Lord Byron dogs into the water, each with an arm in the ship Captain’s new scarlet waistcoat, to the annoyance of the Captain and the amusement of the crew. Byron had a great love of animals, most notably for a Newfoundland dog named Boatswain. When the animal contracted rabies, Byron nursed him, albeit unsuccessfully, without any thought or fear of becoming bitten and infected. Although deep in debt at the time, Byron commissioned an impressive marble funerary monument for Boatswain at Newstead Abbey, larger than his own, and the only building work which he ever carried out on his estate. In his
Of James Dog the poem is found in the Maitland Folio Manuscript where it is entitled "To The Quene" and has the postscript "Quod Dunbar of James Dog Kepair of the Quenis wardrop". Apparently Dunbar's complaint did not convince the Queen. The poem He Is Na Dog, He Is a Lam seems to represent a half-hearted change of the poet's mind. Queen Margaret of Scotland was the consort of James IV of Scotland. She was the daughter of Henry VII of England and had married King James in 1503. William Dunbar was a poet employed at the Scottish court during the reign of