[ "An Extraordinary Raven" / Gentleman's Magazine ]
The Gentleman's Magazine was an important and influential monthly magazine in the 18th and 19th Centuries; it began in 1731, ceased regular publication in 1907, and shut down completely in 1922. Its March 1788 issue ran a brief item regarding a raven and an injured Newfoundland.
The following account (it is dated Feb. 5, from Bath, England) of a raven befriending an injured Newfoundland appeared in the March 1788 issue:
You have given two instances of the sagacity, confidence, (or, what shall I call it?) of birds. Let me, therefore, give you one instance of the tenderness, I was about to say humanity, of a raven. He lives, or did live three years since, at the Red Lion at Hungerford; his name, I think, is Rafe. You must know then, that coming into that inn, my chaise run over, or bruised the leg of my Newfoundland dog; and while we were examining the injury done to the dog's foot, Rafe was evidently a concerned spectator; for the minute the dog was tied up under the manger with my horses, Rafe not only visited, but fetched him bones, and attended upon him with particular and repeated marks of kindness. The bird's notice of the dog was so marked, that I observed it to the hostler; for I had not heard a word before of the history of this benevolent creaeture. John then told me, that he had been bred from his pin feather in intimacy with a dog; that the affection between them was mutual; and that all the neighbourhood had often been witnesses of the innumerable acts of kindness they had conferred upon each other. Rafe's poor dog, after a while, broke his leg; and during the long time he was confined, Rafe waited upon him constantly, carried him his provisions daily, and never scarce left him alone! One night, by accident the hostler had shut the stable door, and Rafe was deprived of the company of his friend the whole night; but the hostler found in the morning the bottom of the door so pecked away, that had it not been opened, Rafe would in another hour have made his own entrance-port. I then enquired of my landlady (a sensible woman,) and heard what I have related confirmed by her, with several other singular traits of the kindnesses this bird shows to all dogs in general, but particularly to maimed or wounded ones; but having committed these particulars to paper, and sent them for publication to the St. James's Chronicle, I have forgotten them. I hope and believe, however, the bird is still living; and the traveller will find I have not over-rated this wonderful bird's merit. In my next, I will give you some account of a real Newfoundland dog, once my property; for though I know it will be deemed a long bow-fling, I had rather be suspected of such a stretch, than omit to repeat what I saw, and what I verily believe my brother saw.
The above is signed only "P. T."
This story is later quoted, with slight edits, in Evening Fire-side, or Weekly Intelligence in the Civil, Natural, Moral, Literary & Religious Worlds, July 27 1805 (Vol. 1, no. 33): 262-263; and in Volume 2, number 2 (early 1811) of The Reflector, a quarterly magazine on subjects of philosophy, politics and the liberal arts, edited by the noted English poet and political figure Leigh Hunt — who changes the raven's name to Ralph (which, to be fair, is usually pronounced "Rafe" in British English).