"A very fine cat, a very fine cat indeed...."
by Grace Elliot To Hodge. "…a very fine cat, a very fine cat indeed." Dr Samuel Johnson. Hodge- appropriately sitting on a dictionary! Lexicographer and writer, Dr Johnson, was a cat lover. It was whilst he was in residence at 17 Gough Square , London , that he owned his most well-known cat, Hodge. To this day a statue of Hodge, appropriately seated on a dictionary, forms part of a memorial to the great man, at the far end of the square where he once lived. Indeed, such was Johnson's love of cats that the diarist and biographer, James Boswell, thought to record it. "Nor would it be just….to omit the fondness which he [Johnson] shewed for animals which he had taken under his protection." This kindness extended to visiting the fish market in person, in order to select the best oysters for his cat since Johnson didn’t want to put the servants out and cause resentment against Hodge. "I never shall forget the indulgence with which he treated Hodge, his cat: ...