Superstitions About Cats

one is changing residence andmanypeopleleavethe cat behind. It was customary to bring a black cat to the house in which the couple were going to live so that they might have luck.

we say "cait, cait" To keep a stray cat, rub grease on its paws and it willstay.

SomeriddlesfromMeath in the 1930s relating to cats:

What is it a cat has and no other animal has? Kittens

A four cornered room and in each corner of the room was a cat, and three cats looking at every cat, and a cat on every cat's tail how many cats were there Four.

Very often the married couple brought with them a grey cat when going on their honeymoon. When you see the cat washing her face there is a visitor coming.Ifacatweretofollow a woman it is a sign thatsheisgoingtodie.

Cats could tell the weather by how they acted.Whenthedogandthe cateatgrassitisthesignof rain. If a cat sits with its back to the fire, it is the signofstormsontheway.

It used to be the custom for people to tie up their

From Skryne National School comes the story of a bad cat. We know of at least one hedge school in this district. The school is known as Companas school and the teacher is knownasthe"Compana".

The school was where thepresentDillon'sBridge school now stands. The teacherwasanancestorof my own. His name was Sheridan. He was my grand-father's grandfather.

He afterwards became a National School Teacher. Andhisnameisoneofthe first in the records of the board National Education. He taught from a book known as "the Redimedaisy" (or Reading madeeasy)

Amongst other things thisbookcontainsinformation about the stars in a rhyme. We do not know how hard they worked in this school but one day a black cat tried to kill the master’s chickens and the children spent the rest of the day trying to kill the cat.

Certain sayings were associated with cats. The cat has leave to look at the king, but the king has no leave to shoot him. Every cat knows its own kitten. While the cat is away the micemayplay.

When the cat comes homethemicemaygroan. A cat in gloves catches no mice. What will a cat do but drink milk. Curiosity killed the cat and satisfaction made him fat. She would watch you like a cat watchingamouse.

Certain superstitions were associated with cats. It is considered very unlucky to take a cat when catsonHalloweeninorder to keep them safe from witches.Thosewhodonot tie up their own cat might see it wandering about throughthefieldscarrying awitchonitsback.

If a black cat strays into your house it is a sign of good luck. If a cat washes her face and looks up the chimney, the first person she looks at will be first to die.

When beggars entered a house they used to say, "Godblessallhere,barthe cat and the dog."

The call for a cat is "push, push" (Puisin, puisin").

When hunting out the cat

From Walterstown School comes the story of the talkative cat. Christy and Pat Macken every night used to sit at the fire for a chat. Some of the boys around Walterstown usedtogointothehalland listen to them. Pat and Christy used to wonder how the people would knowwhattheyusedtobe saying. So this night they were talking and Pat said to Christy "put out that cat thedevilmustbeinhim",

These stories come from The National Folklore Collection, University College Dublin.Thisisacollection of folklore compiled by schoolchildren in Ireland inthe1930s.

It was originally written by the children or their teachers and transcribed to text in recent years by volunteers.