A tale of loyalty next. Of loyalty from a loved pet.
Blantyre was astounded to learn of a night Vigil on the railway line. A night vigil of a different sort which happened on Saturday 14th March 1931.
A retriever dog kept guard over the body of its master on the railway line ‘Blantyre from late that Saturday night until discovery of a mans body on the Sunday morning. The body was found near a horse-loading station by Mr William Miller, of Glasgow Road, Burnbank, while on his way to work on the Sunday morning.
The dead man was Mr. William Ross, aged forty, Deanbrae Street. Uddingston. Ross, an unmarried man, who was an unemployed sea cook. The railway line crosses a viaduct over the river Clyde at the Clyde Bridges between Blantyre and the Uddingston side of the river, north of Blantyreferme. It was believed that William Ross was making his way in that direction when he was struck on the head by something overhanging from a passing engine or carriage. He had a compound fracture of the skull, which would have knocked him out, perhaps even killed him on the spot. His retriever dog, ever faithful, sat on the railway bank, dodging further trains for the whole evening and throughout the night.
When Ross did not arrive home, his concerned relatives searched for him on the Sunday morning, and when they approached near the horse-loading station at the railway side, their attention was attracted by the known dog, which was immediately recognised, sitting by his beloved and deceased master.
