They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar …
A letter from Beatrix Potter to Noel Moore, the son of her sometime governess, includes this illustration of Edward Lear’s poem “The Owl and the Pussy-Cat.” While the cat concentrates on fishing, the owl relaxes in the boat and sips honey from a spoon. Of the strange sight of a spoon-bearing owl, Potter remarks: “It is funny to see a bird with hands, but how could he play the guitar without them?”
Beatrix Potter, Autograph letter signed: London, to Noel Moore, 1897 Mar. 4. MA 2009.10. Gift of Colonel David McCandless McKell, 1959.