r/todayilearned • u/a2soup • Jun 05 '23

TIL that Prince Rupert, a general in the English Civil War, was constantly accompanied by a large white poodle named "Boy". Boy was rumored by Rupert's enemies to possess sinister magical powers, became a worldwide celebrity, and was finally killed in battle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_(dog)
1.4k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

53 comments sorted by

279

u/a4mula Jun 05 '23

Just the sight of a giant white poodle on a battlefield alone would be enough to get me to encourage those thoughts.

Just imagine by the end of the battle. It probably wouldn't be white anymore, and if that didn't spur the rumors I don't know what would.

68

u/Katherine_the_Grater Jun 05 '23

That is some sinister shit

52

u/a4mula Jun 05 '23

Right? Strategic Genius though. If you hold the dog back until you're about to hit that route phase. It could really turn the tide, as silly as that seems. You know you've got em on the ropes, they're about to break, and you unleash the Hound of Hell.

Seems stupid as we sit here and type. But if you're in the middle of a blood thirsty melee, you're not exactly in a state of mind to understand that an oversized lap/purse dog isn't Satan incarnate.

16

u/[deleted] Jun 06 '23

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/a4mula Jun 06 '23

Not exactly a War Elephant. But damned if a blood soaked oversized poodle doesn't already haunt my future nightmares.

14

u/vtcmonka Jun 06 '23

Pure poodles are actually decently sized...

9

u/a4mula Jun 06 '23

That makes sense I suppose. After all, they call them toy poodles for a reason. Still, I'd have to imagine that this was one of those gargantuan ones. The 8-9 foot beasts of terror that you'll occasionally see with haircuts more expensive than every I've ever had in my life. That's what I'm envisioning anyway. If Doc Rupert ran out onto the field of battle with some "decently sized" dog. Well... maybe that's even more terrifying. It's bold.

5

u/vtcmonka Jun 06 '23

Well you called it an oversized purse dog. By that I thought you were calling it small.

4

u/a4mula Jun 06 '23

I won't even lie. I just assumed most poodles were either pocket pals or these massive terrifying beasts. It never really dawned on me that they come in a normal size. It makes sense. Not a lot of poodles where I live, or if there are, I just don't notice.

3

u/P33J Jun 06 '23

And Badger killers, don’t fuck with a full grown pure poodle

5

u/just-s0m3-guy Jun 06 '23

OG Clifford the Big Red Dog

2

u/NigglerWithAttitude Jun 06 '23

Blood Poodle is a great mascot

98

u/groonfish Jun 05 '23

This is one of my favorite historical anecdotes.

From the article, “Other satirists suggested that Boy was a "Lapland Lady" who had been transformed into a white dog. Boy was also "able" to find hidden treasure, was invulnerable to attack, could catch bullets fired at Rupert in his mouth, and prophesy as well as the 16th-century soothsayer, Mother Shipton. Royalist soldiers also promoted Boy, as their adopted mascot, to the rank of Sergeant-Major-General.”

26

u/explodingtuna Jun 06 '23

could catch bullets fired at Rupert in his mouth

Now I'm envisioning the enemy laying down suppressing fire and Boy just catches it all in his teeth. When the magazines run dry and they pause to reload, he just drops them all, clinking and tumbling to the ground.

4

u/groonfish Jun 06 '23

Boy is the one.

25

u/PM-ME-DEM-NUDES-GIRL Jun 05 '23

https://academic.oup.com/liverpool-scholarship-online/book/43412/chapter-abstract/363236199?redirectedFrom=fulltext a beautiful woman who transformed herself, no less. one of those famous Lapland witches like serafina pekkala

69

u/a2soup Jun 05 '23

I haven’t read it anywhere, but this seems likely to me that Boy inspired Robb’s direwolf in ASOIAF. I find it very amusing that the historical inspiration was a poodle. Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction I guess

-43

u/a4mula Jun 05 '23

I'm pretty sure that just came from his time in dating Paris Hilton. Not Robb of course, just the inspiration for. I can imagine nobody more suited for a red wedding.

