This noble dog, which, like the bull-dog, is supposed to be an
original breed peculiar to this country, is now seldom to be met with
in its pure state, it having been crossed and recrossed with other
dogs. Perhaps the finest specimen now to be found is one at
Chatsworth (where also is to be seen a noble Alpine mastiff). It is a
dog of gigantic size, of a yellowish colour, with a black muzzle.
There is also another at Elvaston Castle in Derbyshire, not so large
as the one at Chatsworth, but apparently of the true breed, and for
which we believe Lord Harrington gave the sum of fifty guineas.
These dogs are brave, faithful to their trust in an extraordinary
degree, and have a noble disposition.
Their strength also is very great, and their bark deep and loud. Sir
Walter Scott's remarks on the character of the dog may be well applied
to the mastiff,--"The Almighty, who gave the dog to be the companion
of our pleasures and our toils, hath invested him with a nature noble
and incapable of deceit. He forgets neither friend nor foe--remembers,
and with accuracy, both benefit and injury. He hath a share of man's
intelligence, but no share of man's falsehood. You may bribe a soldier
to slay a man with his sword, or a witness to take life by false
accusation, but you cannot make a dog tear his benefactor. He is the
friend of man, save when man justly incurs his enmity."
The mastiff, indeed, usually shows a remarkable and peculiar warmth in
his attachments; and, on the other hand, he will evince his dislike in
the strongest manner. It has been observed of him, that if he is once
severely corrected or insulted, it is almost impossible to eradicate
the feeling from his memory, and it is no less difficult to attain a
reconciliation with him. He seems conscious of his own strength,
power, and authority, and will seldom condescend to lower his dignity
by servile fawning; while he appears to consider his services as only
befitting a trust of the highest importance. He is naturally possessed
of strong instinctive sensibility, speedily obtains a knowledge of all
the duties required of him, and discharges them with the most punctual
assiduity. His vigilance is very striking. He makes regular rounds of
the premises committed to his care, examines every part of them, and
sees that everything is in a state of perfect security. During the
night he will give a signal of his presence by repeated barkings,
which are increased upon the least cause of alarm. Unlike the
bull-dog, the mastiff always warns before he attacks. His voice is
deep and powerful in tone.
Such is the animal of which I now propose to give a few characteristic
anecdotes.
About the year 1742, a lady, who resided in a lone house in Cheshire,
permitted all her servants, except one female, to go to a supper and
dance at a Christmas merry-meeting, held at an inn about three miles
distant, and kept by the uncle of the maid who had remained in the
house with her mistress. The servants were not expected back till the
morning; consequently the doors and windows were, as usual, secured,
and the lady and her servant were going to bed, when they were
alarmed by the voice of some persons apparently attempting to break
into the house. Fortunately a great mastiff dog, named Caesar, was in
the kitchen, and set up a tremendous barking, which, however, had not
the effect of intimidating the robbers. The maid-servant distinctly
heard that the attempt to enter the house was made by the villains
endeavouring to force a way through a hole under the sunk story in the
adjoining back-kitchen or scullery. Being a young woman of courage,
she went towards the spot, accompanied by the dog, and patting him on
the back, exclaimed, "At him, Caesar!" The dog made a furious attack on
the person who seemed to be at the hole, and gave something a violent
shake, when all became quiet, and the animal returned to her with his
mouth all besmeared with blood. She afterwards heard some little
bustle outside of the house, which soon was stilled. The lady and
servant sat up until morning, without farther molestation, when, on
going into the court, a quantity of blood was found on the outside of
the wall. The other servants, on their return, brought word to the
maid that her uncle, the innkeeper, had died suddenly during the
course of the night--they understood of a fit of apoplexy--and was
intended to be buried that day. The maid got leave to go to the
funeral, and was surprised to find the coffin on her arrival screwed
down. She insisted on taking a last view of the body, which was most
unwillingly granted; when, to her great surprise and horror, she found
his death had been occasioned from his throat being torn open. What
had happened the evening before immediately rushed to her imagination,
and it appeared too evident to her that she had been the innocent
cause of her uncle's death; and, upon further inquiry, it was proved
that he and one of his servants had formed the design of robbing the
house and murdering the lady, in her unprotected condition, during the
absence of her servants; but, by the watchfulness and courage of her
dog, their design was frustrated.
