2IO The Common Cat. [Sess. 



a kitten before it could see was fixed at one penny, after it 

 had caught a mouse twopence, and if a good mouser, four- 

 pence. Any one who stole or killed a cat which guarded the 

 king's granary had to forfeit a milch ewe along with its fleece 

 and lamb, or as much wheat as, when poured on the cat's body 

 suspended by the tail, would form a heap high enough to cover 

 the tip of the tail. Later, however, the cat seems to have 

 given evidence of its fertility, and thus we hear less of its 

 monetary value. Indeed in course of time the belief came to 

 be that cats, especially black cats, had a close relationship to 

 the Father of sin. How curious it is that in this country the 

 cat should have been associated with the devil, while in ancient 

 Egypt it had been associated with the gods. Witches were 

 often burnt along with their cat or cats, and in Scotland up to 

 comparatively recent times, cats were sometimes roasted alive 

 before a slow fire as a means of divining the future. We all 

 remember the reason why King James of Scotland had such a 

 tempestuous journey from Denmark. All the other vessels 

 had a good and fair wind, but the one in which King James 

 travelled was buffeted about with contrary winds, because a 

 " christened cat " had been placed on board by witches. 



Both in Scotland and England barbarous games were 

 indulged in, in which pussy played but a poor part. Thus 

 "Cat in Bottle" (referred to by Shakespeare — "If I do [fall 

 in love], hang me in bottle like a cat, and shoot at me " — ■ 

 " Much Ado about Nothing ") was a game (save the mark !) 

 in which a cat was placed in a bag or leather bottle sus- 

 pended from a tree. Blows were aimed at the bag with the 

 object of breaking the bottom, and yet by the agility of the 

 player escaping the claws of the unfortunate animal. " Cat 

 in Barrel " consisted in placing a cat in a barrel along with a 

 quantity of soot, and suspending the barrel from a cross-bar. 

 Each player as he rode underneath the barrel struck it a blow 

 with a club. When at last the barrel was broken the cat 

 endeavoured to escape and was cruelly killed. Such bar- 

 barous customs were not, however, confined to this country. 

 The inoffensive cat seems in all countries to have become 

 the butt of cruel humanity. Thus a solemn procession of 

 the municipal authorities of Metz took place each year at 

 the festival of St John, on 24th June. The highest magis- 



