portrait of this blog's author - by Stephen Blackman 2008

Saturday, April 23, 2022

CATS (onboard ship) - for Amy and Rob

      

       Nice entry on social media (twitter) from one Molly Hodgdon about Cats and I dedicate this to my daughter and her fellah who have two wonderful chilled cats [Buster and Buddy] and we shared a mutual admiration for their wonderful first cat, George, who I doted on and who befriended me and taught me a great deal. Not least how to cat wrestle, collude with ruining furniture, and above all laugh out loud at a cat hurtling downstairs in the middle of the night and up and across curtains and back up stairs because he felt like it! 

"It used to be pretty common for there to be cats on boats. They’d take care of any rodents who would chew on ropes or wires and spread diseases. Sailors were also superstitious and believed that having a cat aboard would bring good luck! This belief passed on to their wives, who kept cats - especially black ones who were believed to be extra lucky - at home in order to keep their husbands safe when at sea. Another popular superstition? That if a cat came aboard it was a sign of luck, but if it only boarded halfway and then left the ship, it was a sign of bad luck! Most ship’s cats are only found in modern times on private vessels but they have roots going back to early history. One such example is the Vikings, who took cats with them on expeditions." M.H.


Sources: Ship’s Cats, @Manglewood


cc: @petermorwood 😊











@manglewood



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