2006-10-09 05:11:31 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
The Story of Kilkenny Cats
DESCRIPTION: "There once were two cats of Kilkenny, each thought there was one cat too many. So they fought and they fit and they scratched and they bit, til, excepting their nails, and the tips of their tails, instead of two cats, there weren't any."
AUTHOR: Unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 (Baring-Gould-MotherGoose)
FOUND IN/REFERENCES (1 citation):
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #835, p. 315, "(There once were two cats of Kilkenny)"
Notes: I don't know if the poem of the Kilkenny Cats is traditional, but the legend certainly is, so I thought I should include this item.
According to David Pickering's The Cassell Dictionary of Folklore, there are at least two explanations offered for this legend. One is that, in Norman times, there were rival English and Irish towns in Kilkenny, which naturally were in competition. Another bases it on a story of two cats who had their tails tied together by soldiers during the 1798 rebellion. I can't say that I find either explanation very convincing. - RBW
More Info of Kilkenny, Ireland.
Town 65 mi (105 km) s.w. of Dublin; Has great 13th-century cathedral; Capital of Kilkenny County (796 sq mi [ 2,062 sq km ]; Pop. 60,463); The story of the Kilkenny cats who fought until nothing was left but their tails is said to be a satire on the long-standing boundary dispute between Kilkenny and its neighbor, Irishtown; Pop. 10,052.
Hope this helps. Goodluck!
2006-10-09 05:22:01 · answer #1 · answered by ~Charmed Flor~ 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
According to a story, some people in the town of Kilkenny in Ireland enjoyed tying the tails of two cats and watching them fight till only their tale was left behind. Most likely the story is a parable of a contest between Kilkenny and Irishtown, two municipalities which fought about their boundaries till little more than their tails were left. Here is a popular limerick (another word that takes its origins from the name of an Irish town) about the cats:
"There wanst was two cats of Kilkenny
Each thought there was one cat too many
So they fought and they fit
And they scratched and they bit
'Til instead of two cats there weren't any."
2006-10-09 12:19:11 · answer #2 · answered by Eden* 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
According to a story, some people in the town of Kilkenny in Ireland enjoyed tying the tails of two cats and watching them fight till only their tale was left behind. Most likely the story is a parable of a contest between Kilkenny and Irishtown, two municipalities which fought about their boundaries till little more than their tails were left. Here is a popular limerick (another word that takes its origins from the name of an Irish town) about the cats:
"There wanst was two cats of Kilkenny
Each thought there was one cat too many
So they fought and they fit
And they scratched and they bit
'Til instead of two cats there weren't any."
Blessings )O(
2006-10-09 12:18:23 · answer #3 · answered by Epona Willow 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, but I'd like to too
!!
2006-10-09 12:47:15 · answer #4 · answered by Polly S 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No, but I'd like to.
2006-10-09 12:14:44 · answer #5 · answered by Angel W 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