About the meaning of the motto 'Touch not a cat but a glove"

[ThistleDown]

I am baffled about the meaning of "bot a glove" in this motto, I incline to the view that it means people who is not wearing a glove should not touch a cat, not means that while a cat is not wearing a glove people should not touch the cat. Because cats have no gloves. My mother tongue is Chinese, I'm quite good at English. Please teach me about it. Thanks a lot!

Shawwii Lu from China

'Bot' is simply another spelling for 'but'. Within the Clan Chattan itself there are two thoughts on the meaning: 'don't touch this cat unless you are wearing a glove' (that is, touch it gently), and 'don't touch this cat unless it is gloved'. A gloved cat is one with its claws withdrawn, or sheathed. The former has more adherents. Historically, the Clanchattan chiefship passed to Angus 6th of Mackintosh and it was his descendant who first used the slogan. As they became armigerous, most of the other Chattan chiefs adopted the same or variants/responses.