from the Book of St Alban's: a group of kittens is a kindle, from the Middle English 'kindlen;' kindle means literally to give birth. Hence, kinder, kin, kindred - aha. well, the cats would not be surprised that we all spring from the Great Cat Goddess.
a cloudyr of cattis - (Robert of Gloucester); in the north of England, tomcats were called carl-cats. This progressed in Hors, Shepe, and Ghoos (1476) to a cluster of tame cats. I like the distinction. Housecats became a cluster, and a lot of cats is a clutter. A number of cats viewed in the dark with their eyes shining is a glaryn. We've all seen the cats glaryn, I dare say.
After a kindle of kittens, my favorite is a destruction of wild cattes, another gem from Hors, Shepe and Ghoos.
So now you know how I spend my time in this long, cold winter...
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