Whittington and His Cat. 



125 



South America. And the same thing is shown in the early history of 

 Britain ; for cats were then held in so great estimation that their pres- 

 ervation was considered of the utmost importance, and in the reign of 

 Howel the Good, a Cambrian prince, who died A. D. 948, special laws 

 were made to fix the price of different animals, and among them the 

 cat was included on account of its scarcity and utility. The price of 

 a kitten before it could see was fixed at one penny, till proof could be 

 given of its having caught a mouse two pence, after which it was rated 

 at four pence, and this was a great sum in those days. It was likewise 

 required that the animal should be perfect in its senses of hearing and 

 seeing, should be a good mouser, and have its claws whole. If any 

 one should steal or kill the cat that guarded the prince's granary, the 

 offender was to forfeit either a milch ewe, with her fleece and lamb, or 

 as much wheat as when poured on the cat, suspended by its tail (its 

 head touching the floor), would form a heap high enough to cover the 

 tip of the tail. 



And on such an array of facts as this the contestants for a literal 

 interpretation of the story rest their case. 



But neither of these views appears to me to be the correct one, for if 

 there is no truth in the statement that Whittington got his wealth by 

 a cat, how did it happen that his name was and is always associated 

 with this animal ; how did it happen to him rather than to some other 

 man? There is always a history connected with such an association • 

 something in the character, condition and circumstances of the man 

 that makes it appropriate, or properly descriptive, or else it would not 

 be. No man would have such a story attached to his name if there 

 were no reason for it, and it is no matter how foolish a reason it 

 may be. The other particulars of the story could easily be increased 

 and enlarged upon by its transmission through so many centuries • 

 but there must have been something that was the origin of the idea 

 that he had a cat. To ask us to believe, as the literal interpreters do, 

 that it was a veritable cat, seems to be asking too much when we call 

 to mind the many similar stories of other men living in different 

 countries and at different times ; and I rather incline to the opinion 

 expressed in sport by Foote, that Whittington obtained his wealth in 

 the coal trade, and that it was the cat of the collier that gave rise to 

 the story. There is no doubt that the boats that carried the coal to 

 London were called cats, and Webster gives as one of the meanings of 

 the word the following: " A strong-built ship from four to six hundred 

 tons burden and employed in the coal trade." And the history of the 

 ' use of coal in London agrees very curiously with the time that Whit- 



