Lord Byron's Poetic Goodbye to His Best Friend

A lot of people hoped to be the love of Lord Byron’s life—for instance, Lady Caroline Lamb, who was infamously obsessed with the unattainable poet. But the love of Byron’s life had already come and gone by the time the poet was just 20: a Newfoundland dog named Boatswain .

From the time Boatswain entered the Byron household in 1803, the poet and the pup were inseparable, getting into all kinds of mischief. It's said that Byron enjoyed pitching himself out of watercrafts just to see if Boatswain would come to his rescue. (He always did.) Their escapades were even depicted in a children’s book called Memoires d’un Caniche .

Sadly, Byron’s beloved developed rabies after being bitten by an infected dog. Byron stayed with Boatswain until the end, wiping the foam and saliva from his mouth with bare hands. It’s been suggested that by taking such a risk, Byron was unaware “of the nature of the malady,” but modern Byron scholars believe he was extremely well-versed in dogs and was simply in denial about the fact that his best friend was not long for this world. Boatswain died on November 10, 1808.

"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 near him," Byron wrote in a letter. The poet honored Boatswain by erecting a large monument on the grounds of Newstead Abbey, his family estate. The tomb is engraved with a poem written by Byron and friend John Cam Hobhouse. (Full text below.)

TrevorRickard, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0

Byron was still in mourning three years later when he wrote up his will. In it, he requested a final resting place alongside Boatswain, “without any burial service whatsoever, or any inscription save my name and age.” When Byron died in 1826, however, his wishes went unheeded. After being refused at Westminster Abbey, George Gordon Byron was buried at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Hucknall. Boatswain, presumably, is still waiting for his master.

Here’s “Epitaph to a Dog”:

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations