Hodge was a cat belonging to Samuel Johnson and immortalized in history as being "a very fine cat indeed". Hodge lived around the year 1769, and Johnson was very fond of the cat during the time when cats were not regarded highly. Johnson was a writer and is famous for the phase "when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life". He lived at 17 Gough Square, located just north of Ludgate Hill. Johnson treated his pets fondly, and he purchased oysters for Hodge himself instead of sending his servants to purchase them as he was worried that they would take a disliking to his cat and feel degraded for buying the food for a cat. When Hodge became older, valerian was purchased to ease his pain.
Hodge was described as having sable or black fur, and the cat had poems written about him/her by Johnson, who regarded Hodge as his favourite. The cat was known to climb onto Johnson and enjoy affection and purr.
Hodge is immortalized in Gough Square by a bronze statue, which was st in 1997 by the Lord Mayor of London. The statue of Hodge is sitting next to empty oyster shells in bronze and a copy of Johnson's famous dictionary where the cat was mentioned as "a very fine cat indeed." A custom is to place coins in the oyster shells for good luck, and sometimes the cat will have a piece of ribbon tied around its neck.
The statue was modelled after the sculptor's own cat, and the height of the statue was choosen so that visitors could easily see and access the bronze cat.
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