Just look at him:asleek and
superior blackcat lo oking his
admirersstraight in theeye,
as if asking them: “When did
youlast walk from Hampstead
to Rugby?Well, when didyou,
peasant?”
Thestoryisthatin1904, Mr
MarkRobinson movedfrom
Overslade near Rugbyto9
BelsizeGrove,Hampstead. He
brought with him hisfamily
and belongings, including his
wife’sblackcat Jummy. Mr
Robinson thought thatJummy
did not caremuchfor London
life, preferring his old country
surroundings. He also thought
that thisextraordinarycat
objected to some furniture
being movedinto the house:
takinggreataffront at this,
Jummysimpl yvanished, and
did notreturn home.
Twoweeks later,Jummy
wasfound in Rugby, look ing
alittle thin andrough-coated,
but otherwise quite unaffected
by whatwaspresumed to
have beenan 85-mile(137km)
tramp through the perilous
countryside. By some stratagem
or other,peoplerecognised him
as Mr Robinson’scat,and he
wasreturned to Hampstead.
Therewas immediate
newspaper interest in this
remarkable cat,foritwas of
course thought thatJummy
had wanted toreturn tohisold
neighbourhood in Overslade.
Thecat must have beenguided
by somemysterious homing
instinct during its long journey,
since it had neverexhibited
anynomadic tendencies in
the past, and since it had been
brought from Overslade to
Hampstead inaclose dbasket.
Jummy’sgreat featwas
described in the London
evening newspapers, some of
whichincludedaphotograph
of the cat, and the storyeven
spread to the United States,Australia and NewZealand.
Thecat’swalking featwas
considered as one of the
wondersofthe felineworldof
1904.This wasthe height of the
Edwardian postcardcraze,so
Jummywas of course depicted
on one of these cards, with a
caption celebrating his 85-milewalk; this cardmay well ha ve
had limited circulation, and is
todayuncommonlymet with.
Unbeli eversinnewspaper
yarns about homing animals,
and scoffersattales of feline
hyperpedestrianism, maywell
point out that the Grand Union
Canal is justacomfortablestrollawayfromBelsi ze Grove,
and that backin1904, there
wasaplentiful supplyofcanal
boats, some of whichwere
destinedforRugby. It was
marvelled thatJummydid not
seemat all footso re or worse
forwear after his presumed
walking feat, and thereason
forthis is likelytobethathe
hadtravelled in comfort as a
stowaway on acanal boat.
Only the inscrutableJummy
himselfknewthe truth
about his presumed homing
tendencies: did the postcard
celebrating thisextraordinary
cat carryatrue statement of
facts, or should its inscription
instead have paraphrased
Pope’s Monumentalmusings:
WhereLondon’sfeline,
pointingatthe skies
Likeatallbully,lifts the
head, and lies?Forfurther accounts of feline
hyperpedestrianis m, see
FT61:46-49, 158:22, 159:10,
199:14-15, 282:24-25, 255:6,
360:8-9.ABOVE:Apostcardstampedandposted on5December1904,featuring
Jummy,thehoming cat.TOPRIGHT:A1904reportfromthePlai nDealer
(takenfrom thePhiladelphiaRecord)revealsthatJummy’s “remarkable”
achievementwasconsidered newsworthy on the other side oftheAtlantic.76 FT389JAN BONDESONshares another deltiological discovery from his prodigious
collection of postcards.Thismonth’spictorial blast from the past features the
amazing story ofacat that apparently walked from London to Rugby.- JUMMY THE HOMING CAT
PECULIAR POSTCARDS