View source for Cat-sìth

{{short description|Cat spirit in Celtic mythology}}
{{about|the Scottish [[fairy]]|the ''Final Fantasy VII'' character|Cait Sith (Final Fantasy)}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:{{lang|gd|Cat-sìth|nocat=y}}}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
|AKA           = Cat-sidhe, Fairy Cat
|image    = Page 158 illustration in More English Fairy Tales.png
|image_size    = 200px
|caption = An Illustration from ''More English Fairy Tales'' from the story "[[The King of the Cats]]".
|Folklore     = Scottish, Irish
|Grouping      = [[Legendary creature]]
|Sub_Grouping  = [[Fairy]], [[witch]]

|Country       = Scotland
|Region        = Scottish Highlands
|Similar_entities = [[Phantom cat]]
}}

The '''{{lang|gd|cat-sìth}}''' ({{IPA|gd|kʰaʰt̪ ˈʃiː|lang}}, plural {{lang|gd|cait-shìth}}), in Irish '''{{lang|ga|cat sí}}''' ({{IPA|ga|kat̪ˠ ˈʃiː|lang}}), is a [[fairy]] creature from [[Celtic mythology]], said to resemble a large [[black cat]] with a white spot on its chest that walks on its hind legs. Legend has it that the spectral cat haunts the [[Scottish Highlands]]. The legends surrounding this creature are more common in [[Scottish mythology|Scottish folklore]], but a few occur in [[Irish mythology|Irish]]. Some common folklore suggested that the {{lang|gd|cat-sìth}} was not a fairy, but a [[witch]] that could transform into a cat nine times. <ref name=ScotSuperstitions>{{cite web |last=Campbell |first=John Gregorson |title=Superstitions of the Highlands & Islands of Scotland |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/61730/pg61730-images.html |access-date=29 November 2024 }}</ref><ref name=Scotlore>{{cite web |last=MacGillivray |first=Deborah |title=The Cait Sidhe |url=http://deborahmacgillivray.co.uk/scotlore_caitsidhe.htm |access-date=14 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120821034420/http://deborahmacgillivray.co.uk/scotlore_caitsidhe.htm |archive-date=21 August 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.catster.com/lifestyle/cats-celtic-folklore-scottish-wildcat-cait-sidhe-sith-samhain-halloween |title=Meet the "King of Cats" From Celtic Folklore |date=28 January 2015 |author=Robin Mudge |work=Catster |access-date=11 March 2019 }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Rebecca |date=2022-12-05 |title=Cat-Sìth |url=https://folklorescotland.com/cat-sith/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Folklore Scotland |language=en-US}}</ref>

The {{lang|gd|cat-sìth}} may have been inspired by the [[Scottish wildcat]] itself.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures |last=Matthews |first=John |author2=Caitlín Matthews |year=2005 |publisher=HarperElement |isbn=978-1-4351-1086-1 |page=91 }}</ref> Furthermore, it is also possible that the legends of the {{lang|gd|cat-sìth}} were inspired by [[Kellas cat]]s, which are a distinctive [[hybrid (biology)|hybrid]] between Scottish wildcats and [[cat|domestic cat]]s found only in Scotland (the Scottish wildcat is a population of the [[European wildcat]], which is now absent from elsewhere in the [[British Isles]]).

==Appearance==
The {{lang|gd|cat-sìth}} is all black with the exception of a white spot on its chest.<ref name=Grimassi>{{cite book |last=Grimassi|first=Raven|title=Encyclopedia of Wicca and Witchcraft |year=2000 |publisher=Llewellyn |location=St. Paul |isbn=1-56718-257-7 |page=76 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofwi00grim_0/page/76 }}</ref> It is described as being as large as a dog and chooses to display itself with its back arched and bristles erect.<ref name="ScotSuperstitions"/><ref name=Grimassi/> When the {{lang|gd|cat-sìth}} thinks no humans are watching, it walks on its hind legs, which is how many stories of a {{lang|gd|cat-sìth}} being discovered happen. Around humans, the {{lang|gd|cat-sìth}} will try and appear bigger by arching its back and fur stand on end as a way to show dominance.<ref name=":0" />

==The King of the Cats==
In the [[English folklore|English folk tale]] "[[The King of the Cats]]", a man comes home to tell his wife and cat, Old Tom, that he saw nine black cats with white spots on their chests carrying a coffin with a crown on it. One of the nine cats says to the man "Tell Tom Tildrum that Tim Toldrum is dead." Old Tom then exclaims, "What?! Old Tim dead! Then I'm the King o' the Cats!" The cat then climbs up the chimney and is never seen again.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jacobs |first=Joseph |title=More English Fairy Tales |url=https://archive.org/details/moreenglishfairy00jacoiala |year=1894 |chapter=The King o' the Cats }}</ref>

