According to a descendant writing in 1865, Samuel Adams owned:a famous Newfoundland dog, named "Queue," a creature of immense strength and almost human intelligence. . . .I've found no contemporaneous references to Queue, in either Adams's correspondence or complaints of British officers. The big dog makes an appearance in We Were There at the Boston Tea Party, a 1956 historical novel for kids by Robert N. Webb.
"Queue" was noted for his antipathy to British uniforms; and he bore on his shaggy hide the scars of wounds received from soldiers, and even officers, who repelled his attacks by cutting and shooting at him. But the dog seemed to bear a charmed life.
This canine fact came to mind after I saw an article in the latest Colonial Williamsburg magazine about a set of thirteen silver buttons engraved with the pictures and names of thirteen hunting dogs, presumably commissioned by a wealthy Tidewater planter in the first half of the 1700s. The magazine's website offers a slide show with a closeup of each button. For anyone seeking authentic colonial dog names, they are:
- Trumpiter
- Piper
- Trumpiter (yes, again)
- Noisey
- Ringwood
- Juno
- Rover
- Caesar
- Tinker
- Loiterer
- Blossom
- Tanner
- Rainger
As a junior University student, the professor of American History proclaimed that the Newfoundland dog was named Quay Quay
ReplyDeleteOf all the history I’ve learned, that one piece of trivia has stuck with me for well over 50 years. I have no idea why, but it was on the final test and I aced that one
In the mid-1900s, a few sources did render the dog’s name as Queque or QueQue. However, the earliest source, a biography by an Adams descendant, clearly says “Queue,” so I think the two-syllable version was based on a misprint somewhere along the way.
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