Even his master’s grief at his loss was a subject of derision; and shortly after Boy’s death a squib appeared, called: “A Dogge’s Elegie, or Rupert’s Teares for the late defeat given him at Marston Moor neere York ... where his beloved Dogge, named Boye, was killed by a valliant souldier who had skill in Necromancy.” (He is said to have used a silver bullet, Boy being proof against leaden ones.)
An old pamphlet contains a queer woodcut, representing his death, and then several lines of doggerel, beginning:
“Sad Cavaliers, Rupert invites you all
That doe survive, to his Dog’s Funerall.”
So lived and perished Boy, his master’s well-loved friend, his master’s enemies’ aversion—and almost the only instance in history of an animal being the object of violent party-hate.
Prince Rupert had other pets, both dogs and horses, but none so dear as his white hound. Perhaps the most affecting instance of his feeling after Boy’s death, is shown in a letter to Will Legge, written in 1661. It bears “the dolefull news that poor Royall at this time is dying, after being the cause of the death of many a stag. By heaven,” he bursts out, “I had rather lose the best horse in my stable!”
With this—as a last pleasant memory of Rupert—we will leave him.
VI.