant beside the graveyard, and may have spent colder winters in nearby houses.
In 1867, when it was argued that a dog without an owner should be destroyed, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Sir William Chambers-who was also a director of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-paid for a renewal of Bobby's licence, making him the responsibility of the city council.
Bobby died in 1872 and could not be buried within the cemetery itself, since it was regarded as "consecrated" ground. He was buried instead just inside the gate of Greyfriars Kirkyard, not far from John Gray's grave.
Shopping Centre
A shopping mall, shopping centre or shopping precinct is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area - a modern, indoor version of the traditional marketplace.
Modern "car-friendly" strip malls developed from the 1920s, and shopping malls corresponded with the rise of suburban living in many parts of the Western World, especially the United States, after World War II. From early on, the design tended to be inward-facing, with malls following theories of how customers could best be enticed in a controlled environment. Similar, the concept of a mall having one or more "anchor" or "big box" stores was pioneered early, with individual stores or smaller-scale chain stores intended to benefit from the shoppers attracted by the big stores.