Conversation

Mirza Abu Talib Khan Isfahani, in Ireland c.1799: "the poor animal was put into a hollow wheel, and, being impatient at his confinement, endeavoured to clamber up the wheel ... I was told that the dog had been thus employed, for two or three hours every day, for 15 years"
Quote Tweet
How have I not come across Turnspit dog's before? Poor things. They were literally bread to turn meat on the spit. You can see one working in the wheel of this picture. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnspit_
Black and white historical illustration. People are gathered around a table to the right, a fire and a spit are seen to the left. A dog is at work inside a wheel near the ceiling; from Remarks on a Tour to North and South Wales (1800).