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
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