[ Harrison / Reminiscences of a Student’s Life ]
Jane Ellen Harrison (1850 - 1928) was an English archeologist, linguist, and academic, well-known in her time for her work on ancient Greek culture. She is believed to be the first female professional academic in Britain.
Reminiscences . . . is Harrison's autobiography. It mentions Newfoundlands only once, in the opening paragraph of the book.
In view of my present cult for Russia and things Russian, I like to think that my first childish memory is of the word "Moscow." Moscow to me was a dog, not a town — an old Newfoundland dog named, no doubt, in honour of the Crimean War, which will sufficiently date these reminiscences. Moscow had his kennel in the backyard under a big spreading tree, and from this tree exuded drops of bright gum. It was my fearful joy to rush to the tree, seize the gum-drops which were well within the length of Moscow’s chain, and be back before he could begin to bark ferociously. When later I learnt that to some people Moscow was a cathedral city, not a dog, my universe rocked with Einsteinian relativity.