101 Things to Do With Your Dog – No.1

I enjoyed this paragraph (and accompanying footnote) from Antonia Fraser’s The King and the Catholics about the great historian, John Lingard:

“Personal details about Lingard indicate a man of benevolence and whimsicality. As fame in his own field came to him, an Associate of the Royal Society of Literature and Corresponding Member of the French Academy, so did fame’s awkward kinsman, public attention. In order to elude publicity, he placed his dog Etna (a poodle) in his window to fool observers, wearing his spectacles and a coat so that travellers could see ‘Dr Lingard at work on his History‘.*”

* A ruse which might not immediately occur to modern historians, but which gives rise to interesting possibilities. [Antonia Fraser’s footnote.]

I should add that this ruse would definitely not work with our dogs. As one of my daughters pointed out, they simply wouldn’t stay still for long enough. [My footnote.]