A lot of people are familiar with the story of Brave Gelert, a dog that faithfully defended the prince’s son, but which was then killed while it was fast asleep through a terrible misunderstanding. However, only a few people know that the story is really a pack of lies. Let me explain.
About a hundred or so years ago there was a hotel owner in Wales who was fed up with business being so bad. His hotel was stuck in the middle of nowhere and hardly anyone came to stay. Then, one day, he had an idea. A famous prince called Llewellyn had lived in the area during the Middle Ages and had been keen on dogs. This is hardly surprising as hunting was extremely popular at that time. So what he did was to make up the story of the brave and faithful Gelert and how he had been killed by his ungrateful master.
Of course, people would be far more likely to believe the story if there was something they could see. So one day, the hotel keeper went to the top of a high hill and built a sort of monument from the stones he found lying around A friend of his, who was an accountant, helped him to construct it .The "tale" soon caught on and developed a life of its own. Afterwards, people came from far and wide to see the spot where the dog was buried. Needless to say, business became very good for the hotel owner.