Question
The cartoon cat Snagglepuss used to express surprise with the words “Heavens to Murgatroyd!” Does anyone know the reference being made here?
Answer
We have two possibilities for the source of Murgatroyd: a wealthy but darkly notorious English textile family or a character in the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta Ruddigore. In this operetta, the heirs of the Murgatroyds are under a witch’s curse and must commit a crime every day or face death by torture.
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