Mrs. Norah Andrews - Kyina & Talisker Cats Breeders of Russian ...

Cats of the GreatBv P. M. SODERBERG1 S there anything remarkable inthe lact that the grear ofall agesI^ have lound comlort and consolationin the company of their cats?It mav be that there is somethingabout the cat which appeais to thehome lover of all ages and countries,for countless men of letters.musicians and arrists rhe n orldover have had their cats, and mostof them have paid tribute to thesefeline friends in either verse orline or colour and mu.ic.It has alrvays interested me personallythat Jenny Lind. rvho sprang from theland of my fathers, rvas a great cat lover,although none of the names of her felinecompanions has been recorded. As agirl this great operatic singer used to lookout from a window of hcr home whichoverlooked the street leading up to theChurch of St. Jacob, and there she sangto her favourite cat. lt is not a1l catsthat appreciate music, but this one musthave shared rvith passers-by on the roadthc beauty of a voice rthich rvas later tothrill thc world.Pcrhaps the cat storv lr'liich has alrvaysappcaled to 1ne most is that lvhich rel-ersto Nlahonet and his cat. This great^\rab is recorded to have cut off thesleeve of his gorln so that he should notclisturb his slceping car rrhen ht_. himself'had to ansler the call to pra\ er. Historvrc'corcls this cat's namc as \Iuezza. perhapsiiom association rrith the legendthat she s'as not disturbed uhen rhemuezzin was sounded.So man1, people have recognised theessential homeliness of the cat and nonelnore so than that eminent Amcricanrrriter, Mark Tt'ain, for whom it wasessential that a house should contain " arrell fed and properly revered cat," Forhim no house could really claim to be ahome unless such a cat rvas one of itsreo,rlar inratecTo all these peopie the cat rvas an essentiaifriend and companion, but there wereothers, apart from the Egyptians, rvhorealised its utilitarian value. In our ownislands Howel the Good of Wales, a nearcontemporary of Edward the Confessor,enacted laws which protected thisvaluable animal from those who wouldkill or steal it. Whether Howel was a catlover is not known, but he definitelvappreciated the virtues of the cat as anessential part of farm and home.Inspiration for PoetryThe cat, which is by nature somethingof a philosopher itself, has often been thefamiliar of the philosophers of manycountries. The well known Germanwriter, Heine, felt an attraction lbr catswhich made him keep them in the roomrvith him even when he was r,r'riting, andhe endured rrithout ill-feeling thc inconvcniencewhich an inquisitive cat cancause by rvalking over the paper on whichone is trying to write.It was the nameless but fat Angora catof his uncle which spurred on his geniuslvhen he lvas a youth, for to him, despiteher apparent disregard of cleanliness,she nevertheless appeared as a bewitchedprincess. Heine wrote manv poems oncats which are still read in his owncounrr\ eren if thel are neglecled here.Cats have from the earliest times beenthe subject of poetry, but perhaps no catever had a more poetic epitaph than didthe Milanese-born cat of DomenicoBalestrieri, the Italian poet. The nameof this cat is not known, but it was thedevoted companion of Balestrieri, andwhen it died not only he but many of hisfriends wrote poems to lament the untimelydeath of this feline friend. "Tearsupon the Death of a Cat " rvas a book ofnearly three hundred pages and waswritten in classical as well as modern