92 THE FIRESIDE SPHINX 



" I am as melancholy as a gib cat," 



sighs Falstaff wearily. Grimalkin, on the other 

 hand, was less a domestic than a poetical appellation, 

 given often to Pussy in literature, but never in 

 friendly fireside intercourse. John Philips deemed 

 the word sufficiently Miltonic to fit his parody, 

 ''The Splendid Shilling," published in 1703. 



" Grimalkin, to Domestick Vermin sworn 

 An everlasting Foe, with watchful Eye 

 Lies nightly brooding o'er a chinky Gap, 

 Protending her fell Claws, to thoughtless Mice 

 Sure Ruin." 



Through long association with witchcraft — witches' 

 cats seem to have been constantly christened Grim- 

 alkin — the name became deservedly unpopular. 



" Grimalkin, the foul Fiend's cat, 

 Grimalkin, the witche's brat." 



runs an ancient and unsavoury rhyme, — one of a 

 number which served to blacken an innocent ani- 

 mal's reputation. 



From many an old adage, from many a proverb 

 and rude snatch of rhyme, we may judge for our- 

 selves how Pussy gradually, and with soft insist- 

 ence, won her place by cottage hearth, and in the 

 snug English farm. Her characteristics were so 

 marked, her habits so unalterable, that she came 

 in time to stand for certain qualities, and to serve 

 as their homely illustration. Her chimney-corner 



