Black Cat Day

October 27th is national Black Cat Day! It's a day to celebrate black cats. The Cats" Protection League say it takes them a week longer to re-home a black cat than it does other cats. There have been a few theories to why black cats are harder to re-home ranging from some people foolishly think black cats are bad luck, to speculation that black cats don't photograph as well and people only want pets they can take nice pictures of to put on social media!

Well that last one is stupid as I have included here 3 pictures I took of my black cat Rookie and she photographed beautifully!  

Rookie was a rescue cat from the Cats Protection League and and older lady when I got her, as she was age 11. She lived for another 8 very happy years! 

So what of this persistent belief that black cats bring bad luck? I was brought up to think it was lucky if a black cat crossed your path, not unlucky. The black cat has many folklore associations including:

In  Scotland it was thought that a black cat entering your house brought prosperity!

In fact in most of Britain and in Japan black cats were / are seen as lucky.

But at odds with that belief in Britain and Europe black cats were also associated with bad luck, bad omens and witches. To the extent that cats and in particular black ones were persecuted along with many women and men during the middle ages and into the 17th Century as witches. In Europe black cats were often burned in baskets as witch hunters claimed they were the vehicle of the devil. There were many superstitions that evil spirits or witches could transform themselves into black cats.. So along with those poor men and women killed accused of witchcraft, many cats were also slaughtered. However there is little evidence that these mass cat burnings happened in Britain it was mainly a European phenomenon. 

It is said that a black cat could be saved from burning if it had a white mark somewhere on it's body. These were called angel marks. That is why to this day completely black cats are incredibly rare. Most black cats will have a white fleck somewhere on their coat often close to their throat. As these white flecked cats survived and their all black relatives were killed, genetics took their course and the white flecks were passed on.

Apparently many ships cats were black as they were considered lucky.

So it seems that the black cat has a history of mixed associations with good and bad luck. As well as my Rookie I also had a lovely black cat called Mr Shoo. Both cats were part siamese and loved to talk. I love black cats and truly believe like all cats, they bring great happiness to any home, but maybe black cats bring an extra bit of happiness! 

There have been some famous black cats in history and one of my favourites is Samuel Johnson's black cat Hodge. There is a statue of Hodge near Dr Johnson's house. Below is an extract from Boswell's life of Samuel Johnson about Johnson's love for Hodge:

Nor would it be just, under this head, to omit the fondness which he showed for animals which he had taken under his protection. I never shall forget the indulgence with which he treated Hodge, his cat: for whom he himself used to go out and buy oysters, lest the servants having that trouble should take a dislike to the poor creature. I am, unluckily, one of those who have an antipathy to a cat, so that I am uneasy when in the room with one; and I own, I frequently suffered a good deal from the presence of this same Hodge. I recollect him one day scrambling up Dr. Johnson's breast, apparently with much satisfaction, while my friend smiling and half-whistling, rubbed down his back, and pulled him by the tail; and when I observed he was a fine cat, saying, "Why yes, Sir, but I have had cats whom I liked better than this;" and then as if perceiving Hodge to be out of countenance, adding, "but he is a very fine cat, a very fine cat indeed."

This reminds me of the ludicrous account which he gave Mr. Langton, of the despicable state of a young Gentleman of good family. "Sir, when I heard of him last, he was running about town shooting cats." And then in a sort of kindly reverie, he bethought himself of his own favourite cat, and said, "But Hodge shan't be shot; no, no, Hodge shall not be shot."