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Caught by Cats
[ 5 minute read ]
People of 'yore' (olden days) were far more able to know what was happening in their villages than anyone in the modern world can with their digital devices today.
If the villagers in the past saw a wet cat they could easily infer that there is disease in the area. It might even have been possible to borrow a cat a while ago.
QUOTE 'A magical method of transferring any disease was to throw the water in which the patient had washed, over a cat, and then drive the creature from the house.’ (Encyclopedia of Superstitions). However, black cats should never be driven from the home otherwise the household can expect bad luck and misfortune. Someone, maybe a young family member, may, beyond the little story (below), be scolded.
In this little story we have Blackberry, a cat so named because he was born at Michaelmas, the end of the blackberry season; Spew, a Tortoiseshell cat; and Fluffy, a skinny cat whose fur has mostly fallen out.
'Hey Blackberry!' mewed Spew, a Tortoiseshell cat.
'Hello, Spew.’
'Ugh! You're all wet.’
'Yeah, homeless again, as well! It's alright for you.'
'What do you mean. I get wet too.’
'It's coming up to May and your tail is needed to rub on warts to make them fall off.’
'But only in May. In June, I get wet.’
'I just leave the home before anyone washes. I mean more than once a week, anyway,' chimed in Fluffy, who had sauntered up to join them. 'I used to get fooled by people offering bowls of milk and I would go in, but not anymore.’
'No,' maiowed Blackberry. 'It is the cow barn for me from now on.’
QUOTE 'In some parts of Europe, cattle were believed to acquire the gift of speech on Christmas Eve. It was however, dangerous for any human being to listen to their talk. Whoever did so would meet with misfortune..’ (Encyclopedia of Superstition). Apparently, the listening person might hear of their own death. It was believed that during the Holy Season of Christmas animals had foreknowledge and knew what might occur on the farm.
'Wait for us. We're coming with you,' mewed Spew.
A damp warm smell met the cats’ delicate noses. This was not the farmyard of our playful childhoods that we read about in twee books. This was a farm with astringent and corrosive uric acid that threatened to burn the back of the throat, and rampant bacteria that slowly dissolved the wooden walls with its fecal acidity. Yet there were islands of comparative comfort and safety in the guise of heaped straw in one of the corners and in the loft above.
Ignoring the three cows chewing their cud, with nothing else to eat, the cats made their way up to the loft by careful and studied leaping. Spew climbed the ladder. She remarked on the health of the three beasts below.
'What's up with the black and white one lying down?’
Even though the cats had recognised that there was a man seemingly dozing in the stored hay, they did not expect him to answer Spew's question.
'I offered to buy it, but it was not for sale. It is probably going to die, so now the farmer has to sell it.’
‘I have heard of you. You are the glue-man's son or assistant, aren't you? Your father buys ill cattle and makes glue from their horns and hooves.’
'That is why I am hiding, cats.’
'You make them ill by offering to buy cattle that are not for sale!' hissed Blackberry. He arched his back and fixed the rising man with his piercing green eyes.
QUOTE 'To meet a black cat is usually thought to be fortunate, especially if it runs across the path of the observer. […] In East Yorkshire, while it is lucky to own a black cat, it is unlucky to meet one.' (Encyclopedia of Superstitions)
In America, it is white cats that were lucky and everything about black cats is to Americans, attributed to white cats and vice-versa; so Americans were appalled to see Europeans petting white cats and not minding if they crossed our paths from left to right or turning back on themselves.
'Oh no you don't.' Blackberry mewled, 'You are not going to stroke me three times for good luck to save your skin from the farmer.’
'You will get no luck from Blackberry.' offered Fluffy haughty with her wisdom.
'Too right!' mewed Spew. 'He won't even enter anyone houses uninvited anymore. He just won't give anyone free luck.’
'They keep getting ill. I am still wet from the last time!' moaned Blackberry.
Fluffy pondered for a while and then announced, 'You know what? If the villagers catch you and kill you, I might jump over your coffin so your soul is haunted by what you do.’
Spew laughed because he had noticed two hefty looking lads in the byre (barn) doorway looking up to the loft. His attention had been drawn by a warning low from one of the cows.
'I reckon that's him.' said the tallest one with tousled hair.
'I reckon it is, and crazy too. He's talking to the cows.' Neither of the lads had seen the cats half buried in the straw, only the looming, rising man.
'Karma', lowed the black and white ailing cow before letting its head fall for the last time.
- End -
Cattle diseases were, like those of human beings, often attributed to witchcraft. So, in medieval days, once the glue-man's son or assistant is caught he would be looking at being dunked in the village pond to see if he drowned or not. If he did drown he would be free of guilt for witchcraft and Fluffy would probably be chased out of the church where his coffin might lie for a while. In 1964, when the Radfords compiled their book, I wouldn't be surprised if offended people made him, or people using magic, look at a full moon through glass or something, or perhaps they might have handed 'magic' people a slippery mirror, hoping they might drop it and have seven years bad luck.
References
Encyclopedia of Superstitions, E. & M. A. Radford, edited by Christina Hole, 1974, London, Book Club Associates, by arrangement with Hutchinson and Co. (Publishers) Ltd. [1964]