George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron

:For a list of others who have held the title Lord Byron see Baron Byron

Character

Lord Byron, by all accounts, had a particularly attractive personality – one may say astonishingly so. He obtained a reputation as being unconventional, eccentric, flamboyant and controversial. Many attribute some of Byron's extraordinary abilities to his affliction with bipolar disorder, commonly known as manic depression. One of the most curious patterns in both his life and his writings involves the conflict between his oft-expressed cynicism about humanity, and his passion for defending the downtrodden. From his early schooldays, he had a reputation as a ferocious enemy of bullies, and in his brief time in Parliament he defended both Catholics and Luddites.

Related Topics:
Bipolar disorder - Catholics - Luddites

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Byron had a great fondness for animals, most famously for a Newfoundland dog named Boatswain; when Boatswain contracted rabies, Byron reportedly nursed him without any fear of becoming bitten and infected. Boatswain lies buried at Newstead Abbey and has a monument larger than his master's. The inscription, Byron's "Epitaph to a dog", has become one of his best-known works:

Related Topics:
Newfoundland dog - Rabies

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::NEAR this spot

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:: Are deposited the Remains

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:: of one

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:: Who possessed Beauty

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:: Without Vanity,

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:: Strength without Insolence,

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:: Courage without Ferocity,

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:: And all the Virtues of Man

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:: Without his Vices.

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:: This Praise, which would be unmeaning flattery

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:: If inscribed over Human Ashes,

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:: Is but a just tribute to the Memory of

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:: "Boatswain," a Dog

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:: Who was born at Newfoundland,

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:: May, 1803,

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:: And died at Newstead Abbey

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:: Nov. 18, 1808.

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Lord Byron also kept a bear (reputedly because Cambridge had rules forbidding dogs), a fox, monkeys, a parrot, cats, an eagle, a crow, a falcon, peacocks, guinea hens, an Egyptian crane, a badger, geese, and a heron.

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Byron allegedly had an abnormally large brain, claimed by Carl Sagan in his book The Dragons of Eden as having weighed 2.2 kilograms--far short of the ten pound (4.5 kilogram) estimate generally considered to be apocryphal. In spite of his deformed right leg he rather excelled at athletics and turned out for Harrow in the annual cricket match at Lord's against Eton. Byron was a strong swimmer and, in emulation of Leander, swam the Hellespont. He said the swim exhausted him so much that he feared Leander would not have had much energy left for his love, Hero – the beautiful priestess of Venus – waiting for him on the other side at Sestos! He also swam the mouth of the Tagus River, and from the Lido to the Rialto Bridges in Venice.

Related Topics:
Carl Sagan - The Dragons of Eden - Deformed right leg - Harrow - Cricket - Eton - Leander - Hellespont - Venus - Sestos - Tagus River - Lido - Rialto Bridge - Venice

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