Mister: Billie Holiday's Canine Soul-Mate

Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan and nicknamed Lady Day) loved dogs and had many during her life, including a poodle, a Great Dane, Chihuahuas and a wire-haired terrier, but the one who really captured her heart was a boxer named Mister.

Billie Holiday and her dog Mister

Billie Holiday, considered one of the best jazz vocalists of all time, lived a hard life of childhood poverty, early sexual abuse, racism, difficult relationships with men, depression and addiction before dying at a young age of 44 from heart and liver problems. Despite her troubles, she did find joy in her music and with her dogs, "her only trusted friends."

Mister, Holiday's favorite dog, would accompany her to Harlem's most glamorous clubs where he would eat plates of thick steak and keep fans at a polite distance while she performed. She would knit sweaters for the pampered pooch, cook for him, cloak him in a mink coat and take him on midnight walks.

In May 1947, Holiday was arrested for possession of narcotics and was sentenced to prison in West Virginia, having to leave Mister behind. When she was released in March 1948, the two were reunited. She didn't think Mister would recognize her but, according to her autobiography, when she got off the train to greet him, "He not only recognized me, but in a flash he leaped at me, kicked my hat off, and knocked me flat on my can in the middle of that little station. Then he began lapping me and loving me like crazy." Unfortunately, a woman in the crowd thought the dog was attacking her and screamed for help, causing a crowd to gather, including reporters - messing up her plans to reenter society quietly.

I am not sure when Mister passed away.

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Marilyn Monroe and Her Dog Maf

Marilyn Monroe loved dogs and had many throughout her life. Maf was one who outlived her.

Maf, a Maltese terrier, was sometimes described by Marilyn Monroe as a poodle. Some say Pat Newcomb, Marilyn's press agent, gave Maf to her but according to a statement made by Marilyn, her little white snowball was given to her by her dear old friend Frank Sinatra. It is believed that Sinatra bought Maf in 1961 from Natalie Wood's mother (a dog breeder), and Marilyn named the dog Mafia Honey as a humorous reference to Sinatra's alleged mafia connections.

The pampered dog was allowed to sleep on her expensive fur coat, accompanied her to fancy Hollywood restaurants and department stores, and even got to meet President Kennedy. Unfortunately, their time together was short-lived due to Marilyn's premature death in 1962. Maf was given to Gloria Lovell, Sinatra's secretary, and later tragically died when he was run over by a car.

Old Drum: Man's Best Friend

It was the closing argument, A Tribute to the Dog, at Old Drum's trial that coined the phrase "man's best friend".

Monument to Old Drum, Johnson County Courthouse

In October 1869, Old Drum, a black and tan hound dog belonging to Charles Burden, was found dead lying on the banks of Big Creek in Missouri. Burden sued his brother-in-law Leonidas Hornsby (a farmer who believed the hound killed some of his sheep) for damages claiming he was responsible for his dog's death by having his nephew shoot him.

When the case went to trial for the fourth time, Burden was represented by George Graham Vest, a lawyer who was well known for his skills in oration and debate. His closing remarks, with no reference to the evidence or to Old Drum, was a powerful tribute to all dogs and their masters:

Gentlemen of the jury. The best friend a man has in the world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter whom he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has he may lose. It flies away from him perhaps when he needs it most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog.

Gentlemen of the jury. A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground when the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he can be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince.

When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth an outcast into the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him, to guard him against danger, to fight against his enemies. And when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace and his body is laid in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws and his eyes sad but open, in alert watchfulness, faithful and true, even unto death.

The jury quickly returned a verdict in favor of Burden in the amount of $50 plus court costs.

In 2017, the Missouri State Senate officially designated Old Drum as "Missouri's Historical Dog".

A Tribute to the Dog, Man's Best Friend Poster
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Martha: Inspired Paul McCartney

Martha My Dear, a song on the English rock band's only double album The Beatles (aka the White Album), was named after Paul McCartney's beloved sheepdog.

Martha & Paul McCartney

In 1966, Paul McCartney, who grew up without a dog, decided it was time to have one for his new home in London. He chose an Old English sheepdog, named her Martha, and the two quickly developed a strong bond. Paul recalls, "She was a dear pet of mine. I remember John being amazed to see me being so loving to an animal. He said, 'I've never seen you like that before.' I've since thought, you know, he wouldn't have. It's only when you're cuddling around with a dog that you're in that mode, and she was a very cuddly dog."

In 1968, Paul wrote Martha My Dear, and many assumed it was about a woman. However, according to Paul, he made the lyrics general enough so they could be heard as a message to a woman or dog. "It's a communication of some sort of affection, but in a slightly abstract way. 'You silly girl, look what you've done,' all that sort of stuff. These songs grow. Whereas it would appear to anybody else to be a song to a girl called Martha, it’s actually a dog, and our relationship was platonic, believe me."

Martha, my dear
Though I spend my days in conversation
Please, remember me
Martha, my love
Don't forget me
Martha, my dear

Hold your head up, you silly girl
Look what you've done
When you find yourself in the thick of it
Help yourself to a bit of what is all around you
Silly girl

Take a good look around you
Take a good look you're bound to see
That you and me were meant to be
With each other
Silly girl

Hold your hand out, you silly girl
See what you've done
When you find yourself in the thick of it
Help yourself to a bit of what is all around you
Silly girl

Martha, my dear
You have always been my inspiration
Please, be good to me
Martha, my love
Don't forget me
Martha, my dear

Martha passed away in 1981 at the age of 15.