An anecdote is related of a mastiff, who, in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, when Lord Buckhurst was ambassador at the Court of Charles
the Ninth, alone and unassisted, successively engaged a bear, a
leopard, and a lion, and pulled them all down.
Very extraordinary stories have been told of these and some other
kinds of dogs discovering and circumventing plans to injure the
persons of their masters, in which it is difficult to place implicit
credit. We give one of the most marvellous of these anecdotes, as it
is usually related:--
Sir H. Lee, of Ditchley, in Oxfordshire, ancestor of the late Earls of
Lichfield, had a mastiff which guarded the house and yard, but had
never met with any particular attention from his master. In short, he
was not a favourite dog, and was retained for his utility only, and
not from any partial regard.
One night, as Sir Harry was retiring to his chamber, attended by his
favourite valet, an Italian, the mastiff silently followed them
up-stairs, which he had never been known to do before, and, to his
master's astonishment, presented himself in the bed-room. Being deemed
an intruder, he was instantly ordered to be turned out; which, being
complied with, the poor animal began scratching violently at the door,
and howling loudly for admission. The servant was sent to drive him
away. Discouragement, however, could not check his intended labour of
love; he returned again, and was more importunate to be let in than
before. Sir Harry, weary of opposition, though surprised beyond
measure at the dog's apparent fondness for the society of a master who
had never shown him the least kindness, and wishing to retire to rest,
bade the servant open the door, that they might see what he wanted to
do. This done, the mastiff, with a wag of the tail, and a look of
affection at his lord, deliberately walked up, and crawling under the
bed, laid himself down, as if desirous to take up his night's lodging
there.
To save farther trouble, and not from any partiality for his company,
this indulgence was allowed. The valet withdrew, and all was still.
About the solemn hour of midnight the chamber door opened, and a
person was heard stepping across the room. Sir Harry started from
sleep; the dog sprung from his covert, and seizing the unwelcome
disturber, fixed him to the spot. All was dark: Sir Harry rang his
bell in great trepidation, in order to procure a light. The person
who was pinned to the floor by the courageous mastiff roared for
assistance. It was found to be the favourite valet, who little
expected such a reception. He endeavoured to apologise for his
intrusion, and to make the reasons which induced him to take this step
appear plausible; but the importunity of the dog, the time, the place,
the manner of the valet, raised suspicions in Sir Harry's mind, and he
determined to refer the investigation of the business to a magistrate.
The perfidious Italian, alternately terrified by the dread of
punishment and soothed by the hope of pardon, at length confessed that
it was his intention to murder his master, and then rob the house.
This diabolical design was frustrated solely by the unaccountable
sagacity of the dog and his devoted attachment to his master. A
full-length picture of Sir Harry, with the mastiff by his side, and
the words, "More faithful than favoured," is still preserved among the
family pictures.
Presentiments of approaching danger, such as those now related, are to
be traced only to the animal's close observation and watchful jealousy
of disposition. Looks, signs, and movements are noticed by him which
escape an ordinary observer. The idea that dogs have presentiments of
death, and howl on such occasions, is a superstition now all but
vanished.
In October 1800, a young man going into a place of public
entertainment at Paris, was told that his dog (a fine mastiff) could
not be permitted to enter, and he was accordingly left with the guard
at the door. The young man was scarcely entered into the lobby, when
his watch was stolen. He returned to the guard, and prayed that his
dog might be admitted, as, through his means, he might discover the
thief: the dog was suffered to accompany his master, who intimated to
the animal that he had lost something; the dog set out immediately in
quest of the strayed article, and fastened on the thief, whose guilt
on searching him was made apparent: the fellow had no less than six
watches in his pocket, which being laid before the dog, he
distinguished his master's, took it up by the string, and bore it to
him in safety.
