The Book of Cats. 201 



may suppose, very little left of them but their tails, 

 for, of course, there was a disinterested third person 

 to whom the affairs were referred for arbitration, in 

 the old way that the Cats appealed to the monkey 

 upon the great cheese question — who swallowed his 

 huge mouthful. In the end it would appear that 

 all the property of either side was mortgaged, and 

 bye-laws were passed by each party that their re- 

 spective officers should be content with the dignity 

 of their station, and forego all hope of salary till the 

 suit at law with the other " pretended corporation " 

 should be terminated. 



Let this be as it may, one thing is certain : Kil- 

 kenny Cats are quite as amiable now-a-days as the 

 Cats of any other city in Great Britain. 



But there is another story of a great Cat fight in 

 the same neighbourhood. One night in the summer 

 time, all the Cats in the city and county of Kilkenny 

 were absent from their homes, and next morning a 

 plain near the city was strewn with thousands of 

 slain Cats ; and it was reported that almost all the 

 Cats in Ireland had joined in the fight, as was 

 shown by the collars of some of the dead bearing 

 the names of places in all quarters of the island. 

 The cause of the quarrel is not stated, but there 

 are yet men alive who knew persons since dead, 



