Essay Five: Cocker Spaniels

A new series of essays by the very popular Fiona Stafford, Professor of Literature at Somerville College, Oxford, following her much praised series of essays The Meaning of Trees and The Meaning of Flowers, Fiona explores famous composers and their devotion to certain dog breeds.

Through surprising and insightful stories and discoveries about both the composers and their dogs, the essays provide new insights into the type of people the composers were, their lives and the features of their chosen dog breeds that brought such devotion.

Elton John was so devoted to his cocker spaniel, Arthur, that not only did the dog get given Elton’s original surname, Dwight, but he was also the best man at his owner’s wedding to David Furnish. Sir Edward Elgar was not allowed dogs by his wife during their decades-long marriage. When she died, he had dogs for the rest of his life, his favourite being his spaniel Marco. He would address Marco from live radio broadcasts, and the dog would react on hearing his master’s voice say his name. Poet Elizabeth Barrett idolised her cocker spaniel, Flush, who bit husband-to-be Robert Browning, was stolen, recovered, eloped with them and was the subject of a biography by Virginia Woolf. Other surprises include cocker spaniels being the first dog breed to detect cancer by smell.

Producer – Turan Ali
A Bona Broadcasting production for BBC Radio 3.
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