Dash (1830–1840) was a

King Charles Spaniel The King Charles Spaniel (also known as the English Toy Spaniel) is a small dog breed of the spaniel type. In 1903, the Kennel Club combined four separate toy spaniel breeds under this single title. The other varieties merged into this breed were ...

owned by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

. Victoria's biographer

Elizabeth Longford Elizabeth Pakenham, Countess of Longford, (''née'' Harman; 30 August 1906 – 23 October 2002), better known as Elizabeth Longford, was a British historian. She was a member of the Royal Society of Literature and was on the board of trustees ...

, called him "the Queen's closest childhood companion",Longford, p. 155 and in the words of the ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', he "was the first in a long line of beloved little dogs".

Biography

He was given to Victoria's mother, the

Duchess of Kent Duchess of Kent is the principal Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Kent. There have been four titles referring to Kent since the 18th century. The current duchess is Katharine, Duchess of Kent, ...

, on 14 January 1833 by Sir

John Conroy Sir John Ponsonby Conroy, 1st Baronet, KCH (21 October 1786 – 2 March 1854) was a British Army officer who served as comptroller to the Duchess of Kent and her young daughter, Princess Victoria, the future Queen of the United Kingdom. Co ...

, the

Comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level exec ...

of the Duchess's household.Longford, p. 46 By the end of April 1833, he had become Victoria's companion, and by Christmas that year she was doting on him, giving him a set of rubber balls and two pieces of gingerbread as presents. In return, the dog was loyal to Victoria; on one occasion she went sailing on a yacht, and Dash leapt from the coastline into the sea and swam after her. Victoria, who was 13 when given Dash, had few if any childhood friends as she was raised largely isolated from other children under the so-called "

Kensington System The Kensington System was a strict and elaborate set of rules designed by Victoria, Duchess of Kent, along with her attendant, Sir John Conroy, concerning the upbringing of the Duchess's daughter, the future Queen Victoria. It is named after Ke ...

", an elaborate set of rules and protocols devised by the Duchess and Conroy. The only girl of a similar age with whom she had regular contact was Conroy's youngest daughter, Victoire, but they seemed to have had only a formal acquaintanceship. In her diary, Victoria refers to Victoire as "Miss Conroy" but the dog is showered with endearments: "dear sweet little Dash" and "dear Dashy". In November 1834, Victoria and her mother took a holiday at

St Leonards-on-Sea St Leonards-on-Sea (commonly known as St Leonards) is a town and seaside resort in the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. It has been part of the borough since the late 19th century and lies to the west of central Hastings. The origina ...

. They, with Dash,

Lady Flora Hastings Lady Flora Elizabeth Rawdon-Hastings (11 February 1806 – 5 July 1839) was a British aristocrat and lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent. Her death in 1839 was the subject of a court scandal that gave the Queen a nega ...

and

Baroness Louise Lehzen Johanna Clara Louise Lehzen (3 October 17849 September 1870), also known as Baroness Louise Lehzen, was the governess and later companion to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Born to a Lutheran pastor, in 1819 Lehzen entered the household of ...

, were driving in a

landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990 ...

drawn by two horses when the horses got caught in the traces and fell. With the horses struggling on the ground, there was a danger the carriage would overturn, injuring the women. Victoria scrambled out with Dash in her arms, and, as she recalled, "ran on with him in my arms calling Mama to follow, Lehzen and Lady Flora followed us also." While two passing gentlemen cut the horses free, the ladies, and Dash, took shelter behind a wall. Dash remained with Victoria after her accession as queen in 1837. Following her

coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of o ...

on 28 June 1838, Victoria returned to Buckingham Palace and ran up to her rooms to give Dash his usual bath.

Death

Dash died in late 1840. Victoria wrote in her journal that on 24 December 1840, Prince Albert informed her of Dash's death, writing that hearing the news "grieved me so. I was so fond of the poor little fellow, & he was so attached to me." He was buried at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor Home Park. A marble effigy was erected over the grave, bearing the inscription:

Here lies
DASH
The favourite spaniel of Her Majesty Queen Victoria
In his 10th year
His attachment was without selfishness
His playfulness without malice
His fidelity without deceit
READER
If you would be beloved and die regretted
Profit by the example of
DASH

References

Bibliography

Longford, Elizabeth Elizabeth Pakenham, Countess of Longford, (''née'' Harman; 30 August 1906 – 23 October 2002), better known as Elizabeth Longford, was a British historian. She was a member of the Royal Society of Literature and was on the board of trustees ...

(1964) ''Victoria R.I.'', London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, * Matthew, H. C. G.; Reynolds, K.D. (2004
"Victoria (1819–1901)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, subscription required for online edition * Strachey, Lytton (1921) ''Queen Victoria'', London: Chatto and Windus * Woodham-Smith, Cecil (1972) ''Queen Victoria: Her Life and Times 1819–1861'', London: Hamish Hamilton, {{Queen Victoria Individual dogs in politics Queen Victoria 1830 animal births 1840 animal deaths Pets of the British Royal Family Dogs in the United Kingdom Individual animals in the United Kingdom

Biography

Death

See also

References

Bibliography