Concerning Cats 



and cats appeared in the heraldry of that date ; but 

 writers of those ages speak rather slightingly of them. 

 Then for centuries the cat was looked upon as . a dia- 

 bolic creature, fit company for witches. 



" Why," says Balthazar Bekker in the seventeenth 

 century, " is a cat always found among the belong- 

 ings of witches, when according to the Sacred Book, 

 and Apocalypse in particular, it is the dog, not a 

 feline animal, that consorts with the sorcerers ? " 



In Russia even yet the common people believe 

 that black cats become devils at the end of seven 

 years, and in many parts of Southern Europe they 

 are still supposed to be serving apprenticeship as 

 witches. In Sicily the peasants are sure that if a 

 black cat lives with seven masters, the soul of the 

 seventh will surely accompany him back to the do- 

 minion of Hades. In Brittany there is a dreadful 

 tale of cats that dance with unholy glee around the 

 crucifix while their King is being put to death. Cats 

 figure in Norwegian folk-lore, too, as witches and 

 picturesque incumbents of ghost-haunted houses and 

 nocturnal revels. And even to-day there is a legend 

 in Westminster to the effect that the dissipated cats 

 of that region indulge in a most disreputable revel in 

 some country house, and that is why they look so 

 forlorn and altogether undone by daylight. 



A canon enacted in England in 1127 forbade any 

 abbess or nun to use more costly fur than that of 

 lambs or cats, and it is proved that cat-fur was at 



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