segunda-feira, 30 de dezembro de 2013

In Suffolk cats eyes are

"In Suffolk, cats' eyes are supposed to dilate and contract with the flow and ebb of the tide. In Lancashire the common people have an idea that those who play much with cats never have good health."

If tincture of valerian is sprinkled on a plant or bush the neighbouring cats roll and rub themselves on or against it, often biting and scratching the plant to pieces. H. W.

In Lancashire it is regarded as unlucky to allow a cat to die in a house. Hence, when they are ill they are usually drowned.

Fonte: Cats

Cats are exceedingly fond of valerian

"Cats are exceedingly fond of valerian (V. officinalis), and in Topsell's 'Four-footed Beasts' (1658, p. 81), we find the following curious remarks: 'The root of the herb valerian (called Phu), is very like to the eye of a cat, and wheresoever it groweth, if cats come thereunto, they instantly dig it up for the love thereof, as I myself have seen in mine own garden, for it smelleth moreover like a cat.' There is also an English rhyme on the plant marum to the following effect:

If you see it,
The cats will eat it;
If you sow it,
The cats will know it.

Fonte: Cats

It is a prognostic of change of weather

"It is a common notion that when a cat scratches the legs of a table, it is a prognostic of change of weather. John Swan, in his 'Speculum Mundi' (Cambridge, 1643), writing of the cat, says: 'She useth therefore to wash her face with her feet, which she licketh and moisteneth with her tongue; and it is observed by some that if she put her feet beyond the crown of her head in this kind of washing, it is a signe of rain.' Indeed, in the eyes of the superstitious, there is scarcely a movement of the cat which is not supposed to have some significance.

Fonte: Cats

The superstitious still hold the cat in high esteem

"In England," says Mr. T. F. Thiselton Dyer, "the superstitious still hold the cat in high esteem, and oftentimes, when observing the weather, attribute much importance to its various movements. Thus, according to some, when they sneeze it is a sign of rain; and Herrick, in his 'Hesperides,' tells us how:

True calendars as pusses eare,
Wash't o're to tell what change is neare.

Fonte: Cats

Cats Weather Notions.

"Signs of Foul Weather," by Dr. Erasmus Darwin. In a poem, the well-known relative of the eminent Charles Darwin describes the various natural indications of coming storms. Among the animals and birds he notes the cat:

Low o'er the grass the swallow wings;
The cricket, too, how sharp he sings;
Puss on the hearth, with velvet paws,
Sits wiping o'er his whiskered jaws.

Fonte: Cats

The crying of cats ospreys

"The crying of cats, ospreys, ravens, or other birds upon the tops of houses in the night time are observed by the vulgar to presignify death to the sick." Brand.

There is also a superstition that cats will suck the breath of infants. Nothing could be more ridiculous. The formation of the cat's mouth is not well adapted for such action, the under jaw being shorter than the upper, which is one reason why it laps fluids instead of drinking. Cats will creep into cradles, but for no other purpose than that of sleep, the bed and clothes being warm and soft, and of course comfortable; yet instead of doing harm, they help to keep the child's temperature more even in cold weather. Of course, if they lie on the infant, it is a different matter.

Fonte: Cats

In a poem To a cat bore me company in confinement

Lord Westmoreland, in a poem "To a cat bore me company in confinement," says:

Scratch but thine ear,
Then boldly tell what weather's drawing near.

The cat sneezing appears to be a lucky omen to a bride.

It was a vulgar notion that cats, when hungry, would eat coals; and even to this day, in some parts there is a doubt about it. In "The Tamer Tamed, or, Woman's Pride," Izamo says to Moroso, "I'd learn to eat coals with a hungry cat"; and in "Boduca," the first daughter says, "They are cowards; eat coals like compelled cats."

Fonte: Cats

If a kitten comes to a house in the morning

If a kitten comes to a house in the morning, it is lucky; if in the evening, it portends evil of some kind, unless it stays to prevent it.

A cat's hair is said to be indigestible, and if one is swallowed death will ensue (Northern).

Milton, in his "Astrologaster," p. 48, tells us: "That when the cat washes her face over her eares we shall have great store of raine."

Fonte: Cats

Gives a cat story quite of the fairy type

Lady Wilde, in her "Irish Legends," gives a cat story quite of the fairy type, and well in keeping with many of witchcraft and sorcery. "One dark, cold night, as an old woman was spinning, there came three taps at her door, and not until after the last did she open it, when a pleading voice said: 'Let me in, let me in,' and a handsome black cat, with a white breast, and two white kittens, entered. The old woman spun on, and the cats purred loudly, till the mother puss warned her that it was very late, that they wanted some milk, and that the fairies wanted her room that night to dance and sup in. The milk was given, the cats thanked her, and said they would not forget her kindness; but, ere they vanished up the chimney, they left her a great silver coin, and the fairies had their ball untroubled by the old woman's presence, for the pussy's warning was a gentle hint."

Fonte: Cats

Those little gatherings which come on children s eyelids

"'In Cornwall,' says Hunt, 'those little gatherings which come on children's eyelids, locally called "whilks," and also "warts," are cured by passing the tail of a black cat nine times over the place. If a ram cat, the cure is more certain. In Ireland it is considered highly unlucky.'"

Sailors are very superstitious as regards cats. If a black cat comes on board, it is a presage of disaster; if the ship's cat is more lively than ordinary, it is a sign of wind; but if the cat is accidentally drowned, then there is consternation, which does not wear off until the vessel is safe in harbour.

Fonte: Cats

In Devonshire and Wiltshire it is believed that a May cat or

"In Devonshire and Wiltshire it is believed that a May cat or, in other words, a cat born in the month of May will never catch any rats or mice, but, contrary to the wont of cats, will bring into the house snakes, and slow-worms, and other disagreeable reptiles. In Huntingdonshire it is a common saying that 'a May kitten makes a dirty cat.' If a cat should leap over a corpse, it is said to portend misfortune. Gough, in his 'Sepulchral Monuments,' says that in Orkney, during the time the corpse remains in the house, all the cats are locked up, and the looking-glasses covered over. In Devonshire a superstition prevails that a cat will not remain in a house with an unburied corpse; and stories are often told how, on the death of one of the inmates of a house, the cat has suddenly made its disappearance, and not returned again until after the funeral. The sneezing of the cat, says Brand ('Popular Antiquities,' 1849, vol. iii., p. 187), appears to have been considered as a lucky omen to a bride who was to be married on the succeeding day.

Fonte: Cats

And again, Kiss the black cat.

"And again:

Kiss the black cat,
An' 'twill make ye fat;
Kiss the white ane,
'Twill make ye lean.

"In Scotland there is a children's rhyme upon the purring of the cat:

Dirdum drum,
Three threads and a thrum;
Thrum gray, thrum gray!

Fonte: Cats

In some parts black cats are said to bring good luck

"In some parts black cats are said to bring good luck, and in Scarborough (Henderson's 'Folk-lore of the Northern Counties'). A few years ago, sailors' wives were in the habit of keeping one, thinking thereby to ensure the safety of their husbands at sea. This, consequently, gave black cats such a value that no one else could keep them, as they were nearly always stolen. There are various proverbs which attach equal importance to this lucky animal, as, for example:

Whenever the cat o' the house is black,
The lasses o' lovers will have no lack.

Fonte: Cats

Almost the same words are sung in the music to Macbeth

Note. Almost the same words are sung in the music to Macbeth.

"One of the frauds of witchcraft," says Timbs, "is the witch pretending to transform herself into a certain animal, the favourite and most usual transformation being a cat; hence cats were tormented by the ignorant vulgar."

"Rutterkin was a famous cat, a cat who was 'cater'-cousin to the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother of Grimalkin, and first cat in the caterie of an old woman who was tried for bewitching a daughter of the Countess of Rutland in the beginning of the sixteenth century. The monodis connects him with cats of great renown in the annals of witchcraft, a science whereto they have been allied as poor old women, one of whom, it appears, on the authority of an old pamphlet entitled 'Newes from Scotland,' etc., printed in the year 1591, 'confessed that she took a cat and christened it, etc., and that in the night following, the said cat was conveyed into the middest of the sea by all these witches sayling in their Riddles, or Cives, and so left the said cat right before the towne of Leith in Scotland. This done, there did arise such a tempest at sea as a greater hath not been seen, etc. Againe it is confessed that the said christened cat was the cause of the kinges majestie's shippe, at his coming forthe of Denmarke, had a contrarie winde to the rest of the shippes then being in his companie, which thing was most straunge and true, as the kinges majestie acknowledgeth, for when the rest of the shippes had a fair and good winde, then was the winde contrairie, and altogether against his majestie,' etc."

Fonte: Cats

There s one come down to fetch his dues

I will but 'noint, and then I'll mount.
(A Spirit like a cat descends. Voice above.)
There's one come down to fetch his dues.
(Later on the Voice calls.) Hark! hark! the cat sings a brave treble in
her own language.
(Then Hecate.) Now I go, now I fly,
Malkin, my sweet spirit, and I, etc.

