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"The Cat, the Rat, and Lovell our Dog, Ruleth all England under a Hog."

— Old St Paul's Cathedral

January 1, 1970

Quote Details

Added by wikiquote-import-bot

Added on April 10, 2026

Unverified quote

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Executed people People from England

Original Language: English

Sources

According to Fabyan, Collingbourne pinned this lampoon to the door of St. Paul's Cathedral in July 1484. The rhyme attacked King Richard and his three principal aides by referring to their names and heraldic emblems: the "hog" referred to King Richard, whose badge was a white boar, the "Lovell our dog" to Francis, Viscount Lovell, who was Richard's closest associate and had a silver wolf as emblem. The "cat" and the "rat" made fun of the names of William Catesby, who furthermore had a white cat

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Collingbourne

According to Fabyan, Collingbourne pinned this lampoon to the door of St. Paul's Cathedral in July 1484. The rhyme attacked King Richard and his three principal aides by referring to their names and heraldic emblems: the "hog" referred to King Richard, whose badge was a white boar, the "Lovell our dog" to Francis, Viscount Lovell, who was Richard's closest associate and had a silver wolf as emblem. The "cat" and the "rat" made fun of the names of William Catesby, who furthermore had a white cat