At the castle of a nobleman in Bohemia, a large English mastiff was
kept, that never failed to go every Sunday to the village church. The
other dogs in the neighbourhood used to follow him thither, so that
the church was often full of these animals. This being considered a
nuisance, orders were given by the magistrates, at one of the petty
courts held for regulating the affairs of the village, that the
inhabitants should be enjoined to keep all their dogs locked up every
Sunday during the time of divine service. The magistrate who presided
in this court said, in a loud and authoritative tone of voice, "I will
suffer no dogs in the church; let me not see one there in future." The
mastiff happened to be lying under the table in the court when these
words were spoken, to which he appeared to listen with great
attention. On the ensuing Sunday the dog rose at an early hour, ran
from house to house through the village, barking at the windows, and
at last took his station before the church-door, to see whether any of
his companions would venture to approach it, notwithstanding the
prohibition. Unfortunately one of them appeared. The mastiff
immediately fell upon him with the utmost fury, bit him to death, and
dragged him out into the street. He continued in the same manner for
several subsequent Sundays to stand sentinel, without ever entering
the church.
Captain Brown gives an interesting instance of the gentleness of a
mastiff towards a child. He says that a large and fierce mastiff,
which had broken his chain, ran along a road near Bath, to the great
terror and consternation of those whom he passed. When suddenly
running by a most interesting boy, the child struck him with a stick,
upon which the dog turned furiously on his infant assailant. The
little fellow, so far from being intimidated, ran up to him, and flung
his arms round the neck of the enraged animal, which instantly became
appeased, and in return caressed the child. It is a fact well known,
that few dogs will bite a child, or even a young puppy. Captain Brown
adds, that he possesses a mastiff, which will not allow any one of his
family to take a bone from him except his youngest child.
A chimney-sweeper had ordered his dog, a mastiff crossed with a
bull-dog, to lie down on his soot-bag, which he had placed
inadvertently almost in the middle of a narrow back-street in the town
of Southampton. A loaded coal-cart passing by, the driver desired the
dog to move out of the way. On refusing to do so, he was scolded, then
beaten, first gently, and afterwards with a smart application of the
cart-whip, but all to no purpose. The fellow, with an oath, threatened
to drive over the dog, and he did so, the faithful animal endeavouring
to arrest the progress of the wheel by biting it. He thus allowed
himself to be killed sooner than abandon his trust.
A mastiff-dog, who owed more to the bounty of a neighbour than to his
master, was once locked by mistake in the well-stored pantry of his
benefactor for a whole day, where milk, butter, bread, and meat,
within his reach, were in abundance. On the return of the servant to
the pantry, seeing the dog come out, and knowing the time he had been
confined, she trembled for the devastation which her negligence must
have occasioned; but, on close examination, it was found that the
honest creature had not tasted of anything, although, on coming out,
he fell on a bone that was given to him, with all the voraciousness of
hunger.
These dogs are alive to injuries, and not slow in resenting them.
A carrier had a mastiff remarkable for his sagacity. It happened
unfortunately one day, that one of the waggon-horses trod accidentally
upon him in the yard. The dog became furious, and would have attacked
the horse had he not been prevented. It was usual for the dog to
remain with the horses at night in the stable. After the men had
retired, the mastiff selected out the animal which had trod upon him,
and, no doubt, would have put an end to his existence, had not the
carters, who were at hand, hearing an unusual noise, come to his
assistance.
The widow of a farmer had two mastiffs, which, from their fierceness,
rendered some precaution necessary in approaching the house. Their
mistress was taken suddenly ill and died, and in the afternoon of her
death the benevolent wife of the clergyman of the parish called to see
if she could render any assistance. After knocking in vain at the
front door, she went to the back of the house with fear and trembling.
