Concertiing Cats 



That cats, even in the Middle Ages, were thought 

 much more highly of in Great Britain than on the 

 Continent is proved by the fact that the laws there 

 imposed a heavy fine on cat-killers, the fine being as 

 much wheat as would serve to bury the cat when he 

 was held up by the tip of the tail with his nose on 

 the ground. So that pet cats stood a fairly good 

 chance in those days. 



One of the good things remembered of Louis XIII 

 is that he interceded as Dauphin with Henri IV for 

 the lives of the cats about to be burned at the festival 

 on St. John's Day. 



feet of tail, perfect of claw, and without marks of fire. And if the cat 

 fall short in any of these particulars, a third of her price had to be 

 refunded. As to the fire, in case her fur had been singed the rats 

 could detect her by the odor, and her qualities as a mous.er were thus 

 injured. And then it goes on to say : — 



4th. That the teithi and the legal worth of a cat are coequal. 



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



6th. The pet animal of a breyer (brewer) is six score pence in 

 value. 



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



In the 39th chapter, 53d section, we find that " there are three ani- 

 mals whose tails, eyes, and lives are of the same value — a calf, a filly 

 for common work, and a cat, except the cat which shall watch the 

 king's barn," in which case she was more valuable. 



Another old Welsh law says : " Three animals reach their worth in 

 a year : a sheep, a cat, and a cur. This is a complement of the legal 

 hamlet; nine buildings, one plough, one kiln, one churn, and one cat, 

 one cock, one bull, and one hersman." 



In order that there might be no mistake in regard to the cat, a rough 

 sketch of Fuss is given in the Mss. of the laws. 



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