THE CAT OF ALBION 95 



&quot; cat s aunt ; &quot; while a foolish boy who grins and 

 stammers instead of answering promptly is called 

 - Oh ! stinging reproach ! the &quot; cat s uncle.&quot; 

 There is even a name to denote this feline con 

 sanguinity, Grinagog, which sounds like the very 

 embodiment of contempt. 



The wild-cat, that splendid and courageous beast 

 which roamed the English woods in savage free 

 dom, was hunted both for the beauty of its skin, 

 and because, though small in stature, its strength 

 and fierceness made it a noble quarry. In those 

 old rough clays the chase was a dangerous diver 

 sion, and men loved it for the peril that it brought. 

 Richard the Second granted to the Abbot of Peter 

 borough, who was a man of mettle, a license to 

 hunt wild cats in the royal forest. In Beaumont 

 and Fletcher s &quot; Scornful Lady,&quot; we find this allu 

 sion to the sport : 



&quot; Bring out the cat-hounds ; I 11 make you take a tree.&quot; 



and Shakespeare does infinite honour to the animal s 

 spirit when he likens Katharine to one, in &quot; Taming 

 of the Shrew.&quot; 



&quot; But will you woo this wild-cat ? &quot; 



It was the admitted courage of cats, both wild 

 and tame, which gave them their conspicuous place 

 in heraldry, ever since the days when Roman le 

 gions and Vandal hordes carried their cat banners 