Fonte: Cats

Possibly from this lively fiery sparkling tendency

Possibly from this lively fiery sparkling tendency, combined with its noiseless motion and stealthy habits, our ancestors were led in the happily bygone superstitious days to regard the unconscious animal as a "familiar" of Satan or some other evil spirit, which generally appeared in the form of a black cat; hence witches were said to have a black cat as their "familiar," or could at will change themselves into the form of a black cat with eyes of fire. Shakespeare says, "the cat with eyne of burning coal," and in Middleton's Witch, Act III., Hecate says:

Fonte: Cats

Superstition And Witchcraft.

A very remarkable peculiarity of the domestic cat, and possibly one that has had much to do with the ill favour with which it has been regarded, especially in the Middle Ages, is the extraordinary property which its fur possesses of yielding electric sparks when hand-rubbed or by other friction, the black in a larger degree than any other colour, even the rapid motion of a fast retreating cat through rough, tangled underwood having been known to produce a luminous effect. In frosty weather it is the more noticeable, the coldness of the weather apparently giving intensity and brilliancy, which to the ignorant would certainly be attributed to the interference of the spiritual or superhuman. To sensitive natures and nervous temperaments the very contact with the fur of the black cat will often produce a startling thrill or absolutely an electric shock. That carefully observant naturalist, Gilbert White, speaking of the frost of 1785, notes: "During those two Siberian days my parlour cat was so electric, that had a person stroked her, and been properly insulated, the shock might have been given to a whole circle of people."

Fonte: Cats

Not only on cats but also dogs

Romeo, in Romeo and Juliet, looks with much disfavour, not only on cats but also dogs; in fact, the dog was held in as high disdain as the cat:

And every cat and dog,
And every little mouse, and every unworthy thing.

Here is Hamlet's opinion:

The cat will mew, the dog will have his day.

In Cymbeline there is:

In killing creatures vile, as cats and dogs.

The foregoing is enough to show the great poet's opinion of the cat.

Fonte: Cats

The feud with the wild cat intensifies in Midsummer Night s Dream

The feud with the wild cat intensifies in Midsummer Night's Dream; 'tis Lysander speaks:

Hang off, thou cat, thou burr, thou vile thing.

And Gremio tells of the untamableness of the wild cat, which he deems apparently impossible:

But will you woo this wild cat?

Fonte: Cats

The distinction he makes between the wild and the domestic cat

and further on:

As there is no firm reason to be rendered
Why he cannot abide a gaping pig,
Why he, a harmless necessary cat.

Note the distinction he makes between the wild and the domestic cat; the one, evidently, he knew the value and use of, and the other, its peculiar stealthy ways and of nature dread. In All's Well that Ends Well, he gives vent to his dislike; Bertram rages forth:

I could endure anything before but a cat,
And now he's cat to me.

Fonte: Cats

Of the night-time food-seeking cat

Of the night-time food-seeking cat, in The Merchant of Venice, old Shylock talks of the

...Slow in profit, and he sleeps by day
More than the wild cat.

In the same play Shylock discourses of those that have a natural horror of certain animals, which holds good till this day:

Some men there are love not a gaping pig,
Some, that are mad if they behold a cat.

Fonte: Cats

And of the forlorn loneliness of the age-stricken

and of the forlorn loneliness of the age-stricken male cat in King Henry the Fourth, Falstaff, murmuring, says:

I am as melancholy as a gib cat.

He marks, too, the difference of action in the lion and cat, in a state of nature:

A crouching lion and a ramping cat.

Fonte: Cats

And in the same play the strange superstitious

and in the same play the strange superstitious fear attached to the voice and presence of the cat at certain times and seasons:

Thrice the brinded cat hath mewed.

The line almost carries a kind of awe with it, a sort of feeling of "what next will happen?" He noted, also, as he did most things, its marvellous powers of observation, for in Coriolanus, Act IV., Scene 2, occurs the following:

Cats, that can judge as fitly.

Fonte: Cats

And in King Henry the Fourth Act.

And in King Henry the Fourth Act.
I am as vigilant as a cat to steal cream.

And in King Henry the Fourth, Act IV., Scene 2, of its pilfering ways, Falstaff cries out:

I am as vigilant as a cat to steal cream.

While Lady Macbeth points to the uncertain, timid, cautious habits of the cat, amounting almost to cowardice:

Letting I dare not wait upon I would,
Like the poor cat i' the adage.

Fonte: Cats

How truthfully he alludes to the peculiar eyes of the cat

How truthfully he alludes to the peculiar eyes of the cat, the fine mark that the pupil dwindles to when the sun rides high in the heavens! Hear Grumio in The Taming of the Shrew:

And so disfigure her with it, that she shall have no more eyes to see withal than a cat.

As to the food of the cat, he well informs us that at this distant period domestic cats were fed and cared for to a certain extent, for besides much else, he points to the fact of its love of milk in The Tempest, Antonio's reply to Sebastian in Act II., Scene 1:

For all the rest,
They'll take suggestion as a cat laps milk.

Fonte: Cats

The Cat of Shakespeare.

Shakespeare mentions the cat forty-four times, and in this, like nearly all else of which he wrote, displayed both wonderful and accurate knowledge, not only of the form, nature, habits, and food of the animal, but also the inner life, the disposition, what it was, of what capable, and what it resembled. How truly he saw either from study, observation, or intuitively knew, not only the outward contour of "men and things," but could see within the casket which held the life and being, noting clearly thoughts, feelings, aspirations, intents, and purposes, not of the one only, but that also of the brute creation.

Fonte: Cats

Resolved upon hanging a bell about her neck

The mice at a consultation held how to secure themselves from the cat, resolved upon hanging a bell about her neck, to give warning when she was near; but when this was resolved, they were as far to seek; for who would do it? R. Who will court danger to benefit others?

A Douglas in the olden time, at a meeting of conspirators, said he would "bell the cat." Afterwards the enemy was taken by him, he retaining the cognomen of "Archibald Bell-the-cat."

You can have no more of a cat than its skin. You can have no more of a man but what he can do or what he has, or no more from a jug than what it contains.

Fonte: Cats

When the weasel and the cat make a marriage

When the weasel and the cat make a marriage, it is very ill presage. When enemies counsel together, take heed; when rogues agree, let the honest folk beware.

When the maid leaves the door open, the cat's in fault. It is always well to have another to bear the blame. The way to do ill deeds oft makes ill deeds done.

Who shall hang the bell about the cat's neck? Heywood, 1562.

"Who shall ty the bell about the cat's necke low?
Not I (quoth the mouse), for a thing that I know."

Fonte: Cats

What the good wife spares the cat eats.

What the good wife spares the cat eats.
When candles are out all cats are gray.

The first appears the most correct.

What the good wife spares the cat eats. Favourites are well cared for.

When candles are out all cats are gray. In the dark all are alike. This is said of beauty in general.

When the cat is away the mice will play. "The Bachelor's Banquet," 1603. Heywood's "Woman Killed with Kindness," 1607. When danger is past, it is time to rejoice.

Fonte: Cats

The cat knoweth whose lips she licketh.

Jack Juggler, edit. 1848, p. 46.

Those bribed are worse than blind.

"Well wots the cat whose beard she licketh." Skelton's Garlande of Laurel, 1523.

"Wel wot nure cat whas berd he lickat." Wright's Essays, vol. i. p. 149.

"The cat knoweth whose lips she licketh." Heywood, 1562.

Fonte: Cats

To love it as a cat loves mustard

To love it as a cat loves mustard. Not at all. To abhor.

Two cats and a mouse, two wives in one house, two dogs and one bone, never agree. No peace when all want to be masters, or to possess one object.

Well might the cat wink when both her eyes were out.

"Sumwhat it was sayeth the proverbe old,
That the cat winked when here iye was out."

Fonte: Cats

To go like a cat on a hot bake-stone

To go like a cat on a hot bake-stone. To lose no time. To be swift and stay not.

To keep a cat from the tongs. To stop at home in idleness. It is said of a youth who stays at home with his family, when others go to the wars abroad, in "A Health to the Gentlemanly Profession of Serving Men," 1598.

Too late repents the rat when caught by the cat. Shun danger, nor dare too long.

Fonte: Cats

As Stack stripped the cat when he pulled her out of the churn

Thou'lt strip it, as Stack stripped the cat when he pulled her out of the churn. To take away everything.

Though the cat winks awhile, yet sure he is not blind. To know all and pretend ignorance.

To grin like a Cheshire cat. Said to be like a cheese cat, often made in Cheshire; but this is not very clear, and the meaning doubtful.

Fonte: Cats

The mouse lords it where the cat is not

The mouse lords it where the cat is not. MS., 15th century. The little rule, where there are no great.

The old cat laps as much as the young. Clarke. One evil is much like another.

They agree like two cats in gutter. Heywood. To be less than friends.

They argue like cats and dogs. That is to quarrel.

