Ragamuffin

Ragamuffin refers to an odd assortment of creatures. You could have a Ragamuffin cat for instance. This breed of cat would cost you up to $1000 dollars to own though. The Ragamuffin cat is a domesticated cat that was first bred in 1994; they do not reach full maturity till somewhere around the age of four. When you first pet them, you think you are petting a rabbit instead of a cat; their personality is quiet, gentle in nature, and easy to control. They seem to have a love for people the same way most dogs have for people. They are extremely cuddly and very affectionate; they love to be held. They are somewhat laid back, larger than your average cat, and their bodies are muscular.

Ragamuffin could also refer to a child. The child would be clothed in dirty tattered clothes that were to big for him or her. Sometimes we refer to children as ragamuffins as a term of endearment though.

In the tale "The Pack of Ragamuffins "by The Brothers Grimm, a rooster, a hen, a duck, a pen, and a needle, are five personages interestingly described as a "pack of ragamuffins." The story goes like this:

All three animals happen to like nuts. There was a hill nearby where grew a group of nut trees, and it was that time of year when the trees had produced their fruits and let them fall to the ground. The rooster knew this and one day commented to the hen that they should leave now for the hill where the nuts lay ripe for eating before the squirrel took them all away. The hen agreed, and together the roster and the hen made their way toward the hill where sure enough lay a feast of nuts scattered underneath their trees where they had fallen from. Till the evening began to break over the hill, the rooster and the hen helped themselves freely to the feast of nuts; afterwards, they needed to return to their home but refused to return by foot. Within the story, apparently the rooster and the hen had either become to fat from their feast or had just become too cocky.

The story tells that the rooster built a small carriage made out of the nut shells. Upon completion, the hen sat herself inside the carriage and told the rooster to harness himself to the carriage and pull her home. Of course being a cocky rooster, he would not perform this task, he had no problem with driving the carriage, but he would not pull it. As the rooster and the hen where arguing back and forth, a duck waddles up the hill and sees this scene that is unfolding between the two fowls. She notices that most of the nuts have disappeared and in their place were now empty shells. Apparently, the hill belonged to the duck, and she quite loudly let them know this. The duck called the rooster and the hen "thieves", and her waddle became a type of trot. The duck was headed for the rooster with her bill open. The rooster saw this and began running for the duck. When the two collided the rooster's spurs began to dig into the duck so that she called out for mercy and the rooster harnessed the duck to the carriage for her punishment.

Now the carriage contained both the rooster and the hen and the poor duck pulled the carriage with its passengers as fast as her web feet would allow her. As the duck was pulling the rooster and the hen closer toward their home, they came upon a pen and a needle that were making their way towards them. The pen and the needle were tired from walking and the evening was turning into night; they cried out to the fowls to stop for them and let them ride for a while with them in their little carriage made of shells. The pen and the needle pointed out that they were thin in size and would take up very little room. The rooster allowed them to enter the carriage as long as they watched their step.

Late into the evening, the ragamuffins came across an inn and decided to bed down for the night there; the poor duck's trot had turned into a waddle and night was fast approaching. The inn was full and the innkeeper would not let them stay till they made the bargain that he could have the egg that the hen had laid in the carriage, and they would also give him their duck that laid an egg everyday. The innkeeper agreed and the "pack of ragamuffins" began feasting on their dinners.

Early, the next morning, the rooster awoke took the egg that had been promised to the innkeeper and ate it with the hen; they threw the egg's shell into the innkeepers fireplace. The fowls next took the sleeping needle by its head and stuck it in the cushion of the chair that the innkeeper sat in, and they placed the pen in the innkeeper's bath towel and ran from the inn. The duck awoke and saw the fowls leave; she found a stream, waddled into it, and happily paddled down its stream.

Later on that morning, the innkeeper awoke to wash himself and took his towel to dry. Upon opening it, the pen made a red scratch from one of his ears to the other. Next, the poor innkeeper made his way toward the kitchen to light his pipe from the fireplace and the egg-shell shot into his eyes. Trying to make sense of why things were attacking his face, the innkeeper sat in his chair and immediately sprang from its seat. After not being able to find the ragamuffin guests, the innkeeper vowed a vow to never allow ragamuffins in his inn again; "for they consume much, pay for nothing, and play mischievous tricks into the bargain by way of gratitude."

I hope the word ragamuffin has made its way into your vocabulary by now. As shown in this story, it has been used to describe an odd assortment of creatures and as mentioned earlier, even been given as a name to a breed of cat.