Cat-sìth
An Illustration from More English Fairy Tales from the story "The King of the Cats". | |
| Creature information | |
|---|---|
| Other name(s) | Cat-sidhe, Fairy Cat |
| Grouping | Legendary creature |
| Sub grouping | Fairy, witch |
| Similar entities | Phantom cat |
| Folklore | Scottish, Irish |
| Origin | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Region | Scottish Highlands |
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).