Of cats and a flame

Today I unearthed the knowledge of the long forgotten pastime of "Cat Burning." The "sport" was popular in 16th century France where spectators would huddle around a fire and hoist bails full of cats into the air; slowly lowering the yowling bundle of felines until they perished in flame. The Parisians apparently thought this was great fun and "shrieked with laughter, as the animals, howling with pain, were roasted." The dessicated kitty ashes were scooped up into bags and carted home for good luck.

It was apparently commonplace for the royalty to partake in this form of revelry, including Louis XIV who personally lit one such bonfire wreathed in roses and dancing jovially about the flames to the chorus of shrieking cats.

I was tipped off to this bit of history because Stephen Pinker is happy that we don't do it anymore. I suppose, base as Fox News and MTV are, at least it's not Cat Burning.

from Wikipedia