BYRON’S DEFORMITIES

George Gordon Byron was born with a clubfoot and dissimilar eye sizes. Deformities which plagued him throughout his life.

He was born with Congenital Talipes Equinovarus (CTEV) and his lower calf was somewhat shorter and thinner. This caused the foot to turn inwards and point downwards.  Byron permanently walked on the outside edge of his foot. While his mother referred to him as ‘a lame brat’, he saw it as ‘his mark of Cain.’ These deformities caused him to manipulate his portraits – rarely showing his legs and feet – and turning his head away to the right.

    George Gordon, 6^th Lord Byron                                                                                   Lord Byron in Albanian Dress 

Both these portraits were painted by Thomas Phillips in 1813 (Newstead Abbey) 

Byron’s clubfoot was a constant source of pain, sensitivity and shame which contributed to his fragile self-esteem. It also fuelled his rebelliousness – driving him to compensate with violent physical activities. In his poetry, he describes lameness as a deep-seated misery but also expresses his defiance.

During his famous parties at Newstead Abbey (1808-11) Byron and his Cambridge university friends like John Cam Hobhouse, Charles Skinner Mathews and Scrope Beardmore Davies would amuse themselves with various activities including riding, boating, swimming - and indoor boxing and fencing.

Byron’s passion for swimming was deeply personal, allowing him to overcome the physical limitations of his club foot in water, he found a sense of complete freedom of movement that he clearly cherished throughout his life. His deep-seated love for water is also reflected in the conversion of the slype at Newstead Abbey to a private plunge pool!

Back to Byron Bytes