Fonte: Cats

The cat sees not the mouse ever

The cat sees not the mouse ever. Heywood. Those that should hide, see more than they who seek. The fearful eye sees far.

The liquorish cat gets many a rap. The wrong-doer escapes not.

The more you rub a cat on the back, the higher she sets her tail. Praise the vain and they are more than pleased. Flattery and vanity are near akin.

Fonte: Cats

The cat would eat fish and would

The cat would eat fish, and would not wet her feet. Heywood, 1562.

"Fain would the cat fish eat,
But she is loth to wet her feet."
"What cat's averse to fish?" Gray.

Dr. Trench has pointed out the allusion to this saying in Macbeth, when Lady Macbeth speaks of her husband as a man,

"Letting I dare not, wait upon I would,
Like the poor cat i' the adage."

Fonte: Cats

The cat is hungry when a crust contents her

The cat is hungry when a crust contents her. Hunger is a good sauce.

The cat is out of kind that sweet milk will not lap. One is wrong who forsakes custom. "History of Jacob and Esau," 1568.

The cat, the rat, and Lovel the dog, rule England under one hog. "A Myrrour for Magistrates," edition 1563, fol. 143. This couplet is a satire on Richard III. (who carried a boar on his escutcheon) and his myrmidons, Catesby, Ratcliffe, and Lovell.

Fonte: Cats

That comes of a cat will catch mice

That comes of a cat will catch mice. What is bred in the bone comes out in the flesh. Like father, like son.

The cat and dog may kiss, but are none the better friends. Policy is one thing, friendship another.

The cat invites the mouse to her feast. It is difficult for the weak to refuse the strong.

The cat is in the cream-pot. Any one's fault but hers. A row in the house (Northern).

Fonte: Cats

Rats walk at their ease if cats do not them meese

Rats walk at their ease if cats do not them meese. Wodroephe, 1623. Rogues abound where laws are weak.

Send not a cat for lard. George Herbert. Put not any to temptation.

So as cat is after kind. Near friends are dearest. Birds of a feather flock together.

Take the chestnuts out of the fire with the cat's paw. Making use of others to save oneself.

Fonte: Cats

Never was cat or dog drowned that could see the shore

Never was cat or dog drowned that could see the shore. To know the way often brings a right ending.

None but cats and dogs are allowed to quarrel here. All else agree.

No playing with a straw before an old cat. Heywood, 1562. Every trifling toy age cannot laugh at. "Youth and Folly, Age and Wisdom."

Fonte: Cats

All things come to those who wait

Like a cat round hot milk. Wait and have; all things come to those who wait.

Little and little the cat eateth the stickle. Heywood. Constant dropping weareth a stone.

Long and slender like a cat's elbow. Hazlitt. A sneer at the ill-favoured.

Love me, love my cat. This refers to one marrying; in taking a wife he must take her belongings. Or, where you like, you must avoid contention.

Fonte: Cats

Just as quick as a cat up a walnut-tree

Just as quick as a cat up a walnut-tree. D'Urfey. To climb well and easily. To be alert and sudden.

Let the cat wink, and let the mouse run. For want of watching and care much is lost. Hazlitt's "Dodsley," i. 265. The first portion is in the interlude of "The World and the Child," 1522.

Like a cat he'll fall on his legs. To succeed, never to fail, always right.

Fonte: Cats

How can the cat help it when the maid is a fool

How can the cat help it when the maid is a fool? Often things lost, given, or stolen, are laid to the cat.

If thou 'scap'st, thou hast cat's luck, in Fletcher's Knight of Malta, alluding to the activity and caution of the cat, which generally stands it in good stead.

I'll not buy a cat in a poke. F., Chat en Poche. See what you buy; bargain not on another's word.

Fonte: Cats

He lives at the sign of the cat s foot

He lives at the sign of the cat's foot. He is hen-pecked, his wife scratches him. Ray.

He wald gar a man trow that the moon is made of green cheis, or the cat took the heron. Never believe all that is laid to another.

Honest as the cat when the meat is out of reach. Some are honest, but others not by choice.

Fonte: Cats

segunda-feira, 23 de dezembro de 2013

Cat of Wittie Persons. Inconstant Persons.

of Wittie Persons.

He can hold the cat to the sun. Bold and foolish enough for anything.

Inconstant Persons.

He is like a dog or a cat. Not reliable.

He looks like a wild cat out of a bush. Fiercely afraid.

He's like a cat; fling him which way you will, he'll not hurt. Some are always superior to misfortune, or fortune favours many.

He's like a singed cat, better than he's likely. He's better than he looks or seems.

He stands in great need that borrows the cat's dish. Clarke, 1639. The starving are not particular. The hungry cannot choose.

Fonte: Cats

Cats after kind good mouse hunt

Cats after kind good mouse hunt. Heywood. Letter by F. A. touching the quarrel between Arthur Hall and Melch Mallorie, in 1575-6, repr. of ed. 1580, in "Misc^y. Antiq. Anglic." 1816, p. 93. "For never yet was good cat out of kinde." English Proverbs, Hazlitt.

Cats and Carlins sit in the sun. When work is done then warmth and rest.

Cats eat what hussies spare. Nothing is lost. Also refers to giving away, and saying "the cat took it."

Cats hide their claws. All is not fair that seems so. Trust not to appearances.

Cry you mercy, killed my cat. Clarke, 1639. Better away, than stay and ask pardon.

Every day's no yule; cast the cat a castock. The stump of a cabbage, and the proverb means much the same thing as "Spare no expense, bring another bottle of small beer." Denham's Popular Sayings, 1846.

of False Persons.

He bydes as fast as a cat bound with a sacer. He does as he likes; nothing holds him.

Fonte: Cats

Care killed the cat but ye canna

Care killed the cat, but ye canna live without it. To all some trouble, though not all take heed. None know another's burden.

Care will kill a cat.

"Then hang care and sorrow,
'Tis able to kill a cat." D'Urfey.

Alluding to its tenacity of life and the carking wear of care.

Fonte: Cats

1664 Cotton s Virgile Book. Care clammed a cat.

1664, Cotton's Virgile, Book 4.

By biting and scratching dogs and cats come together. Heywood. Quarrelling oft makes friends.

Care clammed a cat. Sir G. C. Lewis's "Herefordshire Glossary." Clammed means starvation; that is, care killed the cat; for want of food the entrails get "clammed."

Fonte: Cats

Shakespeare. And an old, lonely, melancholy cat.

Shakespeare.

Gib-cat; an old, lonely, melancholy cat.

Before the cat can lick her ear. "Nay, you were not quite out of hearing ere the cat could lick her ear." Oviddius Exultans, 1673, p. 50. That is never.

Dun, besides being the name of one who arrested for debt in Henry VII.'s time, was also the name of the hangman before "Jack Ketch." Grose.

"And presently a halter got,
Made of the best strong teer,
And ere a cat could lick her ear,
Had tied it up with so much art."

Fonte: Cats

The Christmas Prince 1607

The Christmas Prince, 1607.

As gray as Grannum's cat. Hazlitt. So old as to be likely to be doubly gray.

As melancholy as a cat. Walker. The voice of the cat is melancholy.

As melancholy as a gib-cat (Scotch). As an old, worn-out cat. Johnston.

"I am as melancholy as a gib-cat or a lugged bear."

Fonte: Cats

A muffled cat is no good mouser

A muffled cat is no good mouser. Clarke, 1639. No good workman wears gloves. By some is said "muzzled."

A piece of a kid is worth two of a cat. A little of good is better than much that is bad.

A scalded cat fears cold water. Once bit always shy. What was may be again.

As cat or cap case.

"Bouser I am not, but mild sober Tuesday,
As catte in cap case, if I like not St. Hewsday."

Fonte: Cats

Strong enough to make even the dumb speak

Ale that would make a cat talk. Strong enough to make even the dumb speak.

"A spicy pot,
Then do's us reason,
Would make a cat
To talk high treason." D'Urfey.

A half-penny cat may look at a king (Scotch). A jeering saying of offence "One is as good as another," and as a Scotchman once said, "and better."

Fonte: Cats

A dead cat feels no cold.

A dead cat feels no cold. No life, no pain, nor reproach.

A dog hath a day. Heywood. In Essex folks add: And a cat has two Sundays. Why?

The shape of a good greyhound:

A head like a snake, a neck like a drake, A back like a beam, sided like a bream, A foot like a cat, a tail like a rat.

Fonte: Cats

Is the title of a book on history

"A Cat may Look at a King," is the title of a book on history, published in the early part of the last century. On the frontispiece is the picture of a cat, over it the inscription, "A cat may look at a king," and a king's head and shoulders on the title-page, with the same inscription above.

A cat's walk, a little way and back (Cornwall). No place like home. Idling about.

Fonte: Cats

A BLATE cat makes a proud mouse.

A BLATE cat makes a proud mouse (Scotch). An idle, or stupid, or timid foe is never feared.

