In 'A Dog of Myth and Matter', Thorsen notes that 'In A Book of Famous Dogs (1937) Albert Payson Terhune weaves elements from many of the different versions... Barry is retired at ten years of age, but five years later he rushes out to save a soldier who has lost his way; the soldier stabs the dog to death because he thinks Barry is a wild beast.' (139)

Meisner describes Barry as follows: 'For twelve years Barry was tireless and faithful in his service for the victims, and he alone has throughout his life saved more than forty percent from death. The eagerness he demonstrated through his deeds was extraordinary. He never needed to be admonished in this service, nothing could keep him from in the monestary as soon as the sky became clouded, fog appeared and blizzards announced thenselves from a distance; from that point on he wod restlessly and barking range around, and he would not tire, again and again returning to the dangerous places, whether or not he could prevent anyone from sinking down onto the snow, or dig up one of those already buried under the snow. And if he could not help himself, he would in long leaps rush back to the monastery and try to get help. When the noble faithful animal grew old and weak, the honorable prior of the monestary sent him with his servant to Bern requesting that after Barry's death that followed in 1814, he should be displayed in our museum. "It is," this sensitive man wrote, "pleasant and at the same time a comfort for me to think that this faithful dog that has saved the lives of so many people, will not soon be forgotten after his death."' (Quoted in Thorsen, 'A Dog of Myth and Matter,' 131)

Thorsen describes Barry as follows: 'The dog died in 1814, at fourteen years of age. He became a legend during his own lifetime'. (128)

'Born in 1800, he served as a rescue dog for twelve years, an unusually long service for a dog that had to endure tough work under extreme conditions... Barry lived another two years in Bern before he died in 1814.' (131)

In 'A Dog of Myth and Matter', Thorsen notes that 'Scheitlin had met Barry in 1812 when the dog still lived in the hospice - Barry had in fact growled at Scheitlin. The old dog's aggression cannot have affected his admirer, however, who many years later wrote confidently, "If I had been a miserable man, you would not have snarled at me." Barry was a perfect animal for a naturalist who was collecting samples to demonstrate that animals have spiritual gifts.

To Scheitlin, Barry was "Der heilige auf dem St. Bernard," the Holy One of Saint Bernard, and thus the most admirable dog known in history. As he directly addressed the dog in his eulogy, "You were a big, profound man-dog with a kind soul for the unhappy." If Barry had been a human being, what could he have achieved? He would have founded hundreds of holy orders and monasteries. Indeed, Scheitlin's enthusiasm pushed him so far as to present Barry as a saviour in human form, declaring, "You are the opposite of a sexton, You render the dead their resurrection."' (137-138)