1788. Falconbridge, Afr. Slave Tr., 40. A cat (an instrument of
correction, which consists of a handle or stem, made of a rope
three inches and a half in circumference, and about eighteen inches
in length, at one end of which are fastened nine branches, or
tails, composed of log line, with three or more knots upon each
branch). [m.]
1870. London Figaro, 23 Dec. We are delighted to learn that Mr.
Baron Bramwell, at the Warwick Assizes, on Saturday, sentenced a
batch of street thieves to hard labour for eighteen months, and
twenty lashes each, with an instrument called the cat.
1889. Globe, 26 Oct., p. 7, col. 3. The ‘Cat.’ A companion of the
prisoner was convicted last session of being concerned in the
assault and robbery, and was sentenced to eighteen months’ hard
labour and to receive twenty-five lashes.