A cat has nine lives, a woman has nine lives. In Middleton's Blurt Master Constable, 1602, we have: "They have nine lives apiece, like a woman."

A cat may look at a king. In Cornwall they say a cat may look at a king if he carries his eyes about him.

Fonte: Cats

A young cat is a kitten until it is full-grown

Kit, or kitten. A young cat. A young cat is a kitten until it is full-grown, then kittenhood ceases.

A school-boy being asked to describe a kitten, replied: "A kitten is chiefly remarkable for rushing like mad at nothing whatever, and generally stopping before it gets there."

Puss gentleman. An effeminate man. Davis, Glossary.

"I cannot talk with civet in th' room,
A fine puss gentleman that's all perfume."

Cowper's Conversations.

Fonte: Cats

Kittenhood State of being a kitten

Kittenhood. State of being a kitten.

"For thou art as beautiful as ever a cat
That wantoned in the joy of kittenhood."

Southey.

Kittenish, kitten-like.

"Such a kittenish disposition in her, I called it; ...the love of playfulness." Richardson.

Fonte: Cats

A North-country name for a cat

Kittie. A North-country name for a cat, male or female.

Kitling. Sharp; kitten-like.

"His kitling eyes begin to run
Quite through the table where he spies
The horns of paperie butterflys."

Herrick, Hesperides.

Fonte: Cats

A supposed disease of the fingers from handling cats

Catter. 1. Catarrh (Bellenden). 2. A supposed disease of the fingers from handling cats.

Catterbatch. A broil, a quarrel (Fife). Teut., kater, a he-cat, and boetse, rendered cavillatio, q., "a cat's quarrel."

Catwittit. Harebrained, unsettled; q., having the wits of a cat (S.).

Fonte: Cats

Catsteps The projections of the stones in

Catsteps. The projections of the stones in the slanting part of a gable (Roxb.). Corbie-steps, synon.

Cat's-Tails. Hare's Tail Rush (Eriophorum vaginatum). Linn. Mearns; also called Canna-down, Cat Tails (Galloway).

Catten-Clover., Cat-in-Clover. The Lotus (South of S.). Sw., Katt-klor (Cat's Claws).

Fonte: Cats

One of the upright stones which support a grate

Catstone. One of the upright stones which support a grate, there being one on each side (Roxb.). Since the introduction of Carron grates these stones are found in kitchens only. The term is said to originate from this being the favourite seat of the cat. See Catstone (English).

Catstone-head. The flat top of the Catstone (ibid.).

Fonte: Cats

The katzen silber of the vulgar in Germany

Cat-siller.. The mica of mineralogists (S.); the katzen silber of the vulgar in Germany. Teut., katten silver, amiantus, mica, vulgo argentum felium; Kilian.

Cat's Lug. The name given to the Auricula ursi. Linn. (Roxburgh.).

Cat's Stairs. A plaything for children, made of thread, small cord, or tape, which is so disposed by the hands as to fall down like steps of a stair (Dumfr., Gall.).

Fonte: Cats

Clouds like hairs streaming from an animal s tail Shetland

Cat's Crammocks. Clouds like hairs streaming from an animal's tail (Shetland).

Cat's Hair. 1. The down that covers unfledged birds (Fife); synon. Paddockhair. 2. The down on the face of boys before the beard grows (S.). 3. Applied also to the thin hair that often grows on the bodies of persons in bad health (S.).

Fonte: Cats

Catmaw To tumble the catmaw

Catmaw. "To tumble the catmaw," to go topsy-turvy, to tumble (S. B.).

Catmint. An herbaceous plant (Mentha felina), that cats delight to roll on.

Cat's Carriage. The same play that is otherwise called the "King's Cushion," q.v. (Loth.).

Cat's Cradle. A plaything for children, made of pack-thread on the fingers of one person, and transferred from them to those of another (S.).

Fonte: Cats

Small catgut strings for musical instruments

Catling. Small catgut strings for musical instruments, also a kind of knife used in surgery.

Cat-loup. 1. A very short distance as to space (S.); q. as far as a cat may leap (Hogg). 2. A moment; as, "I'se be wi' ye in a catloup" i.e., instantly. "I will be with you as quickly as a cat can leap."

Fonte: Cats

The name given to a large stone

Cat-hud. The name given to a large stone, which serves as a back to a fire on the hearth in the house of a cottager (Dumfr.). Sw. G., kaette, denotes a small cell or apartment, which corresponds to the form of the country fireside; also a bed; a pen. Hud might seem allied to Teut. huyd-en, conservare, as the stone is meant to guard this enclosure from the effects of the fire.

Fonte: Cats

Upright stalks than the common heath

Cat-heather. A finer species of heath, low and slender, growing more in separate, upright stalks than the common heath, and flowering only at the top (Aberd.).

Cat-hole. 1. The name given to the loop-holes or narrow openings in the wall of a barn (S.). 2. A sort of niche in the wall of a barn, in which keys and other necessaries are deposited in the inside, where it is not perforated.

Fonte: Cats

Cat-fish Sea-cat The sea-wolf

Cat-fish Sea-cat The sea-wolf S

Cat-fish, Sea-cat. The sea-wolf (S.). Anarhicas lupus (Linn.) Sw., haf-cat i.e. sea-cat. Sibbald.

Cat-gut. Thread fucus, or sea laces. Fucus filum (Linn.), Orkney, "Neill's Tour."

Cat-Harrow. "They draw the Cat-Harrow" that is, they thwart one another. Loth. Ang., Lyndsey.

Fonte: Cats

The name of an ancient sport S

Cat and Dog. The name of an ancient sport (S.). It seems to be an early form of Cricket. (Query, is this the same as Cat and Trap?)

Catband. 1. The name given to the strong hook used on the inside of a door or gate, which, being fixed to the wall, keeps it shut. 2. A chain drawn across a street for defence in time of war. Germ., kette, a chain, and band.

Fonte: Cats

The name given to a bit of wood

Cat. The name given to a bit of wood, a horn, or anything which is struck in place of a ball in certain games.

To Cat a Chimney. To enclose a vent by the process called Cat and Clay (Teviotd.).

Cat and Clay. The materials of which a mud wall is constructed in many parts of S. Straw and clay are well wrought together, and being formed into pretty large rolls, are laid between the different wooden posts by means of which the wall is formed, and carefully pressed down so as to incorporate with each other, or with the twigs that are sometimes plaited from one post to another (S.).

Fonte: Cats

The following are culled from the well-known and useful book

The following are culled from the well-known and useful book, Jamieson's "Scottish Dictionary":

Cat. A small bit of rag, rolled up and put between the handle of a pot and the hook which suspends it over the fire, to raise it a little. Roxb.

Cat. A handful of straw, with or without corn upon it, or of reaped grain, laid on the ground by the reaper without being put into a sheaf (Roxb., Dumfr.). Perhaps from the Belg. word katt-en, to throw, the handful of corn being cast on the ground; whence kat, a small anchor.

Fonte: Cats

A phrase applied to the village tailor going

A phrase applied to the village tailor going round from house to house for work.

"To be drunk." Heywood's Philoconothista, 1635, p. 60.

An itinerant parson is said to "whip the cat."

"A trick practised on ignorant country fellows, vain of their strength, by laying a wager with them that they may be pulled through a pond by a cat. The bet being made, a rope is fixed round the waist of the party to be catted, and the end thrown across the pond, to which the cat is also fastened by a pack-thread, and three or four sturdy fellows are appointed to lead and 'whip the cat.' These, on a signal being given, seize the end of the cord, and, pretending to whip the cat, haul the astonished booby through the water." Grose, 1785.

Fonte: Cats

It appears from The Westmoreland Dialect

It appears from "The Westmoreland Dialect," by A. Walker (1790), that cock-fighting and "casting" of pancakes were then common in that county, thus: "Whaar ther wor tae be cock-feightin', for it war pankeak Tuesday," and "we met sum lads an' lasses gangin' to kest (cast) their pankeaks."

To whip the cat. "To practise the most pinching parsimony, grudging even the scraps and orts, or remnants of food given to the cat." Holloway (Norfolk).

Fonte: Cats

Browning translation of Heine

Mrs. B. Browning (translation of "Heine").

Tip-cat. A pleasant game for those engaged in it; not so, too often, for others, medical reports of late tending to show that many cases of the loss of sight have occurred.

To turn Cat in Pan. This phrase has been a source of much contention, and many different derivations have been given; but all tend to show that it means a complete turn over, that is, to quit one side and go to the other, to turn traitor, to turncoat. "To turn cat in pan: Prævaricor" (Ainsworth). Bacon, in his Essays "On Cunning," p. 81, says: "There is a cunning which we in England call 'the turning of the cat in the pan,' which is when that a man says to another, 'he lays it as if another had said it to him.'" This is somewhat obscure in definition. Toone says: "The proverbial expression, 'to turn a cat in a pan,' denotes a sudden change in one's party, or politics, or religion, for the sake of being in the ascendant, as a cat always comes down on its legs, however thrown." The Vicar of Bray is quoted as simply a "turncoat," but this does not affect the argument. I quite think, and in this others agree with me, that it has nothing to do with the cat, but was originally cate.

