# Shoo, kitty! six centuries too late **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 29, 2020, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoo-kitty-six-centuries-too-late/924183 "2020-10-29T06:05:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoo-kitty-six-centuries-too-late/924183/1 "2020-10-29T06:05:38Z")
Anyone owned by a cat will sympathise with this long ago scribe in Dubrovnik: > **[Centuries Ago, a Cat Walked Across This Medieval Manuscript](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/centuries-ago-a-cat-walked-across-this-medieval-manuscript-1766202/)** > > While pawing through a stack of medieval manuscripts from Dubrovnik, Croatia, a student stumbled upon a familiar set of splotches marring the book's pages ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoo-kitty-six-centuries-too-late/924183/2 "2020-10-29T06:37:53Z")
Obviously, the feline was attempting to add some catligraphy. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoo-kitty-six-centuries-too-late/924183/3 "2020-10-29T13:41:42Z")
šŸ˜† ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoo-kitty-six-centuries-too-late/924183/4 "2020-10-29T13:53:34Z")
Usually I try to avoid posting in cat threads as my username could easily be misinterpreted. I think Iā€™m safe in this one, though. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoo-kitty-six-centuries-too-late/924183/5 "2020-10-29T15:04:06Z")
Itā€™s a medieval catastrophe. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoo-kitty-six-centuries-too-late/924183/6 "2020-10-29T15:10:10Z")
A poem about a cat written in the 9th century by an Irish monk at an abbey in Germany:   _I and Pangur Ban my cat,_ _'Tis a like task we are at:_ _Hunting mice is his delight,_ _Hunting words I sit all night._   > **[Pangur BĆ”n](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangur_B%C3%A1n)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > "Pangur BĆ”n" is an Old Irish poem, written in about the 9th century at or near Reichenau Abbey, in what is now Germany, by an Irish monk about his cat. Pangur BĆ”n, 'White Pangur', is the cat's name, Pangur possibly meaning 'a fuller'. Although the poem is anonymous, it bears similarities to the poetry of Sedulius Scottus, prompting speculation that he is the author. In eight verses of four lines each, the author compares the cat's happy hunting... From other medieval manuscripts: [![](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/4e/d6/1c/4ed61cb2d4a8e122dc4a88ceb3627bf9.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/4e/d6/1c/4ed61cb2d4a8e122dc4a88ceb3627bf9.jpg) [![](https://preview.redd.it/9mlqv7me5iv51.png?width=640&height=697&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=2252eed5f55d7e9252151721e164cec974491d4b) ](https://preview.redd.it/9mlqv7me5iv51.png?width=640&height=697&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=2252eed5f55d7e9252151721e164cec974491d4b) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoo-kitty-six-centuries-too-late/924183/7 "2020-10-29T16:16:36Z")
When I was a kid I did a Paint by Numbers image, then left it to dry on my desk, flat down on the desk top. While I wasnā€™t around, my cat jumped up on my desk, walked over the painting, and left multicolored paw prints on my blotter, desk top , and the hood of my jacket that was hanging on the chair. By the time I found all this, the paint was dry. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoo-kitty-six-centuries-too-late/924183/8 "2020-10-29T19:48:53Z")
This topic was right next to one called _Kitty, come back._ ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoo-kitty-six-centuries-too-late/924183/9 "2020-10-29T19:57:30Z")
[![](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/a3/98/a8/a398a8d8260acba4d98bf581543a03d1.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/a3/98/a8/a398a8d8260acba4d98bf581543a03d1.jpg) How marvelous is this world that I can retrieve the image above by typing ā€œilluminated manuscript cat licking buttā€ into search? ETA: [![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b3/b9/3e/b3b93e9846e19946460dd99af53e98f6.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b3/b9/3e/b3b93e9846e19946460dd99af53e98f6.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoo-kitty-six-centuries-too-late/924183/10 "2020-10-30T07:37:42Z")
_Dubrovnik is a mystery cat,_ _He likes to ink his paw,_ _And walk across the manuscript,_ _Ignoring the abbotā€™s law._ _Heā€™s the bane of the scriptorium,_ _And the scribes all despair,_ _For when they reach the scene of the crime,_ _Dubrovnik is not there!_ (After T.S. Eliotā€™s ā€œMacavity the Mystery Cat.ā€) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoo-kitty-six-centuries-too-late/924183/11 "2020-10-30T08:06:52Z")
More seriously, **susan** , can you link to your second image of the cat licking his butt? I can read the letters easily enough (I studied calligraphy for years), but Iā€™d like to see a link to the entire document. I donā€™t doubt your source, but as a student of such documents, Iā€™d like to see what this document says. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoo-kitty-six-centuries-too-late/924183/12 "2020-10-30T08:33:04Z")
It looks like the end of 1 Maccabees, Latin Vulgate Bible. ("ā€¦et misit regi ut mitteret eis exercitum in auxiliumā€¦") ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoo-kitty-six-centuries-too-late/924183/13 "2020-10-30T20:06:53Z")
There is, of course, an entire web-page on the net devoted to this topic: > **[Medieval Paintings of Cats Licking Their Butts](https://www.sadanduseless.com/funny-medieval-art/)** > > Sometimes monks would add depth to the words by illustrating the stories. And sometimes, they'd just draw cats licking their butts. Iā€™m not sure that this is what Tim Berners-Lee and Al Gore had in mind when they invented the internet. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoo-kitty-six-centuries-too-late/924183/14 "2020-10-30T20:14:35Z")
There is an artistā€™s studio on the other side of my door. Recently the artist arrived to find mouse tracks across a drying painting, complete with an adorable thin line behind the paw prints, presumably from its tail. Now one of my cats likes to spend the night in the studio (the artist is a cat lover and gave a thumbs-up to this arrangement). The morning after her first studio sleep-over, she had a couple of powder-blue paws, but she seems to have decided that wet paint is yucky and it hasnā€™t happened again.