Byron and his Newfoundland

Having seen the pictures of Newstead Abbey I thought I'd share a poem by Lord Byron. The place was his ancestral home until he had to sell it due to financial difficulties. It never was an abbey but an Augustian priory converted  to a family dwelling after the Dissolution of Monasteries.

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Byron had a beloved Newfoundland dog named Boatswain, who died of rabies in 1808. Boatswain was buried at Newstead Abbey and has a monument larger than his master's. The inscription, from Byron's poem Epitaph to a Dog, has become one of his best-known works:

The poem Epitaph to a Dog as inscribed on Boatswain's monument

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 at Newfoundland, May, 1803, And died at Newstead Abbey Nov. 18, 1808.

Byron had wanted to be buried with Boatswain, although he would ultimately be buried in the family vault at the nearby church in Hucknall. '