Newfoundland dog Newfoundland dog that will do as much." Henry David Thoreau "Walden" "Near this spot are deposited the remains of one who possessed Beauty without Vanity, Strength without Insolence, Courage without Ferocity, 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." George Gordon, Lord Byron, Epitaph to a Dog. "That boat, Rover by name, which, though now in strange seas, had often pressed the beach of Captain Delano's home, and, brought to its threshold for repairs, had
Boatswain Norse "sveinn" ("swain"), meaning a young man, apprentice, a follower, retainer or servant. Directly translated to modern Norwegian it would be "båtsvenn", while the actual crew title in Norwegian is "båtsmann" (""boats-man""). While the phonetic spelling "bosun" is reported as having been observed since 1868, this latter spelling was used in Shakespeare's "The Tempest" written in 1611, and as "Bos'n" in later editions. The rank of boatswain is the oldest rank in the Royal Navy, and its origins can be traced back to the year 1040. In that year, when five English ports began furnishing warships to King Edward the