I think both of these questions refer to Asparagus the Theatre Cat.
Is “posey”[sup]sp?[/sup] a real disease that cats suffer from?
Is “Friar Farfiddle the Fiend of the Fell”[sup]sp?[/sup] a real character from some other play, or is that made up?
can’t answer your OP, but FYI, here’s TS Eliot’s orig. Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats
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I always thought it was “palsey.”
No, it’s real and in the “Gus” poem. The association of Gus = Growltiger was something that was done for the play. In Eliot’s poems, the two cats (Gus and Growltiger) are separate with no connection to each other.
Zev Steinhardt
Duh. That was dumb of me.
Palsy. A neurological condition, common in old age, characterized by an uncontrollable shaking of the extremities.
“Firefrorefiddle, the Fiend of the Fell”, is the right spelling. I’m guessing Eliot made it up.