Heraldic cats

[Arthur Radburn]

I have it on good authority (i.e. the internet) that today is International Cat Day. So here is a trio of heraldic cats to mark the occasion :

Coventry.jpg

The crest of the city of Coventry, in England, is "a cat statant gardant proper".

Ellesmere Port & Neston.jpg

The sinister supporter of the borough of Ellesmere Port & Neston, in Cheshire, is "a tabby cat gardant proper gorged with a mural crown". As you can tell from the grin, it's a Cheshire cat.

Wimsey.jpg

And, from the realms of British crime fiction, the arms of the Duke of Denver, elder brother of Dorothy L. Sayers' amateur detective Lord Peter Wimsey. The crest is "a domestic cat crouched as to spring proper". The arms were designed by Sayers' friend, C.W. Scott-Giles, who was a pursuivant extraordinary for many years, and wrote several heraldry books.