On entering the kitchen, to her dismay she saw the two dogs on the
hearth. They appeared, however, to be sensible of what had taken
place, for they only lifted up their heads mournfully, looked at the
intruder, and resumed their former attitude.
My neighbour, Mr. Penrhyn, has two noble mastiffs of the Lyme breed,
which I believe is now nearly extinct. It is probably, however,
preserved by Thomas Leigh, Esq. of Lyme Park, in Cheshire, who has
also the wild breed of cattle, now only, I believe, found at Lyme
Park, and at Chillington, in Yorkshire, the seat of Lord Tankerville.
There is a story current at Lyme Park, that some years ago a dog of
the breed in question, whilst walking with the steward in the park,
took offence at one of the wild bulls, and would instantly have
attacked it, but was with difficulty restrained by the steward. The
dog returned home, evidently bearing the offence in mind, and the next
morning, the steward, seeing him covered with blood, suspected
something amiss, and on going into the park, found that not only the
bull, but two cows had been worried by him.
A mastiff belonging to a tanner had taken a great dislike to a man,
whose business frequently brought him to the house. Being much annoyed
at his antipathy and fearful of the consequences, he requested the
owner of the dog to endeavour to remove the dislike of the animal to
him. This he promised to do, and brought it about in the following
manner, by acting on the noble disposition of the dog. Watching his
opportunity, he one day, as if by accident, pushed the dog into a well
in the yard, in which he allowed it to struggle a considerable time.
When the dog seemed to be getting tired, the tanner desired his
companion to pull it out, which he did. The animal, on being
extricated, after shaking himself, fawned upon his deliverer, as if
sensible that he had saved his life, and never molested him again. On
the contrary he received him with kindness whenever they met, and
often accompanied him a mile or two on his way home.
A personal friend of the writer's, some time since, on a visit at a
gentleman's house in the country, was taking a moonlight walk through
the shrubbery and pleasure-grounds, when he was startled by a noise
behind him; on turning his head, he perceived a large mastiff, which
was ordinarily let loose as evening closed, and which had tracked him
through the grounds. The dog with a fierce growl roughly seized him;
our friend wisely deemed passive obedience and non-resistance the most
prudent if not the most courageous part for him to play, and was
unceremoniously led back through the grounds to the hall-door; here he
was relieved by the master of the house. Subsequently assured that he
had no cause to fear, he repeated his walk; the dog was again at his
side, but walked quietly with him, and acknowledged in the usual way
his words of conciliation. On these instances of sagacity (sagacity of
a kind very different from that displayed by the shepherd's dog or the
setter) there needs no comment.
A gentleman in Ireland had a mastiff which was kept to guard his
premises. A small dog, belonging to a poor man who came to the house
on business, had barked at and annoyed him, but he was obliged to
submit to the insult at the time with sullen patience, as his chain
prevented him from taking any immediate revenge. A few evenings
afterwards, however, he contrived to escape from the back-yard, and
immediately made his way to the cabin of the cur's master. Finding the
door open, _more Hibernicorum_, he entered without even a premonitory
growl, to the dismay of the humble inmates, who were eating their
supper of potatoes and milk, seized the offender, and killed it.
Another mastiff behaved in a very different manner. He had also been
annoyed by a little cur as he passed along the streets, which he bore
with great patience for a long time; at last his persecutor became so
troublesome that he could bear it no longer. He, therefore, one day
caught his contemptible adversary by the neck, carried him to the edge
of a wharf, and dropped him gently into the water.[S]
The instinctive appreciation of the nature of property as shown in
dogs is exemplified in the following instance:--A lady at Bath,
walking out one day, was impeded in her progress by a strange mastiff
dog. She became alarmed, and at the same time perceived that she had
lost her veil. Upon retracing her steps, the dog went on before her,
till the lost article was discovered; and as soon as it was picked up,
the animal hastened after his own master.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: THE BULL-DOG.]