94 THE FIRESIDE SPHINX 



their derivation to the cat ; such as &quot; cat-handed,&quot; 



a Devonshire term for awkward ; &quot; a cat s walk,&quot; 



which in Cornwall signifies a little walk near home ; 



&quot;cat-lap,&quot; very weak tea or broth, fit only for 



Pussy s food; &quot;cat-nap,&quot; the lightest of dozes; 



&quot;cat-call,&quot; 



&quot; Sound, sound, ye viols ; be the cat-call dumb.&quot; 



&quot; caterwauling,&quot; 



&quot; What a caterwauling do you keep here ! &quot; 



and the familiar &quot;cat s-paw,&quot; &quot; cat s-eye,&quot; and &quot;cat 

 o nine tails.&quot; Allusions to the animal s nine lives 

 Heaven knows she needed them ! are frequent 

 in early English plays. &quot; T is a pity you had not 

 ten lives, a cat s and your own,&quot; says Jonson in 

 &quot; Every Man in His Humour ; &quot; and Middleton in 

 &quot;Blurt, Master Constable,&quot; makes the off-hand as 

 sertion that cats &quot;have nine lives apiece, like a 

 woman.&quot; 



Some of the most common expressions seem 

 meaningless enough, yet have been handed down 

 from parent to child for endless generations, until 

 they have become a tradition in every nursery. 

 How often has the word &quot;she &quot; been checked upon 

 our infant lips by the certainty of hearing for the 

 fiftieth time that &quot;she&quot; is the &quot;cat s mother?&quot; 

 Little English children, however, especially if they 

 be bred in Norfolk, are told that &quot; she &quot; is the 



