Right. Lake Tahoe, one of the key songs on Kate Bush’s recent 50 Words for Snow album. Starts as a ghost story, warning people not to swim in the lake but only to look; they might see a woman in Victorian clothes, who clearly drowned when she was out looking for her dog Snowflake. Then we switch to the point of view of the dog, who’s old now and can’t move very well, but dreams of running along beaches and through fields and woods looking for her, and then dreams that he comes home and she’s waiting for him with a bone and a biscuit and lots of love.
This story has been bothering me to a ridiculous degree. Initially it seemed terribly sad; she’s dead, and the dog was left alone, missing her. Then I thought, yes, but what’s the alternative? She died searching for her pet, and actually Snowflake wasn’t that bothered and just got on with his life? That would be really sad. But then it occurred to me what an anthropocentric attitude that was: I would prefer that the dog lived out his life in sadness, rather than finding a new life with a new family that might love him just as much, just so that the death of an imaginary person wouldn’t be too pointless?
I don’t think Kate Bush hates dogs, but I suspect she may love them only insofar as they are sufficiently loyal and human-dependent. Of course, my view may be affected by the fact that I live with four cats who love me insofar as I am sufficiently loyal and cat-dependent, and produce ample supplies of chicken on demand.
It also occurs to me that it may all be a metaphor – for ‘dog’ read ‘husband’ – but that’s for another day.
But would the dog realise that she had died looking for him?
No, as far as the dog is concerned she just went out one day and never came back. In the song, despite this abandonment, the dog nevertheless remains loyal to his dying day and dreams that one day he’ll come home and find her waiting for him again. In human terms this is what we expect and/or hope for from our pets; the fact that the woman died looking for him shows to the listener that she loved him back (likewise the fantasy woman in the dog’s dream constantly repeats how much love she has for him), and hence the dog’s loyalty appears as fully justified and touching rather than stupid or misplaced.
It’s a musical version of Greyfriars Bobby, isn’t it?
There is the famous story, (some say totally made up), of Greyfriars Bobby, a Skye Terrier who was a companion to an Edinburgh policeman in th 19th. century. When his owner died it is said that the faithfull dog stood guard over his masters grave every day for the next 14 years until he himself died. There is a statue to him in Candlemaker Row in Edinburgh (and also a pub called Greyfriars Bobby nearby) and there has been two films made about his life. There is also a book by Eleanor Atkinsion (1912). And to tie that in with this weeks RR subject also a song by “Scottish/Canadian folk/punk group” The Real Mckenzies
“This is the ballad of Greyfriars Bobby
the dog with whom his master he would stay
No pain nor fear, for 14 long years
He stood by his masters grave.
(and he’s still standing there today)”.
We had the same thought… I heard that this has now definitely been exposed as a fake or fiction, not least because the demographics of Skye terriers make it very improbably indeed that one could live to such a ripe old age even if it had lived in perfect comfort, let alone spent the whole time in an Edinburgh graveyard come rain or shine (mostly rain, I imagine). Again this is all about projecting how we want our pets to feel about us.
We have a similar but definitely true story about the dog called Hachiko.
Hidesaburō Ueno, was a professor at University of Tokyo, and his pet dog was Hachiko. Hachikō greeted the Professor every evening when he arrived at Shibuya Station to go home together after work.. In May 1925, when Professor Ueno died at work, so he never returned to the train station where Hachikō was waiting. Every day for the next nine years the dog waited at Shibuya station.
People recognised the dog who had seen the two together and fed him. He became very famous and symbol of family loyalty and used by teachers and parents to show the virtue of loyalty. There were lots of newspaper articles and and photos to prove it. Hachikō died on March 8, 1935 and they even performed an autopsy on him and found he had canacer.
His remains were stuffed and still on show in the National Science Museum in Tokyo and a statue was made of him and placed outside Shinuya station and it is still there to see and is actually a meeting place where people arrange to meet as Shibuya station is totally crazy and really busy.
I nominated a track on RR for this task about a dog and his loyalty actually . .
http://www.guardian.co.uk/discussion/comment-permalink/14844520
We were never allowed to have pets as my dad was away so much when we were younger and mum said it was enough work to look after two girls without pets also, but I always wanted one. Now my apartment is too small and I am too busy with my stupid job to take care of a pet but one day I hope to have one ! ! !
I think it is one of those stories that possibly had a grain of truth in the beginning. But the tale has grown and been embellished over the years to such an extent that it is now part of Edinburgh folklaw and a visitor attraction.
Hi Sakura, I was looking up the story of HACHIKO and preparing a post only to find that you had beaten me to it. Quite rightly that you should do so, as it is a Japanese story of some fame.
There is also a famous South African story that tells of the adventures and true loyalty of a Staffordshire Bull Terrier called Jock of the Bushveld.
His owner, Sir James Percy Fitzpatrick, saved him from being drowned in a bucket when just a pup because he was the runt of the litter, was partially deaf and was treated badly by the rest of the brood. The dog became his constant companion throughout his career through thick and thin while the African bush was being explored.
The stories date back to the late 1800′s and the books were first published in 1907. There has recently been two films made about his adventures and there is a statue to him outside the town hall in Mpumalanga.
While I was travelling in South Africa two years ago there were connections to the stories all over the place.
Perhaps not in the same league as the other stories, but certainly an urban legend.
There seems to be more than a few stories regarding the loyalty of dogs. This one from China last year was touching
http://www.buzzfeed.com/colinbiggs/loyal-starving-dog-refuses-to-leave-owners-grave-441n
In the Fintan household we’ve usually had at least one cat & one dog. Though the cats were always fun (Our first cat together would use the toilet if you left the lid up) & I love the dynamic between the two species I’ll have to come down to agreement with the following -
Dogs have masters – Cats have staff.
There’s a brilliant postcard we found in Germany, showing a dog and a cat and their thoughts.
Dog: They feed me, they take care of me, they make a fuss of me… They must be gods.
Cat: They feed me, they take care of me, they make a fuss of me… I must be a god.
“Cats have staff.”
Very true. Ours sits and waits for me by the front door sometimes if I’m late from work, but only I suspect because feeding her is my job.
We had a lot of people wondering out loud how the cat would cope with the arrival of the baby – the result, as we suspected, is that as long as we fuss and feed her, it is of no relevance to her that there is another human in the house!