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| Prince Albert Victor, Prince George, and Princess Louise of Wales with a Poodle, 1870 The Royal Collection |
Taken in 1870 by W. and D. Downey, this photograph shows Prince Albert Victor, Prince George and Princess Louise of Wales with a very fluffy poodle. They seem to have inherited their mother’s love of animals. This is, it would appear, is one of several poodles owned by Queen Victoria. Most notable, of course, amongst Victoria’s poodle charges was Sammy, her intelligent poodle who had a love of balancing on things. One can’t be sure if this poodle is of the circus-trick variety, but it seems to be a very affable dog and quite fond of the little royals.
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My favourite poodle is definately Walford Graham Robertson's Mouton. The dog was given to him by a relative, with the name 'Mutton'. "That was no name for a dog," said Walford and so 'galicised' the name to 'Mouton' - meaning 'Sheep'.
Mouton was an intelligent and loyal creature. At a time when Walford was ill and friendless, Mouton kept him alive through his (Mouton's) attention and love. Walford experimented with opium at one stage; he credited his dog with rescuing him from becoming an addict. "He would put his head on my knee as if he were going to my funeral," said Walford. When Mouton revived him one day - licking him and nuzzling him until he awoke from an overdose - Walford never touched opium (other drugs etc) again.
Mouton helped introduce Walford to a circle of friends called the Canterville House Group, who also loved animals. Their cook rescued unwanted cats, one of them kept an elderly dormouse rescued from a greenhouse and in their stable was a perfect white horse who had been saved at the last minute from a horsemeat sale.
Mouton lived a long happy life and died of old age with his master beside him. "One can't replace Mouton," Walford always said. But he knew it was no disservice to his old friend to (eventually) find another dog. One of his last dogs is shown in some old photographs - a gigantic English sheepdog called Richard.
Not surprisingly, Walford liked to include dogs in many of his illustrations for children's books.
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