In olden times, and until lately, it was the custom to toss pancakes (to turn them over). It was no easy matter; frequently the cake or cate went in the fire or lodged in the chimney. To turn the cat or cate in the pan was to toss and turn it completely over, that is, from one side to the other. The meaning given to the phrase helps to prove this view. I merely introduce this because so many have asked for an explanation as regards "the cat in pan." I consider the "far-fetched" origins of the term are complete errors. It was a custom to toss pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, and it required great skill to do it well, cleanly, and completely. Some cooks were noted for it, and thought clever if it was done without injury to themselves or clothes.

Fonte: Cats

To go out on a party of pleasure with wife and family

Tabby. "An old maid; either from Tabitha, a formal antiquated name, or else from a tabby cat; old maids, by the rude, weak-minded, and vulgar, being often compared to cats. 'To drive tab,' to go out on a party of pleasure with wife and family." Grose's Glossary.

"The neighbour's old cat often
Came to pay us a visit;
We made her a bow and courtesy,
Each with a compliment in it.
After her health we asked,
Our care and regard to evince;
(We have made the very same speeches
To many an old cat since)."

Fonte: Cats

Which is placed in pigeon lofts

Salt-cat, or salt-cate. A mixture of salt, gravel, clay, old mortar, cumin seed, ginger, and other ingredients, in a pan, which is placed in pigeon lofts.

Sick as a Cat. Cats are subject to sickness or vomiting for the purpose of throwing up indigestible matter, such as the fur of mice, feathers of birds, which would otherwise collect and form balls internally. For this reason they eat grass, which produces the desired effect; hence arises the phrase "as sick as a cat."

Fonte: Cats

What wouldst thou have with me

"Tyb. What wouldst thou have with me? Mer. Good king of cats, nothing but one of your nine lives." Romeo and Juliet, III. I.

Middleton says in "Blurt Master Constable," 1602:

"They have nine lives apiece, like a woman."

Pussy cats. Male blossom of the willow.

Fonte: Cats

From their great suppleness and aptitude to fall on their feet

Nine lives like a cat. "Cats, from their great suppleness and aptitude to fall on their feet, are commonly said to have nine lives; hence Ben Jonson, in 'Every Man in His Humour,' says: ''Tis a pity you had not ten lives a cat's and your own.'" Thiselton Dyer's English Folk-lore.

Fonte: Cats

From Demandes Joyeuses amusing questions, Jokes

From "Demandes Joyeuses" (amusing questions), 1511:

"Q. What is that that never was and never will be?

"A. A mouse nest in a cat's ear.

"Q. Why does a cat cross the road?

"A. Because it wants to get to the other side."

Mrs. Evans. "A local name for a she-cat, owing, it is said, to a witch of the name of Evans, who assumed the appearance of a cat." Grose.

Fonte: Cats

Bottles were formerly of leather

A note in the "Percy Reliques," vol. i., 1812, states: "Bottles were formerly of leather, though perhaps a wooden bottle might be here meant. It is still a diversion in Scotland (1812) to hang up a cat in a small cask or firkin, half filled with soot, and then a parcel of clowns on horseback try to beat out the ends of it, in order to show their dexterity in escaping before the contents fall on them."

Fonte: Cats

Poetical name for a cat Bailey

Grimalkin. Poetical name for a cat (Bailey). "Mawkin" signifies a hare in Scotland (Grose). In Sussex a hare is often called "puss" or "pussy." "Puss" is also a common name for a cat.

Grinagog, the cat's uncle. A foolish, grinning fellow. One who grins without reason (Grose). In Norfolk, if one say "she," the reply is, "Who's 'she'? The cat's aunt?"

Hang me in a bottle like a cat. "Benedict. If I do, hang me in a bottle like a cat, and shoot at me, and he that hits me, let him be clapt on the shoulder and called Adam" (meaning Adam Bell, the famous archer). Much Ado About Nothing, Act I.

Fonte: Cats

Burnet Rose is the name of the plant

Catwhin. Rosa spinosissima. Burnet Rose is the name of the plant.

Cat with two tails. The earwig. Northumberland; Holloway.

Gil cat. A male cat; some say an old male. Nares says, an expression exactly analogous to "Jack ass;" the one being formerly called "Gil" or "Gilbert," as commonly as the other "Jack." "Tom cat" is now the usual term, and for a similar reason. "Tibert" is said to be the old French for "Gilbert." From "Tibert," "Tib," "Tibby," also was a common name for a cat. Wilkins, in his "Index to Philosophical Language," has "Gil" (male) cat in the same way as a male cat is called a "Tom" cat. In some counties the cock fowl is called a "Tom." It is unknown whence the origin of the latter term.

Fonte: Cats

The ordinary name when a person keeps a collection of cats

Cattery. A place where cats are kept, the ordinary name when a person keeps a collection of cats.

Cattish. Having stealthy ways, slow and cautious in movements, watchful.

Catwater. (Plymouth). "This is a remarkable instance of mistranslation. The castle at the mouth of the Plym used to be called the Château; but some one, thinking it would be better to Anglicise the French, divided the word into two parts: chat (cat), eau (water)." Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.

Fonte: Cats

Compared to the thin sticks with which boys play at cat Grose

Cat-sticks. Thin legs; compared to the thin sticks with which boys play at cat (Grose).

Catsup or ketchup. A corruption of the Eastern name of "Kitjap." Is then the syllable "cat" a pun on "kit" or "kitten" (a young cat)? Surely not.

Cattaria. Nepeta Cattaria. Mentha felina, the herb cat-mint.

Fonte: Cats

A kind of reed which bears a spike like the tail of a cat

Cat's-tail. (Typha latifolia). A kind of reed which bears a spike like the tail of a cat, which some call reed mace; its long, flat leaves are much used for the bottoms of chairs.

Cats'-tails. Mares' tails (equisetum).

Cat-stane. "Battle-stone. A monolith in Scotland (sometimes falsely called a Druidical stone). The Norwegian term, banta stein, means the same thing. Celtic cath (battle)." Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.

Fonte: Cats

An old popular name for mica or talc

Cat-silver. An old popular name for mica or talc.

Cat-sleep. A light doze, a watchful sleep, like that of a hare or of a cat who sits in front of a mouse-hole, a dozy or a sleeping wakefulness.

Cat's-paw. Any one used by another for getting them out of a difficulty, and for no other reason, is made a cat's-paw of. The simile is from the fable of the monkey using the cat's paw to take his chestnuts out of the fire. A light breeze just ruffling the water in a calm is called a cat's-paw. Also a particular kind of turn in the bight of a rope made to hook tackle on.

Fonte: Cats

To be under the dominion of a wife

Cat's-foot. To live under the cat's foot, to be under the dominion of a wife, hen-pecked.

Cat's-foot. A plant of the genus Glechoma pes felinus, ground ivy or gill.

Cat's-head apple. A large culinary apple, considered by some in form to bear a resemblance to a cat's head. Philips in his poem "Cyder" thus describes it:

" ...The cat's head's weighty orb,
Enormous in growth, for various use."

Fonte: Cats

British Bellman 1648

British Bellman, 1648.

Cat-salt. A salt obtained from butter.

Cat-salt. "A sort of salt beautifully granulated, formed out of the bittern or leach brine, used for making hard soap." Encyclopædia.

Cat's-eye. A precious stone, resembling, when polished, the eye of a cat. It has lately become fashionable.

A large collection of Burmese, Indian, and Japanese curiosities was lately sold by auction. The great attraction of the sale was "The Hindoo Lingam God," consisting of a chrysoberyl cat's-eye fixed in a topaz, and mounted in a pyramidal base studded with diamonds and precious stones. This curious relic stood 2¼ inches in height. It was preserved for more than a thousand years in an ancient temple at Delhi, where acts of devotion were paid before it by women anxious to have children. The base is of solid gold, and around it are set nine gems or charms, a diamond, ruby, sapphire, chrysoberyl cat's-eye, coral, pearl, hyacinthine garnet, yellow sapphire, and emerald. Round the apex of this gold pyramid is a plinth set with diamonds. On the apex is a topaz 1 10-16ths inch in length, and 9-16ths of an inch in depth, shaped like a horseshoe; in the centre of the horseshoe the great chrysoberyl cat's-eye stands upright. This is 15-16ths of an inch in height, and dark brown in colour, and shaped like a pear. An extremely mobile opalescent light crosses the length of the stone in an oblique direction. When Bad Shah Bahadoor Shah, the last King of Delhi, was captured and exiled to the Andaman Isles, his Queen secreted this gem, and it was never seen again until, being distressed during the Mutiny, she sold it to the present owner. The gem was finally knocked down at £2,450 to Mr. S. J. Phillips, jeweller, New Bond Street.

