THE CAT OF ALBION 101 



in the face of such interesting and cumulative evi- 

 dence ! 



It is a matter for endless regret that Shakespeare, 

 in whose plays we find so many allusions to the cat, 

 never once mentions it with admiration or esteem. 

 That tepid phrase of Shylock's, 



" a harmless necessary cat," 



which might have been written by Joanna Baillie, 

 is about the kindest word vouchsafed to a creature 

 whose beauty alone should have won warmer praise. 

 And this chillness of comment is the more trying 

 to our souls because it is impossible to read any of 

 these allusions without knowing that Shakespeare 

 had looked closely at a number of cats, had noticed 

 their habits and characteristics, and had felt the 

 subtlety of their association with the supernatural. 



" Thrice the brinded cat hath mewed," 



says the Witch in "Macbeth," and this simplest 

 and commonest of statements is fraught with dire 

 significance of evil. Falstaff knows whereof he 

 speaks when he declares he is " as vigilant as a cat 

 to steal cream ; " and so does Antonio, in " The 

 Tempest," when he uses the admirable similitude : — 



" For all the rest, 

 They '11 take suggestion as a cat laps milk." 



How full of stealthy horror these two lines in 

 " Pericles " : — 



