Hair of the Dog… or Lord Byron?

Female fans of Lord Byron would often send him locks of their hair. In return he would send them a lock of his own. But a new book claims that what Byron often sent was a lock of fur from his pet newfoundland dog Boatswain. From Times Online:

John Murray VII, chairman of his family’s publishing house, which was founded in 1768 and worked with Byron, said the story had been passed down through the generations. Murray said the fans to whom Byron sent the hair would have been under the impression that it was his, “but it sometimes belonged to his beloved dog Boatswain. Byron was devoted to Boatswain and to send the women his hair was his little joke”.

Apparently many of these locks of Byron's hair still survive, but it doesn't sound as if anyone has tested them to determine what species they come from. (via Legends & Rumors)

Literature/Language Sex/Romance

Posted on Sun Jun 22, 2008


Comments

The lock of hair Lady Caroline Lamb sent him wasn't from her head....
Posted by Nona  on  Mon Jun 23, 2008  at  05:25 AM
I think you're asking the wrong questions! It wasn't a matter of "Was it Lord Byron's hair or the dog's hair?" but instead of "was Lord Byron really a dog?" I mean come on, have you ever seen a photo of the guy? All we have to go by is drawings! Why? What was he trying to hide?
Posted by Sakano  on  Mon Jun 23, 2008  at  04:37 PM
On The Internet, Nobody Knows You're Lord Byron.
Posted by outeast  on  Tue Jun 24, 2008  at  08:41 AM
I could totally see him doing that!
Posted by MadCarlotta  on  Tue Jun 24, 2008  at  11:36 AM
Simple solution: Find one of these locks of hair and do a forensic exam. Structural analysis will show whether it's human or not; Way easier than diagnosing chronic kidney stones from Beethoven's hair, and they did THAT in 2005 . . .

And yeah, it fits with Byron's humour and attitude to women totally.
Posted by DFStuckey  on  Mon Aug 18, 2008  at  06:45 PM
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