Strolling through central London, you'll find memories of British history everywhere you look. However, as you'll discover, its often the ones you least expect that have the most fascinating stories!
To be buried in Westminster Abbey you have lived an extraordinary life, and often done something to benefit the rest of society. Dr Samuel Johnson is the perfect example of that. One of the most influential writers of the 18th century, Johnson was lauded for his works as a poet, essayist, and literary critic.
His most famous achievement though was creating ‘A Dictionary of the English Language’ which appeared in 1755, after nine years of work, and had a profound effect on the English language. It was the leading dictionary until the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary 150 years later.
Dr Johnson was a remarkable man and a huge cat lover, in a time when cats were not viewed with much love or compassion. Johnson owned several cats but his favourite was Hodge, who in a whimsical passage in a biography on Johnson was described as ‘a very fine cat indeed.’
The cat was fed oysters which were cheap and plentiful at that time and Johnson would go out to buy them himself instead of getting his servant to get them, as being sent to get food for a cat could be seen as degrading for a servant. He didn’t want the servants to resent and mistreat the cat. When Hodge neared death, Johnson bought valerian to ease the cat’s suffering.
Hodge’s life was celebrated in Percival Stockdale’s poem ‘An Elegy on The Death of Dr Johnson's Favourite Cat’ which revealed Hodge had dark fur, which was referred to as sable in the line: "Who, by his master when caressed, warmly his gratitude expressed, and never failed his thanks to purr, whene'er he stroked his sable furr.”
The profound impact cats and in particular Hodge has on one of the leading scholars to the time has been much celebrated. There are books and poems about Hodge but the best tribute is one that you can visit. If you head to Gough Square in the heart of London, you can visit a bronze statue of Hodge. The cat is depicted sitting on top of Johnson’s dictionary, next to oyster shells, with the inscription ‘A very fine cat indeed.’
The sculpture is near to Dr Johnson’s home which is now a museum and open to visitors. It is often described as a hidden gem in a quiet spot of the capital. The statue was unveiled in 1997 and was made with the cat at shoulder height by the sculptor so Hodge is right height to put an arm round.
To find out more about Dr. Samuel Johnson’s house and when you can visit, head to the website here!