Dormie: A Rich Man's Dog Tried for Cat Murder

Dormie made history in 1921 when he was tried for the murder of 14 cats in San Francisco, California.

Dormie being paw printed before the trial

Dormie, a full-blooded Airedale, belonged to a wealthy man named Eaton McMillan. He was charged with killing 14 cats, the principal victim being Sunbeam (a Persian-Angora cat owned by Marjorie Ingals), and went on trial before a jury. According to the Los Angeles Herald, 21 December 1921: "It was the first time in the history of jurisprudence that a canine has been brought to trial for a capital crime. This was no matter for the city "pound" department, or the cruelty to animals commission. It was a real trial of a real dog on a real charge of murder." It was also reported that the court was uncertain whether to try him of 14 murders or 126 murders (taking into consideration the nine lives of each cat) and whether a jury of his peers should be dogs. "If a jury trial is agreed upon, only a jury of dogs can legally be employed. For only dogs are the equals of dogs." James Brennan, Dormie's attorney, said most Airedales were of a higher order than most men, so the question of equality was quickly dropped.

During the trial, Brennan had other Airedales, other breeds of dogs and Dormie come into the courtroom so Ingals could identify the culprit. She did identify Dormie, but the identification was set aside since he was the only dog that was escorted into the room by a policeman. The defense argued that Dormie was a friendly dog and was loved by many of the neighborhood kids. A character witness was even brought in, an Airedale named Rowdy - who was the brother of  Laddie Boy, President Harding's dog. Rowdy, who had been a personal bodyguard of a Persian cat for many years (and who mourned for days after the cat's death), was to show the jury that Airedales did not hate cats.

The trial ended with a hung jury. Eleven jurors voted to acquit, while only one wanted Dormie to receive the death penalty. Brennan filed a motion for dismissal. The Judge granted the motion, declaring that the San Francisco ordinance which put Dormie on trial was contrary to the Constitution of the state of California. According to the law at that time, a licensed dog had the right to roam free and unlicensed pets like cats did not. Therefore, if a wandering cat encountered a free-roaming dog, it was the cat's responsibility if harmed.

Strider: Robert Plant's Blue-Eyed Merle Dog

Strider, Robert Plant's collie with blue eyes and a mottled merle coat, was the inspiration to Led Zeppelin's song Bron-Y-Aur Stomp.

Robert Plant and his dog Strider

In 1970, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp - as well as most of the other songs on Led Zeppelin's third album Led Zeppelin III - was written by Robert Plant, the lead singer of the English rock band, guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones at a small 18th century cottage known as Bron-Yr-Aur (meaning "breast of gold" in Welsh - as in a hillside of gold) in the wilderness of Wales. This folk-rock song is about Robert Plant walking in the countryside with his dog Strider:

Ah caught you smiling at me,
That's the way it should be,
Like a leaf is to a tree, so fine
Ah all the good times we had,
I sang love songs so glad
Always smiling, never sad, so fine

As we walk down the country lanes,
I'll be singing a song, hear me calling your name
Hear the wind within the trees,
Telling mother nature 'bout you and me

Well if the sunshine's so bright,
Or on our way it's darkest night
The road we choose is always right, so fine
Ah can your love be so strong
When so many loves go wrong
Will our love go on and on and on and on and on and on?

As we walk down the country lanes,
I'll be singing a song, Hear me calling your name
Hear the wind within the trees,
Telling mother nature 'bout you and me

My, my la de la come on now it ain't too far,
Tell your friends all around the world,
Ain't no companion like a blue eyed merle
Come on now well let me tell you,
What you're missing, missing, 'round them brick walls

So of one thing I am sure,
It's a friendship so pure,
Angels singing all around My dog is so fine
Yeah, ain't but one thing to do
Spend my nat'ral life with you,
You're the finest dog I knew, so fine
When you're old and your eyes are dim,
There ain't no old shep gonna happen again,
We'll still go walking down country lanes,
I'll sing the same old songs, hear me call your name

When performing live, Robert Plant was known to shout out "Strider!" following the song's final line "Hear me call your name" - you can hear it in the video below.

Bron-Y-Aur Stomp (Live at Earls Court 1975)

Peps: Richard Wagner's Favorite Music Critic

Wilhelm Richard Wagner, a 19th century German composer and animal lover, would take advice from his dog Peps when composing his music, including his famous 1845 opera Tannhäuser.

Minna, Richard Wagner's first wife, holding Peps

Richard Wagner noticed that his dog Peps, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, had a strong appreciation for music, and would respond differently to melodies depending upon their musical keys. According to Wagner's biographer, Peps constantly sat near his master at the piano and would sometimes howl piteously into his face, suggesting the music did not suit him. If it didn't suit Peps, it didn't suit Wagner. Some critics commented that Peps was the only critic Wagner ever listened to.

When Peps became ill with little life left in him, Wagner scarcely left his dog's side - even putting off important work. After Peps passed away, the composer wrote to his friend Praeger: "He died in my arms on the night of the ninth, passing away without a sound, quietly and peacefully. On the morrow we buried him in the garden beside the house. I cried much, and since then I have felt bitter pain and sorrow for the dear friend of the past thirteen years."