Fonte: Cats

Of which cotte or coarse blankets were formerly made Bailey

Cat or dog wool. "Of which cotte or coarse blankets were formerly made" (Bailey). "Cot gase" (refuse wool). "Cat" no doubt was a corruption of "cot."

Cat-pear. A pear, shaped like a hen's egg, that ripens in October.

Cat pellet. The pop-gun of boys, one pellet of paper driving out the other. Davis in his "Glossary" thinks it means "tip-cat." Probably it may be the sharpened piece of wood, not the game, that is different altogether, he quotes.

"Who beats the boys from cat pellet, and stool ball."

Fonte: Cats

sábado, 21 de dezembro de 2013

Yet appertaining more to appearance

Cat-like. Stealthy, slow, yet appertaining more to appearance.

Catlings. Down, or moss, growing about walnut-trees, resembling the hair of a cat.

Cat o' Nine Tails. So called from being nine pieces of cord put together, in each cord nine knots; and this, when used vigorously, makes several long marks not unlike the clawing or scratching of a cat, producing crossing and re-crossing wounds; a fearful and severe punishment, formerly too often exercised for trivial offences.

Fonte: Cats

The time when a kitten is full grown

Cathood. The time when a kitten is full grown, it is then a cat and has attained maturity, that is, cathood.

Cat-hook. A strong hook fitted to the cat-block.

Cat-lap. Weak tea, only fit for the cat to lap, or thin milk and water. In Kent and Sussex it is also often applied to small, very small beer; even thin gruel is called "cat-lap." Weak tea is also called "scandal-broth."

Fonte: Cats

Cat-harping fashion Drinking crossways and not

Cat-harping fashion. Drinking crossways, and not as usual, over the left thumb. Sea term. Grose.

Cat-head. "A strong beam, projecting horizontally over the ship's bows, carrying two or three sheaves, above which a rope, called the cat-fall, passes, and communicates with the cat-block." Marine Dictionary.

Fonte: Cats

Sometimes applied to a horse with weak hind-legs

Cat-hamed., or hammed. Awkward; sometimes applied to a horse with weak hind-legs, and which drops suddenly behind on its haunches, as a cat is said to do.

Cat-handed. A Devonshire term for awkward.

Cat-harpings. "Rope sewing to brace in the shrouds of the lower masts behind their respective yards, to tighten the shrouds and give more room to draw in the yards when the ship is close hauled." Marine Dictionary.

Fonte: Cats

King John Act IV

King John, Act IV.

Cat-eyed. Sly, gray eyes, or with large pupils, watchful.

Cat-fall. A rope used in ships for hoisting the anchor to the cat-head.

Catfish. A species of the squalus, or shark (Felis marinus). The catfish of North America is a species of cottus, or bull-head.

Catgut. A corruption of "gut-cord." The intestines of a sheep, twisted and dried; not that of a cat, as generally supposed. Also, it is stated by some, the finer strings for viols were made from the cat. Mr. Timbs says the original reading in Shakespeare was "calves'-gut." "A sort of linen or canvas with wide interstices." Webster.

Fonte: Cats

Shakespeare Twelfth Night Act II

Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act II., Scene 3.

"To yawl. To squall or scream harshly like an enraged cat." Holloway (Norfolk).

"Thou must be patient; we came crying hither;
Thou knowest the first time that we smell air,
We waul and cry."

Fonte: Cats

The last part of the word was probably assimilated to piller

Caterpillar. "Catyrpelwyrm among fruit" is corrupted from old French Chatte peleuse (Palsgrave, 1530). "Hairy cat;" the last part of the word was probably assimilated to piller, a robber or despoiler (Palmer's Folk Etymology).

Caterwauling. The wrawl of cats in rutting times; any hideous noise. Topsel gives catwralling, to "wrall;" "wrawl," to rail or quarrel with a loud voice; hence the Yorkshire expression, "raising a wrow," meaning a row or quarrel. There is also the archaic adjective wraw (angry). Caterwaul, therefore, is the wawl or wrawl of cats; the er being either a plural, similar to "childer" (children), or a corrupted genitive. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.

"What a caterwawling do you keep here!"

Fonte: Cats

The ancients divided their dramas into four parts

Cat-call. "A tin whistle. The ancients divided their dramas into four parts: pro'tasis (introduction), epit'asis (continuation), catas'tasis (climax), and catas'trophë (conclusion or dénouement). The cat-call is the call for the cat or catastrophe." Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.

"Sound, sound, ye viols; be the cat-call dumb."

Dunciade, I. 303.

The modern imitation of "cat-calls" is caused by whistling with two fingers in the mouth, and so making an intensely shrill noise, with waulings imitating "catterwaulings." Also a shrill tin whistle, round and flat, set against the teeth.

Cat-eaten Street. In London; properly "Catte Street" (Stow).

Fonte: Cats

A military engine for battering or attacking purposes

Catapult. A military engine for battering or attacking purposes. A modern toy, by which much mischief and evil is done by unthinking boys.

Cat-bird. An American bird, whose cry resembles that of a cat, the Turdus felivox.

Cat-block. A two or threefold block with an iron strap and large hook, used to draw up an anchor to the cat-head.

Fonte: Cats

Cat A strong tackle or combination

Cat. A strong tackle, or combination of pulleys, to hook and draw in the anchor perpendicularly up to the cat-head of the ship.

Cat. A small kind of anchor is sometimes called a cat or ketch; by the Dutch, "Kat."

Cat. "At the edge of the moat, opposite the wooden tower, a strong penthouse, which they called a 'cat,' might be seen stealing towards the curtain, and gradually filling up the moat with facines and rubbish." Read Cloister and Hearth, chap, xliii. (Davis' "Glossary.")

Catacide. A cat-killer (Bailey, 1726).

Catamount. Cat of the mountain, the ordinary wild cat, when found on the mountains, among the rocks or woods.

Cat and trap. A game or play (Ainsworth). This is probably that known as "trap, bat, and ball," as on striking the trap, after the ball is placed on the lever, it is propelled upwards, and then struck by the batsman.

Fonte: Cats

A cross old woman was called a cat

Cat. A cross old woman was called "a cat"; or to a shrewish, the epithet was applied tauntingly.

"But will you woo this wild cat?"

Taming of the Shrew, Act I., Scene 2.

Cat. A ship formed on the Norwegian model, having a narrow stern, projecting quarters, and a deep waist. It is strongly built, from four to six hundred tons' burden, and employed in the coal trade.

Fonte: Cats

The lines from Juvenal being descriptive

Some few years ago, Mr. E. Long, R.A., exhibited at the Royal Academy a very fine picture of Egyptians idol-making, idol worshippers and sellers; the lines from Juvenal being descriptive:

"All know what monsters Egypt venerates;
It worships crocodiles, or it adores
The snake-gorged ibis; and sacred ape
Graven in gold is seen ...Whole cities pray
To cats and fishes, or the dog invoke."

Cat. A metal tripod for holding a plate or Dutch oven before the fire. So called because, in whatever position it is placed, it is supported by the spokes; as it is said a cat will always light on its feet, so the plate-holder will stand firmly in any position. These old brass appliances have now gone out of use and are seldom seen, the new mode of "handing round" not requiring them. Another reason, doubtless, is the lowness of the fire compared with the stove of former years, which was high up in the bygone "parlour grate."

Fonte: Cats

Concerning Cats. Words fo cats.

Concerning Cats.

Cat. Irish, Cat; French, Chat; Dutch, Kat; Danish, Kat; Swedish, Katt; German, Katti or Katze; Latin, Catus; Italian, Gatto; Portuguese and Spanish, Gato; Polish, Kot; Russian, Kots; Turkish, Keti; Welsh, Cath; Cornish, Kath; Basque, Catua; Armenian, Gaz or Katz. In Armenic, Kitta, or Kaita, is a male cat.

Abram cat. This I first thought simply meant a male cat; but I find in Nares, "Abram" is the corruption of "auburn," so, no doubt, a red or sandy tabby cat is intended.

A Wheen cat, a Queen cat (Catus femina). "Queen" was used by the Saxons to signify the female sex, in that "queen fugol" was used for "hen fowl." Farmers in Kent and Sussex used also to call heifers "little queens."

Carl cat. A boar or he-cat, from the old Saxon carle or karle, a male, and cat.

Cat. It was used to denote "Liberty." No animal is more impatient of restriction or confinement, nor yet seeming to bear it with more resignation. The Romans made their goddess of Liberty holding a cup in one hand and a broken sceptre in the other, with a cat lying at her feet. Among the goddesses, Diana is said to have assumed the form of a cat. The Egyptians worshipped the cat as an emblem of the moon, not only because it was more active after sunset, but from the dilation and contraction of its orb, symbolical of the waxing and waning of the night goddess. But Bailey, in his dictionary, says cats see best as the sun approaches, and that their eyesight decays as it goes down in the evening. Yet, "on this account," says Mr. Thiselton Dyer, in his "English Folk-lore," "it was so highly esteemed as to receive sacrifices, and even to have stately temples erected to its honour. Whenever a cat died, Brand tells us, all the family shaved their eyebrows; and Diodorus Siculus relates that a Roman happening accidentally to kill a cat, the mob immediately gathered round the house where he was, and neither the entreaties of some principal men by the king, nor the fear of the Romans, with whom the Egyptians were then negotiating a peace, could save the man's life. In so much esteem also was it held, that on the death of its owner the favourite cat, or even kitten, was sacrificed, embalmed, and placed in the same sarcophagus."

