Byron's dog Boatswain
Boatswain
Boatswain's tomb
Ralph Lloyd-Jones
1802-1808
By Ralph Lloyd-Jones
"caught fighting a mad cur"
Perhaps the only Newstead resident as famous as the poet Byron was his dog Boatswain (1802 – 1808). He had been brought back from Newfoundland by the Royal Navy who favoured Newfies (good swimmers like Byron himself) as shipboard dogs. Tragically, Boatswain died of rabies caught fighting a mad cur in Mansfield marketplace. Byron paid to have a fine tomb built for him, with an elegant inscription. He hoped that he might one day rejoin faithful Boatswain and be buried there too. Boatswain's portrait by Thomas Sanders, a famous Nottingham animal artist, can still be seen in the house.
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