12- 



CH AFTER XI. 



BLUE PERSIANS. 



JACK AM) 



(I'linto: II. Warsclikanki, 

 St. Leonanis-on-Sea.) 



A FAMOUS pub- 

 1 i s h e r once 

 gave the fol- 

 lowing advice to a 

 young author: 

 " Never take it for 

 granted that your 

 readers have any 

 previous knowledge 

 of your subject, but 

 credit them with 

 ordinary intelli- 

 gence." To all fe- 

 line fanciers the 

 heading of this 

 chapter is a familiar 

 household term, but to novices in the cat 

 world and to outsiders the term " blue " as 

 applied to a cat may sound rather absurd. 

 Truth to tell, the name is misleading, and yet 

 the same is used in describing certain breeds 

 of domestic animals, such as dogs, rabbits, 

 etc. There is also a fur much used for trim- 

 mings of ladies' jackets, etc., called blue fox, 

 and this is very much akin to the colour and 

 texture of the fur of the blue Persian cat, 

 which, however, varies in tone from a dark 

 slate to a pale lilac-blue. 



It is over twenty years ago since I ex- 

 hibited the first " blues " at the Crystal Palace 

 Cat Show, and they created quite a sensation, 

 for no one seemed to have seen any cats of 

 this peculiar shade before. Some called them 

 grey or lilac, and others London smoke or 

 slate colour. One of my pair of blue kittens 

 was quickly claimed at catalogue price, and I 

 bought in the other, fearing I should lose her 

 also. She, in her turn, became the mother of 

 many celebrated blues. In those early days 

 of the fancy blue Persians were entered in 

 the " any other variety " class, and most of 

 the specimens exhibited were in reality blue 



tabbies. For some years this state of things 

 continued ; but Mr. A. A. Clarke, so well 

 known as one of the pioneers of the National 

 Cat Club, and as a breeder, exhibitor, and 

 judge,- agitated with other fanciers, myself 

 amongst the number, to obtain a better classi- 

 fication for the self-coloured blues, and in 1889 

 the schedule at the Crystal Palace Show con- 

 tained a class for " Blue self-coloured with- 

 out white." For some time this breed of cats 

 was termed " self blues," in contradistinction 

 to the many blues with tabby markings which 

 were formerly so very common in the fancy. 



In 1890 it was decided to divide the sexes 

 in the blue cat classes, and let the kittens 

 compete with black and white. The result was 

 an entry of eight in each class, my famous 

 " Beauty Boy " taking first in the male, 

 and Mrs. H. B. Thompson's celebrated 

 " Winks " first in the female division. At 

 Brighton in the same year the " self-blue " 

 class was adopted with success. 



The famous blue stud cats of that period 

 were Mr. A. A. Clarke's " Turco," Miss Bray's 

 " Glaucus," and my own " Beauty Boy." 

 Amongst other exhibitors of blues about this 

 time I may men- 

 tion Mrs. Warner 

 (now the Hon. 

 Mrs. McLaren 

 Morrison), Mrs. 

 Vallance, Mrs. 

 Wells, Mrs. Hunt, 

 Mrs. H.B.Thomp- 

 son, Mrs.Ellerton, 

 and Miss F. Moore. 

 In 1891 blues 

 came very mucli 

 to the fore, and 

 the entries at the JILL. 



Crystal Palace THE PEOTERTY F Miss B* 



(I'hoto: H. tISarsclikarski, 

 numbered 15 St. I.conards-on-Sea.) 