Fonte: Cats

While the foregoing was about being printed

While the foregoing was about being printed, Mr. Edward Hamilton, M.D., writing to The Field, May 11th, 1889, gives information of a wild cat being shot in Inverness-shire. I therefore insert the paragraph, as every record of so scarce an animal is of importance and value, especially when it is descriptive. He states: "A fine specimen of the wild cat (Felis sylvestris) was sent to me on May 3rd, trapped in Inverness-shire on the Ben Nevis range. It was too much decomposed to exhibit. Its dimensions were: from nose to base of tail, 1 foot 11 inches; length of tail, 1 foot; height at shoulder, 1 foot 2 inches; the length of small intestine, 1 foot 8½ inches; and the large intestine, 1 foot 1 inch." It will be seen by these measurements that the animal was not so large as some that have been taken, though excelling in size many of the domestic varieties.

Fonte: Cats

In Mill s History of the Crusades

Of a very different character was the usage of the cat at clerical festivals. In Mill's "History of the Crusades," one reads with some degree of horror that "In the Middle Ages the cat was a very important personage in religious festivals. At Aix, in Provence, on the festival of the Corpus Christi, the finest he-cat of the country, wrapped like a child in swaddling clothes, was exhibited in a magnificent shrine to public admiration. Every knee was bent, every hand strewed flowers or poured incense; and pussy was treated in all respects as the god of the day. On the festival, however, of St. John (June 24), the poor cat's fate was reversed. A number of cats were put in a wicker basket, and thrown alive into the midst of a large fire, kindled in the public square by the bishop and his clergy. Hymns and anthems were sung, and processions were made by the priests and people in honour of the sacrifice."

Fonte: Cats

And though he was very wealthy

"William of Malmesbury, speaking of Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester, assures us that he avoided all appearance of pride and ostentation in his dress, and though he was very wealthy, he never used any furs finer than lambs' skin for the lining of his garments. Being blamed for such needless humility by Geoffrey, Bishop of Constans, who told him that 'He not only could afford, but even ought to wear those of sables, of beavers, or of foxes,' he replied: 'It may indeed be proper for you politicians, skilful in the affairs of the world, to adorn yourselves in the skins of such cunning animals; but for me, who am a plain man, and not subject to change my opinion, the skins of lambs are quite sufficient.' 'If,' returned his opponent, 'the finer furs are unpleasant, you might at least make use of those of the cat.' 'Believe me,' answered the facetious prelate, 'the lamb of God is much oftener sung in the Church than the cat of God.' This witty retort put Geoffrey to the blush, and threw the whole company into a violent fit of laughter."

Fonte: Cats

In the twenty-second year of this monarch s reign

In the twenty-second year of this monarch's reign, all the former statutes "against excess in apparel" were repealed.

My old friend Fairholt, in his useful work on costume, says of the Middle Ages: "The peasants wore cat skins, badger skins, etc."

One of the reasons why the skin of cats was used on cloaks and other garments for trimming, being that it showed humility in dress, and not by way of affectation or vanity, but for warmth and comfort, it being of the lowest value of any, with the exception of lambs' skin and badgers'; and adopted by some priests as well as nuns, when wishing to impress others with their deep sense of humility in all things, even to their wearing-apparel. The proof of which Strutt's "Habits of the Anglo-Normans," circâ twelfth century, fully illustrates:

Fonte: Cats

But of this I can obtain no reliable information

It is also stated that the Chinese fatten and eat cats with considerable relish; but of this I can obtain no reliable information, some of my friends from China not having heard of the custom, if such it is.

Again referring to the skin of the cat, vide Strutt: "In the thirty-seventh year of the reign of Edward III., it was decreed, after enumerating the various kinds of cloth that were to be worn by the nobles, knights, dames, and others, that (Article 2) tradesmen, artificers, and men in office, called yeomen, their wives and children, shall wear no kind of furs excepting those of lambs, of rabbits, of cats, and of foxes." Further: "No man, unless he be possessed of the yearly value of forty shillings, shall wear any furs but black and white lambs' skins." Lambs' and cats' skins were equivalent in value and order.

Fonte: Cats

Still it appears from Mr Charles Darwin s Voyage of the Beagle

Still it appears from Mr. Charles Darwin's "Voyage of the Beagle," that tastes vary. "Doctor Shaw was laughed at for stating the flesh of the lion is in great esteem, having no small affinity with veal, both in the colour, taste, and flavour. Such certainly is the case with the puma. The Guachos differ in their opinion whether the jaguar is good eating; but were unanimous in saying the cat is excellent."

Fonte: Cats

We find in Daniel s Rural Sports

Nevertheless, we find in Daniel's "Rural Sports," 1813, that "Wild cats formerly were an object of sport to huntsmen. Thus, Gerard Camvile, 6 John, had special licence to hunt the hare, fox, and wild cat, throughout all the King's forests; and 23 Henry III., Earl Warren, by giving Simon de Pierpont a goshawk, obtained leave to hunt the buck, doe, hart, hind, hare, fox, goat, cat, or any other wild beast, in certain lands of Simon's. But it was not for diversion alone that this animal was pursued; for the skin was much used by the nuns in their habits, as a fur."

Fonte: Cats

Beaumont and Fletcher in The Scornful Lady allude

Beaumont and Fletcher in The Scornful Lady allude to the hunting of cats in the line,

"Bring out the cat-hounds, I'll make you take a tree."

But although large and ferocious, the wild cat was not considered a match for some of the lesser animals, for in Salmon's "English Physician," 1693, we read that "The weasel is an enemy to ravens, crows, and cats, and although cats may sometimes set upon them, yet they can scarcely overcome them."

Fonte: Cats

I scarcely think this the right conclusion

I scarcely think this the right conclusion, the English wild cat being anatomically different. In Hone's popular works it is stated that "Cats are supposed to have been brought into England from the island of Cyprus by some foreign merchants, who came hither for tin." Mr. Hone further says: "Wild cats were kept by our ancient kings for hunting. The officers who had charge of these cats seem to have had appointments of equal consequence with the masters of the king's hounds; they were called Catatores."

Fonte: Cats

Till proof could be given of its having caught a mouse

"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, twopence; after which it was rated at fourpence, which was a great sum in those days, when the value of specie was extremely high. It was likewise required that it should be perfect in its sense of hearing and seeing, should be a good mouser, have its claws whole, and, if a female, be a careful nurse. If it failed in any of these good qualities, the seller was to forfeit to the buyer a third part of its value. If any one should steal or kill a cat that guarded the Prince's granary, he was either to forfeit a milch ewe, her fleece and lamb, or as much wheat as when poured on the cat suspended by its feet (its head touching the floor), would form a heap high enough to cover the tip of the former." Bewick remarks: "Hence we may conclude that cats were not originally natives of these islands, and from the great care taken to improve the breed of this prolific creature, we may suppose were but little known at that period."

Fonte: Cats

It is to be found in Bewick s Quadrupeds

The following shows the value of the cat nearly a thousand years ago; it is to be found in Bewick's "Quadrupeds": "In the time of Hoel the Good, King of Wales, who died in the year 948, laws were made as well to preserve as to fix the different prices of animals; among which the cat is included, as being at that period of great importance, on account of its scarcity and utility.

Fonte: Cats

Though many have become obsolete

I find in Strutt's "Sports and Pastimes" that of the names applied to companies of animals in the Middle Ages, several are still in use, though many have become obsolete; and also a few of the beasts have ceased to exist in a wild state. Some were very curious, such as a skulk of foxes, a cete of badgers, a huske or down of hares, a nest of rabbits, and a clowder of cats, and a kindle of young cats. Now cats are said to kitten, and rabbits kindle.

Fonte: Cats

In his notes of the first colonists of La Plata

Mr. Darwin, in his "Voyage of the Beagle," 1845 (p. 120), in his notes of the first colonists of La Plata, A.D. 1535, says, among other animals that he saw was "the common cat altered into a large and fierce animal, inhabiting the rocky hills," etc.

