1196 – BLACK CONCEALED CAT

Physical description:

Dried cat.

Museum classification:

Spells and Charms

Size:

380 x 540 x 70 mm

Information:

Donated by Dr Terence Meaden, who owned the Abbey of Blanchelande near La Haye du Puits (La Manche) from 1990-2001, and found the dried cat in the desiccating conditions of the roof. It must have been placed there some time after 1740, the date of the last major rebuild.
Dried cats are often found in the roofs of old buildings, probably magical protection against rats and mice, and perhaps also other misfortunes or evil spirits. Often they are posed with dead rats, making it clear that both the cat and the rat were dead before being placed in position. One found at Woburn Abbey, and now in the Natural History Museum, had even had its internal organs removed to help to preserve it. On the other hand, one found in Suffolk had its paws tied together, suggesting it may have been deposited alive, although the binding may have been symbolic, to restrain the cat's spirit. For examples, see 'West Yorkshire Folk Tales' by John Billingsley. A visitor to the museum described seeing one of these cats attached over the door of her uncle's barn in the 1960s. In connection with the use of cats in protection magic, a visitor to the museum told us that there is a Church of England school in Chelmsford, built in 1887, that has two 'cat's paw bricks' used in the walls to protect it from witchcraft. These are bricks with the imprint of a cat's paw on them.

Resource:

Object

Materials:

Animal

Donated by Dr Terence Meaden, who owned the Abbey of Blanchelande near La Haye du Puits (La Manche) from 1990-2001, and found the dried cat in the desiccating conditions of the roof. It must have been placed there some time after 1740, the date of the last major rebuild.
Dried cats are often found in the roofs of old buildings, probably magical protection against rats and mice, and perhaps also other misfortunes or evil spirits. Often they are posed with dead rats, making it clear that both the cat and the rat were dead before being placed in position. One found at Woburn Abbey, and now in the Natural History Museum, had even had its internal organs removed to help to preserve it. On the other hand, one found in Suffolk had its paws tied together, suggesting it may have been deposited alive, although the binding may have been symbolic, to restrain the cat's spirit. For examples, see 'West Yorkshire Folk Tales' by John Billingsley. A visitor to the museum described seeing one of these cats attached over the door of her uncle's barn in the 1960s. In connection with the use of cats in protection magic, a visitor to the museum told us that there is a Church of England school in Chelmsford, built in 1887, that has two 'cat's paw bricks' used in the walls to protect it from witchcraft. These are bricks with the imprint of a cat's paw on them.