Boy (dog) facts for kids
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| Species | Dog |
|---|---|
| Breed | Poodle |
| Sex | Male |
| Born | abt. 1638 |
| Died | 2 July 1644 Marston Moor, England |
| Resting place | Marston Moor, England |
| Occupation | Hunting dog and military mascot |
| Years active | 1640–1644 |
| Known for | Iconic Royalist symbol during English Civil War |
| Owner | Prince Rupert of the Rhine |
Boy was a famous white poodle from the 1600s. He belonged to Prince Rupert of the Rhine, a brave leader during the English Civil War. People at the time spread stories that Boy had special magical powers! Boy often went with Prince Rupert into battles. Sadly, he died during the big Battle of Marston Moor on July 2, 1644.
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How Boy Joined Prince Rupert
Boy first met Prince Rupert when Rupert was held in a castle called Linz. This was during a huge European conflict called the Thirty Years' War. An English nobleman, the Earl of Arundel, felt bad for Rupert. He gave him Boy to keep him company while he was imprisoned. Boy was a special kind of white hunting poodle.
It's thought that Rupert might have received two poodles, one black and one white. The black one was lost early in the war. But the white one, Boy, became very famous. People sometimes called him "Puddle," but "Boy" is the name everyone remembers. Some even thought Boy might have been a girl dog!
Boy was so well-known that the Ottoman Sultan, Murad IV, asked his ambassador to find him a similar dog. Boy stayed with Prince Rupert on his travels until 1644.
Boy's "Magical" Powers
Boy was with Prince Rupert during the English Civil War from 1642 to 1644. Prince Rupert was a key leader for the King's side, known as the Royalists or Cavaliers. The other side, the Parliamentarians or Roundheads, often used propaganda against him. Propaganda is like spreading stories, sometimes untrue, to make people think a certain way.
Because Boy was always with Rupert, he became a big part of this propaganda. Many people thought Boy was a witch's "familiar." A familiar was believed to be a spirit or demon that helped a witch. Some even said Boy was the Devil in disguise!
Royalist writers, like John Cleveland, made fun of these stories. They wrote funny poems and plays, called satires, to show how silly the Parliamentarians seemed. Cleveland joked that Boy was a shapeshifting demon. Other writers said Boy was a "Lapland Lady" who had turned into a white dog.
People also claimed Boy could find hidden treasure. They said he couldn't be hurt and could even catch bullets fired at Rupert! Some believed he could tell the future, just like the famous fortune-teller Mother Shipton. Royalist soldiers loved Boy so much they even "promoted" him to the rank of Sergeant-Major-General!
Boy was also said to have other charming habits. He would supposedly lift his leg when he heard the name of John Pym, a leader of the Parliamentarians. He was also said to have performed tricks for King Charles I. Boy even slept in Prince Rupert's bed and played with the King's children. King Charles I himself would often feed Boy tasty roast beef and chicken breast.
Boy's Last Battle
Boy died during the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644. Prince Rupert had left Boy tied up safely in the Royalist camp. But Boy managed to escape and ran to find Rupert on the battlefield. The battle went very badly for the Royalists, and Rupert had to flee. Boy was killed during the intense fighting.
Pictures drawn at the time, called woodcuts, often showed Boy lying dead after the battle. A historian named Simon Ash even wrote about the death of this "much spoken of" dog.
Boy's Legacy
Boy is remembered as the first official British Army Dog.
Books About Boy
- Observations Upon Prince Rupert's White Dog called Boy (Anonymous, 1642)
- A Dialogue, or Rather a Parley, between Prince Rupert's Dog whose name is Puddle and Tobies Dog, whose name is Pepper (Anonymous, 1643)
- A Dog's Elegy: Elegy of Prince Rupert's Tears for the Late Defeat at Marston Moor where his Beloved Dog named Boy was killed by a Valiant Soldier (Anonymous, 1644)
See also
