Black Cats
Bringer of good or bad luck?
The superstitions surrounding black cats varies from culture to culture,
but black cats have positive associations in the Celtic nations and
Japanese folklore. Black cats were sacred in Celtic mythology. Scottish
lore holds that a black cat's arrival at a new home signifies
prosperity, while Welsh lore states that a black cat brings good health:
Cath ddu, mi glywais dd’wedyd, A fedr swyno hefyd, A chadw’r teulu
lle mae’n byw O afael pob rhyw glefyd.
A black cat, I’ve heard it said, Can charm all ill away, And keep
the house wherein she dwells From fever’s deadly sway.
—A Welsh folklore rhyme, 1896
However, both the Gaels and Celtic Britons had traditions of feral and
sometimes malevolent black cats. In Scottish mythology, a fairy known as
the Cat sìth takes the form of a black cat, while in Welsh mythology the
monstrous Cath Palug grew from a black kitten. In England, as with other
Germanic cultures, some areas would associate black cats with witches
and bad luck.
The mix of positive and negative associations in Great Britain may have
given rise to the later belief that black cats were omens of both good
and bad luck. One tradition states that if a black cat walks towards
someone, it is said to bring good fortune, but if it walks away, it
takes the good luck with it. This tradition was reversed at sea where
18th century pirates came to believe that a black cat would bring bad
luck if it walks towards someone, and good luck if it walks away from
someone. It was also believed that if a black cat walks onto a ship and
then walks off it, the ship is doomed to sink on its next trip.
Furthermore, it is believed that a lady who owns a black cat will have
many suitors.