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Hodge

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Hodge was the treasured companion of Samuel Johnson (1709-84), who is remembered as an eighteenth-century man of letters, lexicographer — his most famous work is the Dictionary of the English Language, published in 1755 — and cat lover. Hodge loved oysters, which at the time were seen as a cheap and nutritious food rather than the luxury they have become today; and Johnson would go himself to the fish market to buy them, as he thought asking the servants to do so would make them resentful and ill disposed towards Hodge. James Boswell (1740-95) became a friend and later the biographer of Johnson, but admitted that the presence of the cat when he visited sometimes made him uneasy. He confessed to being much surprised at the 'indulgence with which [Johnson] treated Hodge'. One day, though, he suggested that, as cats go, Hodge was a very fine specimen — to which Johnson replied that he was indeed, but that he had previously had cats that he had liked better. However, he noticed that his cat seemed rather put out by this remark, so Johnson added, 'But he is a very fine cat; a very fine cat indeed.' Hence the inscription on Hodge's memorial.

Dr Johnson lived for 11 years at 17 Gough Square, just off London's Fleet Street, and it was there that he did much of the work on the dictionary. Gough Square is very small, so to take up less space a statue of Hodge, rather than one of the great man himself, has been placed there. The cat is seated on a large book representing the dictionary, and there are a couple of oyster shells too! The bronze was unveiled in September 1997 by Sir Roger Cook, then Lord Mayor of London. A statue of Johnson can be seen not far away, outside the church of St Clement Dane's that he often attended.

We do not know when Hodge died, but it is known that when he was near to death his master went out to obtain some valerian for him, to make his last hours as pleasant as possible. (Valerian is a plant that cats like, similar to catnip.) It is thought that he was a black cat.

Little is known of Samuel Johnson's other cats, although in a letter of 1738 he mentions a 'very well behaved' white kitten by the name of Lily. To bring the tale up to date, though, in September 1997 a new 'Lily', an all-black kitten described as 'decidedly mischievous', was taken on at 17 Gough Square, which is now a museum. Lily came from Battersea Dogs' Home (which also takes in stray cats) and was about 5 when adopted. Our thanks go to Natasha McEnroe, museum curator, for letting us know that Lily is still alive in 2006, but as befits an 'old lady' of 14 or 15 years, she now prefers to spend much of her time quietly in the curator's cottage rather than in the museum.

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Our featured feline at the head of the page is Simon of HMS Amethyst.
Able Seacat Simon remains the only cat ever to have been awarded the Dickin Medal for gallantry under enemy fire,
in what became known as the 'Yangtse Incident' (1949).
Read Simon's story.

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