Dickens and His Pets

Turk, Linda, Mrs. Bouncer, Don, Bumble, Dick, Williamina, Newman Noggs, and the two Grips - these were just some of the many winged and four-legged pets Dickens and his family owned at one time or another. In his daughter Mamie's words, "He loved animals, flowers, and birds, his fondness for the latter being shown nowhere so strongly than in his devotion to his raven." Mamie is referring to Grip I (there was a Grip II after the original Grip's demise), the chatty, comical bird that Dickens incorporated into his novel Barnaby Rudge.

Grip was also the inspiration for Edgar Allan Poe's well-known poem The Raven.

Dickens further immortalized Grip after his death: He had the bird mounted. After Dickens died, Grip was auctioned to the highest bidder, Philadelphia's Colonel Richard Gimbel, an avid collector of Poe memorabilia. In time, the collection was donated to the Free Library at Logan Circle. Today, if you wish to visit Grip, visit the Rare Book Department - but be sure to check the hours first!

Dickens also loved dogs: Turk, a large powerful dog, and Linda, a gentle St. Bernard, among others. His son Henry recalls long walks, "when I and the dogs were sometimes his sole companions. And I remember the villagers used to talk about Mr. Dickens and his roost of dogs." Mrs. Bouncer, a dainty white Pomeranian that was actually Mamie's dog, was one of his favorites and used to run to him when she heard his special call. But there were sad times also, especially when Sultan, an Irish bloodhound, had to be killed after attacking a little girl.

And then there was Williamina, Mamie's cat. Deeply devoted to Dickens, Williamina was even allowed to raise a litter in his study. One of her kittens was deaf, so Dickens chose to keep it. He was known as "The Master's Cat," and Mamie wrote: "He was always with him, and used to follow him about the garden like a dog, and sit with him while he wrote."

To read Mamie's account of how one evening the kitten decided that Dickens had read long enough and snuffed out his candle, go to: http://koti.mbnet.fi/dickens/pets/html.

To read The Raven online, hit: www.comnet.ca~forrest/raven.html.

For more on Grip at the Free Library, visit: www.ushistory.org/oddities/grip.htm.

An avid reader, gardener, music lover, and traveler, Manuela Meier enjoys her home in rural in New Hampshire, with her seven cats and eight chickens.

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Updated: 3/12/10 09:53 am
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