Epitaph to a Dog Epitaph to a Dog "Epitaph to a Dog" (also sometimes referred to as "Inscription on the Monument to a Newfoundland Dog") is a poem by the British poet Lord Byron. It was written in 1808 in honour of his Newfoundland dog, Boatswain, who had just died of rabies. When Boatswain contracted the disease, Byron reportedly nursed him without any fear of becoming bitten and infected. The poem is inscribed on Boatswain's tomb, which is larger than Byron's, at Newstead Abbey, Byron's estate. The sections above the poem form a memorial eulogy to Boatswain, and introduce the poem. They are often
Of James Dog mighty mastiff" who could defend the Queen's property from even "The Great Sultan Gog Magog". Dunbar closes with the following advice to the Queen: "He is too powerful to be your lapdog. Madam, I urge you to get a smaller one". He adds, in parting, "His approach makes all your chambers shake. Madam, you have a dangerous dog." Of James Dog Of James Dog or, more fully, Of James Dog, Kepair of the Quenis Wardrop is a poem of William Dunbar in which the poet complains to Queen Margaret Tudor of Scotland about the keeper of her wardrobe, James Dog.