The Welsh Kitten Who Grew into a Killer Cat

That glowing red eye should have been a warning that this adorable kitten was no ordinary cat.

Who can resist an adorable kitten, especially when it’s wet and shivering? Well, maybe some people can, but they’re hard-hearted. To be fair, they also may be wise. This week’s post is about a fisherman who discovers a cute, nearly drowned kitten in his net. He brings it home, and he and his wife raise it. Much to their regret. And that of their neighbors. Here is the story of Cat Palug, the killer cat of Welsh folklore.

Rough Childhood (Kittenhood?)

Living during the time of King Arthur, Cath Palug had a rough—and unusual start to life. I don’t know his gender but, for simplicity’s sake, I’m calling him he. Shes get blamed for too many things. So, he was the child of a white sow. Yup. You read that right. His mother was a pig. A very unusual pig named Hen-wen. But more about her later.

For whatever reason (not mentioned in any version of the tale), Col, the swineherd who tended Hen-wen, threw her poor baby into the Strait of Menai, which runs between mainland Wales and the island of Anglesey. Was Col just a swine who hated cats? Did he have an intuition that this baby would grow up to be a monster? Did Cath Palug grow up hating humans because of this traumatic cruelty? The answer is left to our imaginations.

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In any case, Col threw the poor kitten into the water to drown it. But this cat was a survivor! He managed to swim to Anglesey or close to it. Folklore and legends exist in variants, so there are different versions of what happened next. Either a fisherman pulled the poor kitten up in his net or the cat made it to land and was found by the sons of Palug, a local king. Then, whoever found the kitten, brought it home and raised it, never expecting that act of kindness would end up endangering the entire population of the island.

Baby Grows Up—and Up!

It’s a fact of life that all babies grow up. And, sometimes, they lose their cuteness. Cath Palug grew up to be waaaaaaaay bigger than the average house cat. Its fur was dark and speckled. He loved water. But the tip-off that this was no ordinary cat was that it had a single glowing red eye. In folklore, that’s a really bad sign.

Sure enough, once the little kitten grew up, it turned ferocious, attacking and killing people. The residents of the island got so scared, they stayed home and locked their doors, afraid to go out. But that couldn’t last forever. Something had to be done.

Enter Sir Kay

Sir Cei came to save the people of Anglesey from Cath Palug. He almost didn't survive that quest!

Sir Cei (better known as Sir Kay), King Arthur’s foster brother, heard tell of the killer cat and came to save the day. After all, a Knight of the Round Table is in constant need of a quest. But this would prove a daunting one. He battled the cat three times, getting more and more beaten up in the process. Finally, he defeated it. Note that I said he defeated the cat. Some versions of the tale are incomplete or ambiguous and leave open the possibility that Cath Palug lived on. Or maybe its ghost did. Legends say that, to this day, a strangely water-loving cat haunts Welsh rivers and lakes, ready to attack unsuspecting humans.

A Word or Two about Mom

Just as Cath Palug was no ordinary cat, his mom was no ordinary cat mom. As mentioned above, she wasn’t a cat. She was a pig named Hen-wen. This white sow was renowned for her wisdom and her ability to tell people’s fortunes. Humans actually sought her out for her advice.

Hen-wen had several unusual children. For example, she gave birth to a bee and a grain of barley. She also produced an eaglet and a wolf-cub! Some of her offspring benefitted humans, just like their mother. Others, like Cath Palug, grew up to be the bane of humans.

Some scholars have linked Hen-wen to the Welsh mother-goddess, Ceridwen, a shapeshifter with a magic cauldron. Click here to learn more about Ceridwen.

Cat Sidhe and Cat Sith: Cath Palug’s Celtic Cousins

Cath Palug isn’t the only supernatural (and dangerous) cat in Celtic folklore. The Irish have the Cat Sidhe and the Scots have the Cat Sith. Both of these are faeries in cat form.

The Irish Cat Sidhe and the Scottish Cat Sith may look like ordinary black cats. Don't be fooled! They're faeries. And the Cath Sith is a soul-stealer!

Cat Sidhe prowls the human world on Samhain’s Eve (October 31st). Going from house to house, this faerie who looks like a Halloween cat—black, back arched, tail straight up, glowing yellow eyes—is in search of cream. If she finds a bowl of it left out on a doorstep for her, she will bless the inhabitants of the house with health and good things. But woe to those householders who neglect to leave an offering for her! She will curse them with all kinds of misfortune.

The Scottish Cat Sith is a far darker character. This faerie cat—again all black—sneaks into the bedrooms of those who have just died. She walks over the fresh corpse and steals the person’s soul! To protect their beloved dead, the Scots developed the Feill Fadalach (Late Wake). When someone dies, family members and friends stay with the corpse twenty-four hours a day to protect the soul of the newly deceased until the funeral.

Cats in Celtic Symbolism

Although the stories of Cath Palug, the Cat Sidhe, and the Cat Sith indicate a negative attitude towards cats in Celtic folklore, the truth is more complex. In Celtic culture, cats were guards of the Otherworld. They also symbolized mystery, wiliness, stoicism, and the ability to keep secrets. But after Christianity took hold, especially in Scotland after the Protestant Reformation, cats became associated with witchcraft and malign intentions.

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All artwork for this post (except for the Ukranian flag and the GIF) by Christine Dorman via Bing Image Creator.

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