The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-05
THE TABBY CATS OLD NAME.
1t Dates Back to the Time of the
Prophet MOhammed.
From the Athenaeum.

From the AUAendeuIn.
During the course Of some investigations
in the matter Of the topography of mediae-
val Bagdad, I have lately had occasion TO
look up the evidence from which it would
appear that the word tabby, as applied by
us to a eat, perpetuates at the present day
the name of an Arab whom the Prophet
Mohammed made governor Of Mecca. That
so common a name should have so remote
an origin is, perhaps, sufficiently curious to
warrant the present summary Of the chief
links in the chain of evidence which doubt
less may be considerably added to from
other sources.
In January of the year $50 A. D., Moham-
med reconquered Mecca, his birthplace
from which he had been driven some eight
years before at the era Of the F'light-and
few months later on his return to Medina,
he named "Attab' to be governor of the
former city. This "Attab'' was a great
grandson of Omayyah, from whom the
Omayyads were descended For the re-
naming years of the lifetims of the
prophet, as also during all the reign of Abu
Bekr, "Attab" remained governor of
Mecca, dying on the same day as that
caliph, and leaving descendants. In course
of time the Abbasids supplanted the Omay-
yads, and founded Bagdad, where the
quarters of the city in many cases bore
the names of those to whom the lands had
originally been granted in fief Thus
among the rest was the Attabiyah quarter
of West Bagdad, held by the descendants
of "Attab," these having left Mecca and
come to settle in MeSopotamia though at
what date is matter of uncertainty
This Attabiyah quarter subsequently be-
came famous for it's silk looms, and Ibn
Jubayr who visited Bagdad 10 1854 A. D.,
describes the stufs called Attabi. woven
IF univ Gill
ton, which were exported from the Alta
blyah quarter to all parts of the Moslem
work. These sluffs were also initiated
in many other towns, and already as early
as the year 1154 ldrisi, describing Almeria
on the south coast of Spain, speaks of 500
looms kept in fun work there, and, among
the fabrics produced, the Attabi stuffs are
especially commended. From Spain the
material was apparently exported into all
Christian countries, for the name is found
In common use in most European Ian
guages-Low Latin, Attabi Spanish, Port
uSuese and Italian; tabi; French tabs:
German, tabin; whence tabinette At how
early date the tabby silk was commonly
used IN Europe l have not been able to
learn, but in the beginning Of the seven
tenth century Queen Eliza beth. who had
a fine taste in matters of dress was
'vestita di tabi d'argento ct blanco" when
she received the Venetian Envoy Scara-
men (Nenitian archives; lnghilterra 1902
dispatch of Feb. 10; and rather more than
MALT a century later, under date of Oct
49, 1861. Samuel Penys records in his
diary that he, on that day, put on his
false taby waistecoate with gold lace"
The word was in common use down to the
close of the last century, for Miss Burnev
on the occasion of the birthday of the
princess royal, at Windsor, Sept. 90 17ss
appeared IN gown of lilac tabby," and
Johnson I'm his "DictiOna ~ ,,,x,,l,tr.- -,
to be "a kind Of waved silk" adding that
the tabycat is so named from The brlndled
markings of its fur. His authority NAV
serve to close the chain of evidence con-
meeting the cat of the present day with
the companion of the Prophet Mohammed
who lived at Mecca more than twelve
centuries ago.