== Rituals ==
The {{lang|gd|cat-sìth}} were believed to steal the souls of the recently dead and haven't gone to the land of the dead.<ref name=":0" /> This would happen by a {{lang|gd|cat-sìth}} crossing over a new dead body.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2024-10-03 |title=Symbolism of Black Cats: Luck, Protection, and Folklore – Naturalist's Guide |url=https://naturalistsguide.com/symbolism-of-black-cats-luck-protection-and-folklore/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |language=en-US}}</ref> Before [[Morgue|morgues]] were common, these were bodies keep in a room in the home or in the barn until the body could be buried so people could pay their respects to the body.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Burial Customs and Popular Religion from 1500 to 1690 {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/international/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/burial-customs-and-popular-religion-1500-1690 |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref>

To avoid the soul being taken during this period, people would stay to watch the body in a vigil called the Late Wake or Fèill Fhadalach in [[Irish Gaelic]]. People would distract the {{lang|gd|cat-sìth}} away from the body with things like music, games, dance, or catnip. It was also suggested not to light a fire near the body as {{lang|gd|cat-sìth}} was attracted to the heat.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2022-10-12 |title=The Cat: The Familiar |url=https://thedruidscauldron.net/2022/10/12/the-cat-and-related-folklore/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=thedruidscauldron.net |language=en-US}}</ref> 

Around [[Samhain]], it was custom to leave out a saucer of milk for them. If you did, your household would receive good luck for the year.<ref name=":0" /> If you didn't, the {{lang|gd|cat-sìth}} would return the favor and dry up the milk of the house's cows.<ref name=":2" /> 

==Witches==
Some people believed that the {{lang|gd|cat-sìth}} was a witch or demon in the guise of an animal, and that {{lang|gd|cat-sìth}} had no connection to fairies.<ref name="ScotSuperstitions"/> If the witches have changed nine times, they will be stuck as a {{lang|gd|cat-sìth}} for the rest of their life.<ref name=":0" />

One story where the {{lang|gd|cat-sìth}} is a witch is <ref>{{Cite book |last=Doyle |first=Margaret |title=The Schools' Collection: County Kerry |date=1937 |publisher=National Folklore Collection |volume=0471 |location=Ireland |publication-date=1939 |page=185 |url=https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/schools?CountyID=100005}}</ref>

{{Quote frame|Once upon a time there was a man living near Ballymalis Castle, called Jeramiah Carter. One day he went to Killorglin to buy sheep. When he came home his wife told him that the cat was making mournful noise around the house all day. He went to hunt out the cat but couldn’t find it. Next day his sheep strayed away and he did not know where to find them. At last he said he would go towards the castle in search of them. When he reached Ballymalis Castle he heard a great wailing within. He waited for an hour, and at last a big cat came out on top of the castle. The cat spoke to him and told to tell her sister at home that her mother was dead. He got his sheep and went home. When he reached home he told his wife what the cat had said. When the other cat heard the news, she went away and was never seen again. It is said that those two cats were witches. They went to Ballymalis Castle and were there for many years after. I heard this story from my mother and she heard it from her uncle, who was seventy years at that time.|Margaret Doyle|4=The Schools’ Collection: County Kerry, The Schools’ Collection}}

==Summoning== 
The demonic {{lang|gd|cat-sìth}} called Big Ears could be summoned (Gaelic {{lang|gd|taghairm}} {{IPA|gd|tɤrʲɤm}}) to appear and grant any wish to those who took part in the ceremony. The ceremony required practitioners to burn the bodies of cats over the course of four days and nights.<ref name="ScotSuperstitions"/><ref>{{cite web |title=The Cat Sìth in Celtic Mythology |url=https://www.scotclans.com/cat-sith-celtic-mythology/ |date=15 August 2018 |author=Rowan Moffet |website=scotclans |access-date=24 October 2018 |archive-date=24 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024192356/https://www.scotclans.com/cat-sith-celtic-mythology/ |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> 

==See also==
* {{lang|ga|[[Aos Sí]]}} 
* [[Beast of Bodmin]]
* {{lang|gd|[[Cù-sìth]]}}
* {{lang|cy|[[Cath Palug]]}}
* [[Grimalkin]]
* [[Kellas cat]]
* [[List of fictional cats]]
* [[Phantom cat]]
* [[The Black Cat (short story)|"The Black Cat" (short story)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Fairies}}
{{Scottish mythology}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cat sith}}
[[Category:Aos Sí]]
[[Category:Cat folklore]]
[[Category:Fairies]]
[[Category:Irish folklore]]
[[Category:Irish legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Mythological felines]]
[[Category:Scottish legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Scottish mythology]]
[[Category:Tuatha Dé Danann]]
[[Category:Witchcraft in folklore and mythology]]