[ Richardson / The Borderer's Table Book of Remarkable Occurrences ]
Moses Aaron Richardson (1793 - 1871) was an English publisher and bookseller with a strong interest in historical subjects.
The full title of this 8-volume, heavily illustrated work is The Border's Table Book; or Gatherings fof the Local History and Romance of the English and Scottish Border, and was published in 1846 (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Henry G. Bohn).
This book is a re-worked version of Richardson's earlier compendium, The Local Historian's Table Book of Remarkable Occurrences, Historical Facts, Legendary and Descriptive Ballads, &c., connected with the Counties of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, and Durham which was published from 1841 to 1846. That work is treated separately here at The Cultured Newf; it has onlyl two anecdotes regarding Newfoundlands, both taken from earlier books.
The first Newf-related anecdote occurs in a chronology of events that transpired in 1824; the date of this particular incident — a shipwreck in which a Newf proved instrumental in saving lives — is November 5:
Nearly fifty vessels were wrecked on the dangerous rocks near Hawthorn Dene, on the coast of Durham, together with all their crews, excepting that belonging to the ship Dido, which was wrecked betwixt two rocks, about thirty yards from the shore, where the late major George Anderson, of Newcastle, who witnessed the distressing scene, had collected all his servants in order to render every possible assistance to the unfortunate mariners, who, having lost their mainmast, foremast, and rudder, collected themselves upon the bow-sprit, and made several fruitless attempts to throw a rope to the shore; fortunately, however, the major had an excellent Newfoundland dog, which by encouragement, after several attempts, succeeded in catching hold of the rope, and brought it through the raging surges to the major and his servants, who held it till all the crew (fourteen in number) had escaped from the foaming gulph, which threatened them with destruction. The crew having been refreshed with every necessary comfort at the major's house, departed after gratefully thanking their preservers; and so affected were the feelings of the captain's wife, that on the following day she visited Hawthorn Hive cottage, the major's residence, where she, with streaming eyes, expressed her gratitude, and falling upon her knees, kissed the dog which has been so essentially instrumental in saving her husband and the crew. (III: 299)
The above account is credited to "Local Papers."
The next Newf anecdote, also credited only to "Local Papers," is dated November 23, 1838, and involves a stag hunt in which the stag takes refuge in a river:
. . . after remaining some time in the water, the hounds having no chance with [the stag] at swimming, a Newfoundland dog belonging to the rev. Leonard Shafto Orde, was let in, who soon came up to him, caught him by the ear, and brought him on shore, but he died almost instantly, it is supposed by stagnation, caused by his long emersion in the water. (V: 58)
The next Newf tale is dated February 7, 1841:
A black Newfoundland dog made its appearance in Hylton, in the county of Durham, having come, it is supposed from some place near Newcastle. He entered the house of a poor woman and sat down by the fire ; and she, alarmed by his angry looks, re- treated, leaving behind her a gown which she had been mending, and which he seized and tore into fragments. He then proceeded to the stable of Mr. Johnson, innkeeper, and was shut in. The damage he did there, in a short space of time was incredible. He destroyed all before him and was at length destroyed himself. (V: 239; source: "Local Papers"])
The next (unfortunate) incident transpired the very next day:
Monday afternoon, the body of Mr. John Wingate, of Newcastle, who had been missing for six weeks, was found in the Team, near Dunston; and on Tuesday, an inquest was held before Mr. Michael Hall, coroner, at the Low Team public house, when there being no evidence to show how he got into the water, the jury returned a verdict of "Found drowned." Previous to the body being found, a remarkable instance of the sagacity of a Newfoundland dog, belonging to the iron works near the place, occurred. For two or three days before the body was found, the animal had been observed running to and from the place to the iron works, barking and howlling each time, but no one was induced to follow it. At length it was supposed the dog was mad, and in consequence it was shot, and in about an hour afterwards the body was discovered, when the cause of the poor animals's excitement was made apparent. (V: 240; source: "local papers"]
A Newfoundland loves his ship more than his owner, per this entry dated September 6, 1841:
About three months previous to this date, Mr. Gravett, then master of the brig British Queen, of Rye, lost a favourite dog, of the Newfoundland species, in the port of Shields. The vessel was now in the Wear, but the master had taken command of another ship, when, to the surprise of the crew, the lost dog went on board of its own accord, having gone down the dark entry leading from the Low-street to the river, passed over three keels, and jumped upwards of six feet to get on the deck of the vessel. He evinced the greatest degree of attachment for the ship, and was so jealous of strangers coming on board, that one seaman, who stepped on the gunwale, to go to another ship in the same tier, was obliged to go up one side of the rigging and down the other side, for fear the dog should fly at him. From a mark round his neck, he appeared to have been tied up for a length of time. (V: 300; source: "local papers"]
The two remaining Newf incidents are from earlier books, and appear multiple times in the 19th Century, including in the earlier version of this work. No need to repeat them here, as they are treated elsewhere here at The Cultured Newf:
The story of the Newfoundland who survived a shipwreck and brought ashore the captain's pocket-book was told by a number of writers; you may find the earliest known occurrence in Thomas Bewick et al's A General History of Quadrupeds (1790) here at The Cultured Newf.
The anecdote about the salmon-fishing Newfoundland first appeared in the 2nd edition of William Yarnell's A History of British Fishes (1841); you can read that story here at The Cultured Newf.