MY first prize-winning kitten was a brown tabby, exhibited many years ago at the Crystal Palace. He became my stud cat "Rajah," called after an Indian prince who was visiting us at that time. "Rajah" was wholly and devotedly attached to the lady of his choice, namely, my blue Persian "Mater." These two names occur in the pedigree of many a prize-winner of the present day, and very numerous were the lovely litters I reared from this eminently respectable pair of Persians. I never knew either " Rajah " or "Mater" troubled with a day's illness, and if one of their kittens had died such an event would have caused as much astonishment as grief. But I must return to my tabbies.

Miss Simpson's Brown Tabby " Persimmon."

I cannot explain it, but certain it is that of all the feline race (blues not excepted) the warmest corner in my heart has always been kept for the brown tabbies. There is something so comfortable and homely about these dear brownies - they seem to have more intelligent and expressive countenances than any other cats, and I am firmly of opinion that no Persian cats are so healthy and strong as brown tabbies. They are a hardy race, and as such I have frequently recommended novices in the fancy to start with a good brown queen, and with ordinary care they may reasonably expect to rear litter after litter without the difficulties and disasters that one hears of in connection with the bringing up of Persian kittens in general.

I know there is a kind of idea that brown tabbies are a common sort of cat, and this breed is often spoken of in a most disparaging way. Then, again, the ignorant in the cat world have an extraordinary notion that tabbies are always females ! Perhaps because we sometimes hear a meddlesome or gossiping woman called a "tabby" - and I had a dear old friend who always bade me beware of "tabby bipeds" among catty communities !

The word "tabby" is supposed to have had its origin in a certain street in Bagdad called "Atab," which was chiefly inhabited by weavers of a particular kind of material called "Atabi." This is what Harrison Weir says on the subject : - " The word' tabby' was derived from a kind of taffeta, or ribbed silk, which when calendered, or what is now termed 'watered,' is by that process covered with wavy lines. This stuff in bygone times was often called' tabby,' hence the cat with lines or markings on its fur was called a tabby cat. Certain it is that the word 'tabby' only referred to the marking or stripes, not to the absolute colour, for in 'Wit and Drollery' is the following:Her petticoat of satin, Her gown of crimson tabby.

Be that as it may, I think there is little doubt that the foregoing was the origin of the term. Yet it was also called the brindled cat, or the tiger cat, and with some the grey cat 'graymalkin.' "We are told also by the same authority that tabby cats in Norfolk and Suffolk were called cyprus cats, cyprus being a reddish-yellow colour, so that the term may have applied to orange as well as brown tabbies. The term " tiger cat " is, I believe, often used in America, and it well describes the true type of a brown tabby. The groundwork should be of a bright tawny shade, with a dash of burnt sienna, the markings a dark seal brown - almost black. As regards the colour of eyes in brown tabbies, I prefer the golden or orange; but some of the finest cats in this variety have possessed the green eye, and some fanciers are disposed to prefer this colour, which I think should be the speciality of the silvers. Anyhow, a good brilliant green is preferable to a washed-out undecided yellow.

There are two distinct types of brown tabbies - the splashed or heavily marked, and the barred or ticked. I think the former the handsomer breed, with the well defined and evenly balanced side markings, the dark spine line (not too wide), the clear rings round the chest (commonly called the "Lord Mayor's chain"), the paws ringed in graduated bars to the foot. On the head and face the markings should be very clear and distinct, the narrow dark head lines running symmetrically till they join the broad spine-line. The ruff should be of the light shade, and ears of the same tone lend great distinction to this cat. As in the other tabby breeds, the browns are terribly addicted to white chins ; in fact, I think it is certainly rarer to find a brown tabby without this blemish than an orange, more pains having been taken to eradicate the evil in orange tabbies. There is no denying the fact that brown tabbies are a very neglected breed, and at present the only one, except tortoiseshell - and - white, that is not taken up by a specialist society.

This is a crying shame, and it remains for some ardent admirer of the dear brown tabbies to form a club, and to try to breed really good specimens of the golden-brown order; not the drab or grey animals that are so frequently seen at our shows, and which are very far removed from the genuine article.

I do not think that any breed can produce such fascinating kittens. They have such remarkably intelligent expressions, and, as a rule, the sturdy cobby shape and broad heads of brown tabbies are very conspicuous. This breed should distinctly be massive in build, with plenty of bone and muscle ; in fact, with brown tabbies the larger the better, if well proportioned. With the sterner sex brown tabbies are decided favourites, and I cannot help noticing that the very few fanciers who have taken up this breed amongst the gentler sex are what might be termed strong-minded.

Miss Mellor's Brown Tabby "Lady Sholto." (Photo: N. N. Stalham, Matlock Bridge.)

I have also remarked that when once fanciers start breeding brown tabbies they continue, and this cannot be truly said of other breeds - silvers, for instance ; but I would fain see a steady increase to the ranks of breeders of brown tabby Persians, and more encouragement given at shows. I know that as matters now stand fanciers complain they cannot get any market for their tabby kittens, and that classification is poor at shows and prizes scarce. It is all too true, but surely it is a "long lane that has no turning," and as every dog has its day, so perhaps in the future, whether near or distant, this beautiful breed will gain all the admiration and attention that it deserves. There is a distinct kind of brown tabby, so called, which may better be described as sable. These cats have not the regular tabby markings, but the two colours are blended one with another, the lighter sable tone predominating. At the Crystal Palace Cat Show of 1902 the class was for brown tabby or sable. I was judging, and, considering the mixed entries, I felt that markings must not be of the first importance, and so awarded first and second to Miss Whitney's beautiful sable females, the third going to a well-marked though out of condition brown tabby.