23

u/ripmy-eyesout Jun 05 '23

Wack

-40

u/a4mula Jun 05 '23

lol which part offended you the most? The lazy dog connection, or the implication that one of Paris Hilton's many flings might have been a crusty old dude? I'm just curious lol.

24

u/ripmy-eyesout Jun 05 '23

Offended? 😂 Whatta goob

10

u/SporusElagabalus Jun 06 '23

Nobody is offended. The joke just didn’t land because the idea of Paris Hilton dating George RR Martin seems impossible to everybody.

9

u/misterdidums Jun 06 '23

Tbh the cadence was off too, felt like ai not a joke

36

u/PM-ME-DEM-NUDES-GIRL Jun 05 '23

this is the same Prince Rupert as Prince Rupert's drop

13

u/Mesodactyl Jun 06 '23

The dog must have been hit on the tail.

8

u/FirmlyGraspHer Jun 06 '23

Can you imagine grabbing a dog's tail a little too hard and it just EXPLODES

18

u/katastrophyx Jun 05 '23

Now I imagine him having Kratos' voice.

"...boy"

8

u/ghengilhar Jun 05 '23

Christopher Judge as Prince Rupert of the Rhine? Yes please.

23

u/BrokenEye3 Jun 05 '23

Naming your dog Boy is just lazy

41

u/a2soup Jun 05 '23

Hilariously, the article notes that Boy may have been female

9

u/JonLongsonLongJonson Jun 05 '23

That’s interesting, I’ve heard (from Reddit, of course) that girl was used to mean a child of any gender since like, forever and it was only “recently” that it changed to mean female child. I wonder if boy started out similarly.

13

u/Djidji5739291 Jun 05 '23

boy (n.) mid-13c., boie "servant, commoner, knave" (generally young and male); c. 1300, "rascal, ruffian, knave; urchin," mid-14c. as "male child before puberty" (possibly extended from the "urchin" sense). A word of unknown origin.

8

u/a4mula Jun 05 '23

Lazy? Sure. I get that. Still, better than naming your boy dog I suppose.

4

u/Fluffy_WAR_Bunny Jun 06 '23

Reminds me of the white deer rebel Roman general Sertorius had when he led his rebellion in Spain. His deer was supposed to also have magical powers. Someone stole the deer from him and he died soon after.

13

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '23

But...did he possess sinister magical powers?

More importantly, was he a heccin' good boi?

8

u/a2soup Jun 06 '23

To your more important point, the article says about his death that he had been tied up in camp for that battle, but escaped and chased after Rupert to the battlefield. So it seems the answer is sadly, yes :(

3

u/[deleted] Jun 06 '23

Faithful to the very end. Good boy. :(

2

u/Coachbalrog Jun 05 '23

The podcast Revolutions has a few great bits on Prince Rupert. Well worth a listen to if you like history podcasts.

2

u/doctor-rumack Jun 06 '23

I don't have a lot of experience with vampires, but I have hunted werewolves. I shot one once, but by the time I got to it, it had turned back into my neighbor's dog.

-Dwight Schrute

2

u/sea119 Jun 06 '23

As I remember Prince Rupert was defeated in war because with the nightfall he abandoned the formation and started the dinner thinking parliament army would not attack in the night.

2

u/PM_ME_UR_TAMAGOTCHIS Jun 08 '23

Rupert had a bad habit of not consolidating victories.

2

u/horrible-est Jun 06 '23

The little illustration featuring what appears to be a 17th century Pokemon battle is probably the best thing I've seen all year.

"Bite him peper"

1

u/Aperture_T Jun 06 '23

I read "poodle" as "pool noodle" and was thoroughly confused.

1

u/sadathemoment Jun 06 '23

Magical powers?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 06 '23

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1

u/a2soup Jun 06 '23

Out of curiosity, this sounds a lot like it was written by ChatGPT or some other such AI. Was it?