THE STORY OF "TABBY"

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 73, 23 September 1939, Page 17

THE STORY OF "TABBY"

Today almost any cat of the common or household variety is likely to be referred to as. a. "tabby." More particularly, in popular usage, the name is applied to the female of the cat species. Originally, however, the name "tabby" was not intended to distinguish between male and female cats. At the time the word came into use as applied to cats, it was used exclusively, to designate grey or tawny-coloured cats whose coat was marked with darker streaks or splotches. It applied solely to the brindled nature of their markings. The name "tabby" came from the fact that people thought the markings of the ■ brindled cats resembled the watered or mottled appearance of "tabby silk." And tabby silk got its name from the fact that it was first manufactured in a section or quarter of Bagdad, the Arabic name for which was "Attabiya." This section was named after Prince Attab, a famous Moslem general. The Arabic .^napae AttabL for,watered or moire silk' was translated from language to language, becoming tabis in French and tabby in. English. So apt and appealing did this name seem when applied to cats of mottled or streaked markings that it was readily adopted by all who heard it. In the course of time, the origin of the name was forgotten and tabby came to mean a female -cat (possibly because these markings are comparatively seldom found on a tomcat).

WELCOME TO . . . . «» Moira Sutton (13) Lower Hutt Nancy Hilton (15) Miramar Karen Johnson (14) Lower Hutt "Hilly Billy" (12) Brooklyn "June Rose" City Nancy Clarke (11) Masterton Joan Ryan (10) Petone Owen Jones (11) Seatoun • » • PLEASE . . . !" Patricia Kelly, 43 Homewood Avenue, Karori, Wellington, would like an 11----year-old penfriend in a different town. Pat is interested in stamps, drawing* and reading:. SHOWER TIME ♦ ' ■ ' "My cousin and I were down in the bush, where we saw a baby fantail having a bath. It dipped in and out of the water. It was, very pretty to watch." "CRYSTAL MOON" (12). Johnsonville.