Pompey (dog)

Pompey was the pug dog of William The Silent. According to legend, during a campaign against the Spanish by Prince of Orange, William The Silent, his Pug, Pompey, thwarted an assassination attempt. One night at Hermigny, France, while the prince slept, assassins crept toward his tent. Pompey heard them and began barking and scratching to warn his master, finally jumping on his master's face to alert him to the impending danger.[1][2]

This incident would link together the Pug breed with the House of Orange, and would cause the breed to be shipped to England with William and Mary, joint sovereigns of the Kingdom of England.[2]

On the monument of William the Silent, at the Church of St. Ursula, in Delft, Pompey is carved lying at his master's feet.[3]

Disputed breed

The dog referred to in this legend may have instead been a Kooikerhondje.[4] The dog carved in the monument at Delft does not have a flat face[5] and was in 1873 referred to as a "spaniel" by a U.S. court.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Maggitti, Phil. Pugs. Barron's Educational Series. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-7641-1045-0.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Maggitti. "Pugs". Dog & Kennel Magazine. Retrieved 2009-12-28.
  3. ↑ Baynes, Ernest Harold (1919). The Book of Dogs: An Intimate Study of Mankind's Best Friend (2009 Reprint ed.). Cornell University Library. ISBN 978-1-112-50887-5. Retrieved 2009-12-28.
  4. ↑ "cavalier king charles spaniel | American Dog Blog". Americandogblog.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  5. ↑ "Prince William of Orange lies here. | Flickr – Condivisione di foto!". Flickr.com. 2009-10-12. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  6. ↑ District of Columbia. Supreme Court (1863-1936); Arthur MacArthur (1875). Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia: (general Term,) at the April and September Terms of 1873 [to the September Term, 1879, Inclusive]. W.H. & O.H. Morrison. pp. 53–. Retrieved 21 December 2012.