Literary Corner

A Dog’s Eye View of the 400th
By Puff Keating

    The Queen expressed some disappointment that Captain John Smith was not given enough glory by the planners of Jamestown’s 400th anniversary, so naturally my human decided that I must dress in costume as Captain John Sniff to honor that long ago founder of the famous town down the road. Now that may seem like a normal thing to do—if anything about my home life could pass for normal—but it has presented some uncomfortable problems.

    I’m always having to dress for some occasion or another. When my human was on a panel at a mystery convention, I had to go along dressed as Sherlock Bones. The costume wasn’t bad, but if I ever meet the dastardly dude that thought up that deerstalker hat with brims in both directions, I may give them an imprint of my teeth as a reward.

     I didn’t mind going along for the opening of the Blackbeard Festival in Hampton. That pirate really had a nice clothing sense and I delighted in the black satin, magenta silk, real Swiss lace and gold braid of my outfit as Blackeared the Pirate.

    But my human’s latest idea is making me itch. First of all, this daring character of such significance to the area in which I live might have been brave and all that, but he had no concerns for comfort when he chose his clothing.

    He clanked around in a metal breastplate and metal helmet, a shirt that seemed to be made of coarse linen, and pants that were made of some even coarser woven material that resembled sandpaper. It is no wonder this fellow was always fussing with the casually and comfortably dressed Indians and frowning at everyone. The high starched collar that was supposed to keep that metal cage around his chest from cutting into his neck is scratchy and a terrible aggravation to my tender ears.

    My costume designer, Donna Jacobson, has a day job as a designer with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, so naturally she wanted me to appear in authentic garb. I had to put my foot down about metal helmets and breastplates however.

    My beautiful white coat is not going to be afflicted with rust rash if I have anything to say about it. So if you journey to Williamsburg for the festivities connected with Jamestown’s 400th anniversary and you see this handsome little Papillon dressed in a gray felt helmet and gray leather breastplate, stop over and say hello. I may not be totally authentic, but at least I don’t clank when I move.