34 



THE MODEL MERCHANT 



reasons for the condition with respect to fii'e, for cats which lie 

 much by the fire side are generally lazy and bad mousers, and also if 

 they have been singed at all the rats would be sure to discover them 

 by the smell. It then goes on to say : — 



"4th. That the Teithi and the legal vrorth of a cat are coequal." 

 And then follows a curious comparison of the value of a cat in 

 proportion to the rank and dignity of the owner, viz : — 

 " 5. A pound is the worth of a pet animal of the king, 

 " 6. The pet animal of a breyer is six score pence in value. 

 " 7. The pet animal of a taoog is a curt penny in value." 

 And in the 39th chapter, 53rd section, it is said, " there are three 

 animals whose tails, eyes, and lives, are of the same worth — a calf, a 

 filly for common work, and a cat, excepting the cat which shall watch 

 the king's barn," indicating that such a cat was still more valuable. 

 Another old "Welsh law says, (chap. 11, sec. 36), "Three animals 

 reach their worth at a year ; a sheep, a cat, and a cur," i.e. a dog : 

 and it goes on to say, (chap. 33), " This is the complement of a law- 

 ful hamlet ; nine buildings, and one plough, and one kiln, and one 

 churn, and one cat, " and one cock, and one bull, and one hcrdman." 

 A note on the above law, apparently in a difterent hand, and of a later 

 date, says that a cat was then valued as worth "a whole barn full " of 

 wheat (plenum horreum tritici)" and that there might be no mistake 

 as to the animal that was meant by the word Cath, and that no boor 

 might kill one through ignorance or inadvertence, pussy's picture is 



given in the MSS. of the Laws. This drawing of a cat in Howel 

 Dha's Laws, observe, was about coeval, according to some authorities, 



n Cats, in the old Latin, arc called Murilegus (or the mouscr) and Cattus ; in 

 British, Cath. 



" Pro cat est loneit scuhaur o wcnithc," ("plonuni honeuni tritici, &c.") 



