Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1892-07-16
ANECDOTES OF DOGS

O" the strong affection manifested by
L.. ,'og for his master, and the sagaclty
hI., Ii, inspired 10y this feeling, he often
ii,plavs. the recorded instances are so
numerous that they must be familiar to
lv"ry one Napoleon, as is well known,
MAS much struck by seeing on the field
,f Brssano dog guarding the body OF
his slain master, and similar incident
secured after the battle of Talavera. In
ar,rr recent times the following incident
nf In" civil war is recorded:
"'i'he widow of Lieutenant Ptietf, of
Illinois, was enabled to find her nus
lands grave at Pittsburg Landing, by
seeing a dog which had accompanied the
lieutenant to the war. The dog ap-
proarhed her with the most intense man
l;"statons of joy, and Immediately ndl-
ca,rd to her. as we'll as he was able, his
lo,;irt. that she should follow him. She
Ii so, aud he Ie,l the way to distant
par; OF the fell. and stopped before a
siuyIe grave Sne caused it to be opened.
and there found the body Of her dead
l,ls!,and. 1t APPEARS from the state
nlent of som" of the sol Tiers, that when
lieutenant PfAif fell his dog was by his
side, and thus remained, licking his
wounds until he was taken from the field
anl buried. The dog then took his sta
ZION by the grave, and nothing could IN
3l:ce him to abandon it but for suffi-
.irnt length of time each day to satisfy
ais hunger, until by some means he
VAS aware of the presence of his ms
ress. Thus had he watched for twelve
days by the grave Of his slain master
Twelve days, however, are as nothing
when compared with the three months
during which the body of tourist, who
lied from the fall on Helvellyn, was
watched unburied by the little dog that
accompanied him, an incident celebrated
in verse by Sir Walter Scott and Words
worth; and in the romance of "Syr
Tyramoure. quoted by Mr.. Jesse at con-
siderable length, greyhound is repre-
sented as burying his murdered master
and watching the grave for the space OF
seven years, when he quits it to go to
court and bring the murderer to justice,
after the fashion of the we'll known dog
pf Monagris.
In many instances, especially among
that fine breed of dogs, the Scotch collie.
and to a certain extent in the English
sheep-dog, this affection for the master
takes the shape of strong sense of duty,
and as this is seconded by perhaps the
highest canine intelligence, the results
produced are sometimes most wonder
full. At single word, sometimes with
out a word or even signal from the
MASTER these dogs will direct the evolu
tions of large flock of sheep, although
one wonders very often how their physi-
cal energies can hold up under the in
cessant fatigue to which they are ex-
posed. Mr. Meyrick, in his little work
on "House Dogs and Sporting Dogs,
describes the proceedings of one Of these
dogs in manner which sets in strik-
ing light the faithful dutifulness OF the
animal He says:
"I once saw a collie, in the Highlands
of Scotland, left in solitary charge of
sheep which we're feeding in field sepa-
rated only by ruined wall, full of wide
gaps, from field of young corn.
watched the dog for some time: he had
taken his stand upon a hillock, from
whence he could overlook the whole field
and check the slightest attempt to make
free on the part of the sheep. l was
told by the person who accompanied me
that the dog remained patiently and
watchfully at his post from the earliest
dawn until nightfall, and brought the
flock home in the evening on hearh
the shrill histle of his master who
lived nearly mile away. What extra
ordinary intelligence, and what very
Strict sense of duty, must this dog have
| possessed."