Lord Byron's Dog, Boatswain

A Newfoundland dog similar to that owned by Lord Byron

In the grounds of Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire stands a vast marble monument with an inscription that reads:

Epitaph to A Dog
 
Near this Spot
are deposited the Remains of one
who possessed Beauty without Vanity,
Strength without Insolence,
Courage without Ferosity,
and all the virtues of Man without his Vices.
This praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery
if inscribed over human Ashes,
is but a just tribute to the Memory of
BOATSWAIN, a DOG,
who was born in Newfoundland May 1803
and died at Newstead Nov. 18, 1808.

This memorial is a tribute to the affection Lord Byron had for his dog, Boatswain.  The dog, referred to as a Newfoundland, more closely resembles an oversized collie in the portrait that hangs in the Abbey, however Boatswain clearly had the attributes of a Newfie as a tenant farmer described at the time. He would see Lord Byron take a rowing boat out onto the lake with his two Newfoundland dogs on board. On reaching the middle, he would drop the oars, tumble into the water and let the two animals seize his collar, one each side, and bring him back to shore.

Lord Byron loved of all animals from an early age and it is said that during his lifetime, apart from his dogs that included a ‘wolf dog’, a bulldog, mastiffs and several other large breeds, he owned a bear, a wolf, a badger, a goat with a broken leg, monkeys, cats, several horses, a crane, a heron, geese, a falcon, an eagle, crow and five peacocks. 

Brass collars belonging to the two Newfies, Boatswain and Thunder are still on display at the Abbey and apparently these collars are in poor condition due to the dogs’ encounters with Byron’s bear, although it is said that Thunder was less courageous and would try to avoid confrontation. 

When Lord Byron went to Cambridge University, the rules forbade anyone to keep a dog in their rooms, so Byron defiantly installed his tame bear, knowing that the authorities had no legal grounds to complain as there was no mention of ursine companions in their statutes.

Byron’s favourite dog, Boatswain would regularly follow the postboy to Mansfield and it was on such a trip that he was bitten by a rabid dog and contracted rabies.  Byron wrote to his friend, Francis Hodgson:

“Boatswain is dead! He expired in a state of madness on the 10th, after suffering much, yet retaining all the gentleness of his nature to the last, never attempting to do the least injury to anyone.”

Byron drew up a will in 1811 stipulating that on his death, he was to be buried in the tomb with Boatswain without burial service or any inscription save his name and age.  However, when he died in Greece from a fever in 1824, his heart was buried under a tree there because of the way he had supported the Greeks throughout the war of the Ottoman empire.  The remains of his body were embalmed and brought back to England accompanied by his faithful Newfoundland, Lyon.  His body was laid in state in London but, due to Byron’s immoral behavior, the Deans of St Pauls and Westminster Abbey refused to take his body.  His request to be buried with Boatswain was denied and he was buried close by at the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Hucknell in the family vault.  


 A few related facts:

• In Lord Byron’s time it was the custom to give one’s lover a lock of hair, recent DNA analysis has revealed that the locks of hair that Byron handed out to his mistresses were that of a dog, possibly Boatswain. 

• Rabies was common in England in Byron’s time with many animals and people being affected.  The vaccine was not introduced until the 1880’s and rabies was not eradicated until the early 1900’s.

• The dog, Nana in Peter Pan is a Newfoundland.  It is believed that J.M Barrie’s was inspired by the gentleness of the breed.

• The breed was originally used in cod fisheries to pull nets ashore and occasionally boats.

• The Newfoundland originated from Canada and was a descendant of the Greater St John’s Dog, a breed that is now extinct.

References:
Byron’s managerie