[ Smollett / The Expedition of Humphry Clinker ]
Tobias Smollett (1721 - 1771) was a Scottish novelist, playwright, translator, historian, poet, and editor.
This novel, told in the form of a series of letters (a common literary technique at the time), was first published in 1771, just a few months before Smollett's death, and is widely regarded as Smollet's best and funniest.
The first mention of the novel's dog from Newfoundland occurs early on, about ten percent of the way into the novel:
The only object within doors upon which she bestows any marks of affection, in the usual stile, is her dog Chowder; a filthy cur from Newfoundland, which she had in a present from the wife of a skipper in Swansey. One would imagine she had distinguished this beast with her favour on account of his ugliness and ill-nature, if it was not, indeed, an instinctive sympathy, between his disposition and her own. Certain it is, she caresses him without ceasing; and even harasses the family in the service of this cursed animal. . . .
Chowder is mentioned more than a dozen times in this novel, but never in a way that suggests he's anything like the breed as we know it today. Indeed, it very much appears to be the case that Chowder is not a Newfoundland at all, but simply a dog from Newfoundland. Rather compelling evidence for this is found in the following passage, describing the beginning of a journey by coach:
Tuesday last the 'squire took his place in a hired coach and four, accompanied by his sister and mine, and Mrs Tabby's maid, Winifrid Jenkins, whose province it was to support Chowder on a cushion in her lap.
It's more than unlikely a Newfoundland dog (as we know the breed) would travel in a maid's lap.