PERSECUTION 55 



Lucas Pommoreux, — abhorred forever be his name ! 

 — who for three years had supplied " all the cats 

 needed for the fire on Saint John's clay." " To 

 toss a few cats into the flames on the festival of 

 Saint John was considered an encouragement to 

 morality," observes M. de Meril ; and an old French 

 song celebrates with pitiless gayety the fate 



" D'un chat qui, d'une course breve, 

 Monta au feu Saint Jean de Greve." 



The custom continued in force, losing none of its 

 popularity, until 1604, when the gracious child, 

 afterwards Louis the Thirteenth, interceded at 

 court for the lives of these poor animals, and ob- 

 tained from Henry the Fourth an edict which ended 

 the barbarous sport. 



What incited the villagers of France to build 

 these sacrificial fires was the widespread belief that 

 all cats attended the great Witches' Sabbath on 

 Saint John's Eve. Fontenelle told Moncrif — that 

 courtly chronicler of high-born pussies — that, when 

 he was a little boy, not even a kitten was to be 

 seen on this night of mystery. The whole feline 

 population was abroad — or so he conceived — intent 

 on deeds of mischief. In Picardy the burning of 

 cats took place on the first Sunday of Lent, and 

 was part of the "Bihourdi," a festival so old that 

 nobody is sure of its origin. Lanterns and torches 

 were carried through the village streets, bonfires 



