Published: Thursday, 1st October, 2009 5:45am

Blue given marching orders...

GREYFRIARS Bobby look-a-like 'Blue' will help lead a march to mark World Animal Day this Sunday - the first time such an event has taken place in Scotland.

Flanked by members of the One O'Clock Gun Association dressed in Victorian costume, the celebrity canine will accompany association chairman Brian McKenzie - playing the character Colour Sergeant Scott who fed Greyfriars Bobby - at the head of the walk destined for the memorial stone in Greyfriars Kirkyard via the Grassmarket and Candlemaker Row.

Started in 1931 and relaunched in 2003, World Animal Day was established as a means to highlight the plight of endangered species in the world.

As the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi - the patron saint of animals - October 4 was thought to be an appropriate date to mark the animal-conscious occasion.

Participants in the walk will meet at Bum's statue in King Stable's Road - a statue in honour of America's answer to Greyfriars Bobby - at 1.30pm before nine-year-old Blue, who lives with his owners Kit and John Lovie in North Berwick, leads off.

A small ceremony will be held beside the memorial stone at the end of the march.

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