Dogs
The dog underneath the bird in the decorated initial on folio 19r is the first of two dogs in Plimpton MS 034; the second is on folio 8v. This page considers the possible meanings of these dogs, drawing again from the literature on medieval bestiaries.
Although it is not entirely clear, I have identified this latter image as a dog due to its body shape as well as the similarity of its front paws to the dog on folio 19r. Clearly, its head is less dog-like than the figure on folio 19r, but the combination of the long snout and curved body with thin hips suggests that it is at the very least a member of the dog family.
According to art historian Christian Heck, dogs in the medieval period had conflicting associations: either they were viewed in a positive light due to their perceived loyalty or were considered to be vermin. Considering the frequent references to priests throughout Plimpton MS 034, it is also interesting to note that the famous twelfth-century bestiary translated by T. H. White emphasizes dogs' qualities that make them like priests:
“In certain ways, Priests are like watchdogs. They always drive away the wiles of the trespassing Devil with admonishments—and by doing the right thing—lest he should steal away the treasury of God, i.e. the souls of Christians.
The tongue of a dog cures a wound by licking it. This is because the wounds of sinners are cleansed, when they are laid bare in confession, by the penance imposed by the Priest. And the tongue of the puppy cures the inside of men, because the inside secrets of the heart are often purified by the work and preaching of these learned men.
The dog is said to be very temperate in its diet, because that man only is truly on his guard who excels others in wisdom and studies: and that is the fellow who must shun all satiety—for Sodom perished of surfeit. Indeed, by no entry can the Enemy take possession of man so quickly as through a voracious gullet…”
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T. H., White, ed. and trans., The Book of Beasts: Being a Translation of the Twelfth Century (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1954), 67.
See also Christian Heck, The Grand Medieval Bestiary: Animals in Illuminated Manuscripts (New York: Abbeville Press, 2012), 202-211.