Another point on which I wish to give my impressions is the act of the cat in what is termed "sharpening its claws." Mr. Darwin notes certain trees where the jaguars "sharpen their claws," and mentions the scars were of different ages; he also thought they did this "to tear off the horny points." This, I believe, is the received opinion among naturalists; but I differ entirely from this view of the practice. It is a fact, however, and worthy of notice, that all cats do so, even the domestic cat. I had one of the legs of a kitchen table entirely torn to pieces by my cats; and after much observation I came to the conclusion that it has nothing whatever to do with sharpening the claws, but is done to stretch the muscles and tendons of the feet so that they work readily and strongly, as the retraction of the claws for lengthened periods must tend to contract the tendons used for the purpose of extending or retracting; therefore the cats fix the points of their claws in something soft, and bear downwards with the whole weight of the body, simply to stretch and, by use, to strengthen the ligatures that pull the claws forward. It is also to be noted that even the domestic cat goes to one particular place or tree to insert the claws and drag forward the muscles perhaps even in the leather of an arm-chair, a costly practice. Why one object is always selected is that they may not betray their presence by numerous marks in the neighbourhood, if wild, to other animals or their enemies. I have mentioned this to my brother, John Jenner Weir, F.L.S., and he concurs with me throughout.

Fonte: Cats

Before quitting the subject I would point

Before quitting the subject, I would point to the fact that when the domestic cat takes to the woods and becomes wild, it becomes much larger, stronger, and changes in colour; and there can be little doubt that during the centuries of the existence of the cat in England there must have been numberless crosses and intercrosses, both with regard to the males of the domestic cat as with wild females, and vice versâ; yet the curious fact remains that the wild cat still retains its peculiar colouring and form, as is shown by the skins preserved in the British Museum and elsewhere.

Fonte: Cats

Origin of the domestic cat

"In Ireland, strange to say, notwithstanding reports to the contrary, all endeavours to find a genuine wild cat have failed, the so-called 'wild cat' of the natives proving to be the 'marten cat,' a very different animal.

"We thus come back to the question with which we started, namely, the question of origin of the domestic cat; and the conclusion, I think, at which we must arrive is, that although Felis catus has contributed to the formation of the existing race of domestic cats, it is not the sole ancestor. Several wild species of Egyptian and Indian origin having been ages ago reclaimed, the interbreeding of their offspring and crossing with other wild species in the countries to which they have been at various times exported, has resulted in the gradual production of the many varieties, so different in shape and colour, with which we are now familiar."

Fonte: Cats

A cat was shot in Bullington Wood

"Perhaps the last genuine wild cat seen in England was the one shot by Lord Ravensworth at Eslington, Northumberland, in 1853; although so recently as March, 1883, a cat was shot in Bullington Wood, Lincolnshire, which in point of size, colour, and markings was said to be quite indistinguishable from the wild Felis catus. Bullington Wood is one of an almost continuous chain of great woodlands, extending from Mid-Lincolnshire to near Peterborough. Much of the district has never been preserved for game, and keepers are few and far between; hence the wild animals have enjoyed an almost complete immunity from persecution. Cats are known to have bred in these woods in a wild state for generations, and there is no improbability that the cat in question may have descended directly from the old British wild cat. Under all the circumstances, however, it seems more likely to be a case of reversion under favourable conditions from the domestic to the wild type.

Fonte: Cats

But gives no proof of its recent occurrence there

"A recent writer in the new edition of the 'Encyclopædia Britannica' (art. Cat) expresses the opinion that the wild cat still exists in Wales and in the north of England, but gives no proof of its recent occurrence there. From time to time we see reports in the newspapers to the effect that a wild cat has been shot or trapped in some out-of-the-way part of the country; but it usually turns out to be a large example of the domestic cat, coloured like the wild form. It is remarkable that when cats in England are allowed to return to a feral state, their offspring, in the course of generations, show a tendency to revert to the wild type of the country; partly, no doubt, in consequence of former interbreeding with the wild species when the latter was common throughout all the wooded portions of the country, and partly because the light-coloured varieties of escaped cats, being more readily seen and destroyed, are gradually eliminated, while the darker wild type is perpetuated. The great increase in size observable in the offspring of escaped domestic cats is no doubt due to continuous living on freshly-killed, warm-blooded animals, and to the greater use of the muscles which their new mode of life requires. In this way I think we may account for the size and appearance of the so-called 'wild cats' which are from time to time reported south of the Tweed.

Fonte: Cats

The wild cat is believed to be now extinct

"The wild cat is believed to be now extinct, not only in England and Wales, but in a great part of the south of Scotland. About five years ago a Scottish naturalist resident in Stirlingshire (Mr. J. A. Harvie Brown) took a great deal of trouble, by means of printed circulars addressed to the principal landowners throughout Scotland and the Isles, to ascertain the existing haunts of the wild cat in that part of the United Kingdom. The result of his inquiries, embodying some very interesting information, was published in the Zoologist for January, 1881. The replies which he received indicated pretty clearly, although perhaps unexpectedly, that there are now no wild cats in Scotland south of a line drawn from Oban on the west coast up the Brander Pass to Dalmally, and thence following the borders of Perthshire to the junction of the three counties of Perth, Forfar and Aberdeen, northward to Tomintoul, and so to the city of Inverness. We are assured that it is only to the northward and westward of this line that the animal still keeps a footing in suitable localities, finding its principal shelter in the great deer forests. Thus we see that the wild cat is being gradually driven northward before advancing civilisation and the increased supervision of moors and forests. Just as the reindeer in the twelfth century was driven northward from England and found its last home in Caithness, and as the wolf followed it a few centuries later, so we may expect one day that the wild cat will come to be numbered amongst the 'extinct British animals.'

Fonte: Cats

The wild cat was included amongst the beasts of chase

"In England in former days, the wild cat was included amongst the beasts of chase, and is often mentioned in royal grants giving liberty to inclose forest land and licence to hunt there (extracts from several such grants will be found in the Zoologist for 1878, p. 251, and 1880, p. 251). Nor was it for diversion alone that the wild cat was hunted. Its fur was much used as trimming for dresses, and in this way was worn even by nuns at one time. Thus, in Archbishop Corboyle's 'Canons,' anno 1127, it is ordained 'that no abbess or nun use more costly apparel than such as is made of lambs' or cats' skins,' and as no other part of the animal but the skin was of any use here, it grew into a proverb that 'You can have nothing of a cat but her skin.'

Fonte: Cats

segunda-feira, 30 de dezembro de 2013

In Suffolk cats eyes are

Cats are exceedingly fond of valerian

It is a prognostic of change of weather

The superstitious still hold the cat in high esteem

Cats Weather Notions.

The crying of cats ospreys

In a poem To a cat bore me company in confinement

If a kitten comes to a house in the morning

Gives a cat story quite of the fairy type

Those little gatherings which come on children s eyelids

In Devonshire and Wiltshire it is believed that a May cat or

And again, Kiss the black cat.

In some parts black cats are said to bring good luck

Almost the same words are sung in the music to Macbeth

There s one come down to fetch his dues

Possibly from this lively fiery sparkling tendency

Superstition And Witchcraft.

Not only on cats but also dogs

The feud with the wild cat intensifies in Midsummer Night s Dream

The distinction he makes between the wild and the domestic cat

Of the night-time food-seeking cat

And of the forlorn loneliness of the age-stricken

And in the same play the strange superstitious

And in King Henry the Fourth Act. I am as vigilant as a cat to steal cream.

How truthfully he alludes to the peculiar eyes of the cat

The Cat of Shakespeare.

Resolved upon hanging a bell about her neck

When the weasel and the cat make a marriage

What the good wife spares the cat eats. When candles are out all cats are gray.

The cat knoweth whose lips she licketh.

To love it as a cat loves mustard

To go like a cat on a hot bake-stone

As Stack stripped the cat when he pulled her out of the churn

The mouse lords it where the cat is not

The cat sees not the mouse ever

The cat would eat fish and would

The cat is hungry when a crust contents her

That comes of a cat will catch mice

Rats walk at their ease if cats do not them meese

Never was cat or dog drowned that could see the shore

All things come to those who wait

Just as quick as a cat up a walnut-tree

How can the cat help it when the maid is a fool

He lives at the sign of the cat s foot

segunda-feira, 23 de dezembro de 2013

of Wittie Persons.

Inconstant Persons.

Cats after kind good mouse hunt

of False Persons.

Care killed the cat but ye canna

1664 Cotton s Virgile Book. Care clammed a cat.

Shakespeare. And an old, lonely, melancholy cat.

The Christmas Prince 1607

A muffled cat is no good mouser

Strong enough to make even the dumb speak

A dead cat feels no cold.

Is the title of a book on history

A BLATE cat makes a proud mouse.

A young cat is a kitten until it is full-grown

Kittenhood State of being a kitten

A North-country name for a cat

A supposed disease of the fingers from handling cats

Catsteps The projections of the stones in

One of the upright stones which support a grate

The katzen silber of the vulgar in Germany

Clouds like hairs streaming from an animal s tail Shetland

Catmaw To tumble the catmaw

Small catgut strings for musical instruments

The name given to a large stone

Upright stalks than the common heath

Cat-fish Sea-cat The sea-wolf S

The name of an ancient sport S

The name given to a bit of wood

The following are culled from the well-known and useful book

A phrase applied to the village tailor going

And in King Henry the Fourth Act.
I am as vigilant as a cat to steal cream.

What the good wife spares the cat eats.
When candles are out all cats are gray.