The cats they sat and lick'd their paws, all in a merry ring,

But nothing else within the place looked like a living thing;

Anon they quarrell'd savagely, and spit, and swore, and hollo'd,

Till at last these six great large tom-cats they one another swallow'd;

And nought but one long tail was left in that once peaceful dwelling,

And a very tough one too it was—it's the same as I've been telling. [C. B.]


In the Character of Marie Stuart.