A lot of multitude trust to be the love of Lord Byron ’s life — for illustration , Lady Caroline Lamb , who was infamously obsessed with the unattainable poet . But the erotic love of Byron ’s life had already come and gone by the meter the poet was just 20 : a Newfoundland dog namedBoatswain .
From the metre 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 pitch himself out of vessel just to see if Boatswain would come to his rescue . ( He always did . ) Their adventure were evendepictedin a children ’s rule book calledMemoires d’un Caniche .
Sadly , Byron ’s beloved developed hydrophobia after being bitten by an infected firedog . Byron stayed with Boatswain until the end , wiping the foam and spit from his lip with simple work force . It ’s been suggested that by taking such a danger , Byron was unaware “ of the nature of the malady , ” but modern Byron scholarsbelievehe was highly well - verse in dog-iron and was simply in denial about the fact that his estimable Quaker was not farsighted for this world . Boatswain die on November 10 , 1808 .
" Boatswain is dead ! he kick the bucket in a state of madness on the tenth , after suffering much , yet hold all the gradualness of his nature to the last , never attempting to do the least injury to anyone near him , " Byronwrotein a letter . The poet honored Boatswain by erecting a large repository on the primer of Newstead Abbey , his family land . The tomb is etch 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 mourn three years later when he wrote up his will . In it , herequesteda net resting position alongside Boatswain , “ without any burial serve whatsoever , or any lettering hold open my name and age . ” When Byron died in 1826 , however , his wishing went ignored . After being refused at Westminster Abbey , George Gordon Byron was buried at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Hucknall . Boatswain , presumably , is still wait for his professional .
Here ’s “ Epitaph to a Dog ” :
