Epitaph to a Dog for shame. Ye, who behold perchance this simple urn, Pass on – it honours none you wish to mourn. To mark a friend’s remains these stones arise; I never knew but one -- and here he lies. </poem> 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
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