Cat-sìth

The cat-sìth (Scottish Gaelic: [kʰaʰt̪ ˈʃiː], plural cait-shìth), in Irish cat sí (Irish: [kat̪ˠ ˈʃiː]), 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 folklore, but a few occur in Irish. Some common folklore suggested that the cat-sìth was not a fairy, but a witch that could transform into a cat nine times.

The cat-sìth may have been inspired by the Scottish wildcat itself. Furthermore, it is also possible that the legends of the cat-sìth were inspired by Kellas cats, which are a distinctive hybrid between Scottish wildcats and domestic cats 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 cat-sìth is all black with the exception of a white spot on its chest. It is described as being as large as a dog and chooses to display itself with its back arched and bristles erect. When the cat-sìth thinks no humans are watching its walks on its hind legs, which is how many stories of a cat-sìth being discovered happen. Around humans, the cat-sìth will try and appear bigger by arcing its back and fur stand on end as a way to show dominance.

The King of the Cats

In the 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.

Rituals

The cat-sìth were believed to steal the souls of the recently dead and haven't gone to the land of the dead. This would happen by a cat-sìth crossing over a new dead body. Before 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.

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 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 cat-sìth was attracted to the heat.

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. If you didn't, the cat-sìth would return the favor and dry up the milk of the house's cows.

Witches

Some people believed that the cat-sìth was a witch or demon in the guise of an animal, and that cat-sìth had no connection to fairies. If the witches have changed nine times, they will be stuck as a cat-sìth for the rest of their life.

One story were the cat-sìth is a witch is

Summoning

The demonic cat-sìth called Big Ears could be summoned (Gaelic taghairm Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [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.