The Piccadilly Goat

At the end of the nineteenth century, the Piccadilly goat was a daily sight dodging traffic on increasingly busy roads. The goat (a fussy animal who was set in his ways) gained fame from a newspaper article in the Pall Mall Gazette, 30 May 1892, reproduced below.

A PICCADILLY CELEBRITY

The Piccadilly pet goat has no particular name. It is about ten years old and has lived with its present owner, Mr Miller, coachman to Mr Alfred De Rothschild, whose stables are situated in Brick Street, Piccadilly, ever since it was a few months old. He has been much noticed by prominent people and the Duke of Cambridge (says a writer in the Church Monthly) often stops to give him a friendly tap or word.

Prince George, Duke of Cambridge (1819-1904) by Frank Holl, 1882/3, Royal Collection Trust. The Duke lived at Gloucester House on Piccadilly.

Living as he does among the aristocracy, and in the very centre of the West-end, the goat has acquired some very fastidious tastes, though he is thoroughly well-behaved. He cannot stand wet or cold winterly weather and he has to put up with much inconvenience at such times on that account as the goat will not go out at all unless the day is fine and fairly warm, preferring the cosy and comfortable stable as a rule in winter. It is most amusing to see the goat come to the door at an early hour in the morning and take a careful survey in all directions; if the atmospherical and meteorological conditions do not suit its fancy, it turns back and gives up outdoor exercise for the day. Should the morning prove satisfactory, the goat will walk off and perhaps not be seen again until about nightfall. Should a shower of rain fall during the day when the goat is out it will on its first approach make for home or, if at too great a distance for this seek as comfortable a shelter as circumstances will permit, and stay there until the ground is thoroughly dry again. Generally, the goat is not far wrong in its calculations on the weather, many people in the neighbourhood have noticed that when the goat goes out in the early morning the day is sure to be a fine one.

Piccadilly Circus in the 1890s, Library of Congress digital images

His rambles take him all along Piccadilly, Oxford Street, Regent Street, and even further during the season when he meets many of his friends, who coax him into shops and treat him to his favourite cakes and sweetmeats. He has one questionable habit, which is a liking for tobacco; but he will only accept a certain kind of light-coloured, mild-flavoured cigarette tobacco to which he is rather partial. Many amusing incidents of his adventures out of doors are related. He has been known when spat at by a person to turn around and walk off in high dudgeon in the direction of home, apparently thoroughly disgusted. The goat has his regular houses of call in the principal West end squares and knows exactly the time of day to call when the most toothsome morsels are to be had. He is very particular in his tastes and will accept nothing unless it is exactly what he likes.

Punch, 25 October 1890

His master, Mr Miller, has had charge of De Rothschild’s stables for twenty-five years and has always been in the habit of keeping a goat amongst the horses, a practice in which he has great faith, and states that to this alone he attributes the absence of all infections disease from the stables. A few months ago, influenza was very common in the West end stables but not a single case has been known at the residence of the goat. Should the goat be kept indoors for a day by indisposition or any other cause, there are many inquiries about the animal’s welfare from his numerous friends.

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In 1932, a contributor to The World Today (vol. 60, p.45), gave a slightly different ownership for the Piccadilly goat. He said that, to the best of his belief, the goat belonged to the unconventional Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts and was fed mostly at the Bachelors’ Club, then situated at the corner of Hamilton Place and Piccadilly. The Baroness was the first Patron (1879) of the British Goat Society, and President of the society from 1903-1905.