Chet The Dog

Posts Tagged ‘Lincoln’

Giants in Those Days

Lincoln and Washington: they’ve come up before here at the blog. Bernie looked them up. Here are a couple.

Washington: 12/18/2009

“Anyway, Washington liked dogs a lot. He bred them for his fox hunts, so he had lots of hounds especially. Some were Truelove, Tippler and Sweet Lips. At the Battle of Germantown in October 1777, a little terrier got loose from the British side and wandered onto the battlefield. The dog was rescued by the Americans and from the collar they could see he belonged to General Howe. Some wanted to keep him as a way of annoying the enemy, but Washington called a truce and had the dog returned. He even wrote a note to General Howe – I think it’s in the Library of Congress.”

Lincoln: 12/15/2009

“Speaking of Lincoln,” Bernie says, “he had a mustard-colored dog named Fido. A real ol’yaller who followed him around Springfield. And one of the first dogs ever photographed. But he left Fido with a neighbor when the Lincolns went to Washington, something about Fido being frightened by all the cannon fire and bell ringing that was going to happen on the trip.”

Cannon fire? Bell ringing? Sounds good to me.

“When they brought Lincoln back to Springfield, Fido was still alive. He went back to his original home that day and spent time with the mourners. There was also a White House dog named Jip who often ate lunch with Lincoln, sometimes on his lap so he’d be in a good spot for treats.”

“And now,” Bernie says, “for my annual recitation of the Second Inaugural.”  I get comfortable under the kitchen table, listen to the words streaming by. Love the sound of Bernie’s voice, and the whole thing’s over too soon.

“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

In The Hearts Of His Countrymen

“Were we discussing Lincoln’s dogs the other day?” Bernie says. Search me. All I remember is Nudie Cohn. Did he have dogs?

“So we should probably mention Washington, since he’s pretty much always number two on the list of great presidents.” Bernie sips his coffee. “I wonder who usually comes in last,” he says. I don’t know that one either.

“Anyway, Washington liked dogs a lot. He bred them for his fox hunts, so he had lots of hounds especially. Some were Truelove, Tippler and Sweet Lips. At the Battle of Germantown in October 1777, a little terrier got loose from the British side and wandered onto the battlefield. The dog was rescued by the Americans and from the collar they could see he belonged to General Howe. Some wanted to keep him as a way of annoying the enemy, but Washington called a truce and had the dog returned. He even wrote a note to General Howe – I think it’s in the Library of Congress.”

Huh? Missed that whole thing. I go to the door. Isn’t it time for a walk?

A Scary Universe

Bernie takes a look at yestersday’s post. “Nudie Cohn and Abraham Lincoln showing up together on the same page?” he says. “How often does that happen?” He pours some more coffee. I like that smell, although water is my drink. “Imagine,” he says, “some alternate universe where Nudie Cohn and Lincoln actually meet each other.”

Alternate universe? This was new. Bernie talks about the universe a lot, galaxies, stars, and big big numbers, way more than two. Alternate universe? You tell me.

“Suppose, for example,” Bernie says, “that in this alternate universe Nudie Cohn sold Lincoln one of his suits, the Porter Wagoner kind, and Lincoln wore it when he gave the Gettysburg Address. Would history have been different?”

Huh?

Bernie smacks his head. That hardly ever happens. “What am I talking about?” he says. “Let’s get to work, big guy.”

I’m at the door.

Note to C. Harris: Working away on book #3. Maybe a scene from it will get posted tomorrow.