In 1889, a starving, struggling writer published an article in
London's MacMillan's Magazine that criticized the British about
their dogs. Although the author was unnamed when the publication
appeared, such a furor was created that it gave the writer fame and
notoriety that he would successfully exploit the rest of his life
and help him to become successful. Within a couple of years, the
name W. H. Hudson became familiar to London's literary and
scientific circles with his original essays on the natural history
of La Plata in the Argentine and Patagonia to the south, especially
his descriptions of bird and other animal life. Hudson loved all
life, including the human species, and certainly was not the
dog-hater that he was portrayed to be. This purpose of this study
of Hudson's writings is to provide an honest appraisal of his true
feelings towards dogs. A native of Argentina, the son of American
emigrants, home schooled and self-educated as a naturalist, Hudson,
at age 31 immigrated to England in 1874 to make his way as a
naturalist and writer and almost perished before realizing success.
His literary career spanned a period of almost 40 years ending with
his death at age 81 in 1922. The two decades preceding and
following 1900 were exciting and emotional times in both literary
and scientific London. In England, the Anti-Vivisectionist movement
was reaching a feverish pitch, culminating in the Brown Dog Riots
after the turn of the century. At the same time in America, the
famous naturalist John Burroughs initiated the great nature-faker
caper in which President Roosevelt felt he had to intervene in
order to quell, and came to regret. As he gained fame, Hudson
became friends with many of the well-known writers of the period
that included Joseph Conrad, John Galsworthy, Ezra Pound, Ford
Maddox Ford, Leigh Hunt, to name a few. Today, however, Hudson is
largely forgotten, remembered mostly for his novel "Green Mansions"
which is not exemplary of his best work. His most lasting work is
his study of the shepherds of the downs of southern England, "A
Shepherd's Life," which contains some of his best writings about
dogs, the sheepdogs of the downs. This books includes a special
bonus in the Appendix, transcripts of original, unpublished letters
of Hudson and John Burroughs from the estate of the Australian
ornithologist Charles Barrett.
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