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Heraldry Etc


A cat (hieroglyphically) represents false friendship, or a deceitful,

flattering friend.



The cat (in heraldry) is an emblem of liberty, because it naturally

dislikes to be shut up, and therefore the Burgundians, etc., bore a cat

on their banners to intimate they could not endure servitude.



"It is a bold and daring creature and also cruel to its enemy, and never

gives over till it has destroy
d it, if possible. It is also watchful,

dexterous, swift, pliable, and has good nerves--thus, if it falls from a

place never so high, it still alights on its feet; and therefore may

denote those who have much forethought, that whatsoever befalls them

they are still on their guard."



"In coat armour they must always be represented as full-faced, and not

showing one side of it, but both their eyes and both their ears.

Argent three cats in pale sable is the coat of the family of Keat of

Devonshire."



Many families have adopted the cat as their emblem. In "Cats, Past and

Present," several are noted. In Scotland, the Clan Chattan bore as their

chief cognizance the wild cat, and called their chief "Mohr au Chat,"

the great wild cat. Nor is the name uncommon as an English surname,

frequently appearing as Cat, Catt, Catte; but the most strange

association of the name with the calling was one I knew in my old

sporting days of a gamekeeper whose name was Cat.



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