“Catṡlechta and Other Medieval Legal Material Relating to Cats”, 2007 ():
[Edits & translates from Old Irish the surviving fragments of Early Irish cat law, particularly the “Cat-sections” or last third of Senchas Már c. 700s AD.]
The central tract on cats, Catṡlechta ‘Cat-sections’, was part of the final third of the Old Irish legal compilation known as the Senchas Már (henceforth SM). Glossed fragments of this text survive in TCD ms 1363 (H 4. 22), pg32 (CIH 1550.15–23), and part of a later commentary is also extant in Bodleian Library, Oxford ms Rawlinson B. 506, fo. 28b (CIH 110.14–21). Some citations from this material are also preserved in O’Davoren’s Glossary (henceforth O’Dav.). The tract on what a judge should know (CIH 2102.31–2103.32) lists knowledge of Catṡlechta among his requirements. Elsewhere in the Laws, fragments of material relating to cats survive in diverse texts…It is followed in SM by Conṡlechta ‘Dog-sections’; throughout the legal material under examination, therefore, it is no surprise to see that dogs and cats are occasionally listed together and to find the same or similar rules applying to both.
The purpose of this article is to edit and translate the short passages (noted above) in their entirety so as to make the primary material readily available. All departures from the diplomatic text given in CIH (collated with microfilm copies of the manuscripts involved) are explicitly marked. Thus, the extent of editorial invention (which is kept to an absolute minimum) can easily be judged. Material from Catṡlechta is edited in Part I; the different categories of cat are dealt with in Part II and all supplementary legal material on cats that I am aware of is edited in part III (a large percentage of parts II and III is from O’Davoren’s Glossary).
…Baircne (barcne or bairccni), “a cat which is on a pillow beside women always”, “a ship-warrior…a strong one, it was brought from the ship of Bresal Brecc [father of Fergus Fortamail] in which are white-breasted black cats.”
Breone: “This is a cat and she has purring and protecting (or an inarticulate cry) and 3 cows are paid for it if it has both, purring and protecting.
If it has one of the two, it is a cow and a heifer or there might not be anything for purring at all and that obtains whenever it is more than or equal to that which it protects. If it is less than this, it does not exceed [in value] the thing which it protects.
…Why are there 3 cows paid for a cat which only guards moreover? The reason is that it is removal with death which the cat does and it is removal without death which the hound yonder does which only guards moreover.”
Breoinne, “a wonderful flame in its essence, purring in its essence.”
Crúibne, “a cat of barn and mill…a warrior…a strong one, strong from its paw.”
Folum, “a cat who herds…who is kept with the cows in the enclosure.”
Glas Nenta, “a cat…which merits a sét [about half an ounce of silver] for its penalty-fine.”
Íach, “a cat…which is paid half penalty-fine, i.e. a cat which is brought, i.e. from mousing.”
Meoinne, “a pantry cat, i.e. a mew in its essence, or a little mew in its essence, i.e. purring in its essence.”
Meone: “This is a pantry cat and if there be found 3 companies of guests to affirm that their full abundance came to them and its affirmation thenceforth by the household which it protects, and two cows are paid for it. If the companies are not found to confirm it at all or though they be found, if the household does not venture to affirm it, a cow is paid for it.”
Rincne, “a children’s cat, i.e. for the reason that it torments the small children, or the children torment it.”
…An Exemption For A Cat Is A Pantry: i.e. the cat is exempt from liability for consuming the food which it may get due to negligence of keeping in the pantry, as long as it may not have taken it from a secured house or vessel; if it has taken [it], the food is like an armed one with business to be there and the cat is like an unarmed one with no business to be there and it is permissible to kill the cat there.
An Exemption For A Cat Is Catching Mice, i.e. the cat is exempt from liability for [injuring] someone with no business to be there while catching the mouse, and half-fine [is due] from him for [injuring] someone with business to be there, and the frenzy of its mouse releases it from the other half.
…Conclusion: The legal material relating to cats seems to have been primarily concerned with (1) sorting the cats into different categories and (2) working out the compensation owed for the killing of a cat, and to whom the compensation should be paid. The question of compensation for the misdeeds of a cat is not addressed in depth, but this might not have been an issue because of their feral nature and the difficulty in preventing them from roaming, though in select cases (eg. see III.5 above) they can be killed as punishment for their actions. The importance attributed to cats in medieval Irish legal sources is not paralleled in the Welsh laws:
The value of a cat, fourpence. The value of a kitten from the night it is born until it opens its eyes, a legal penny; and from then until it kills mice, two legal pence; and after it kills mice, 4 legal pence, and at that it remains for ever.
…it is obvious that cats were more important to medieval Irish society than might have been suspected. Moreover, this accords with recent archaeological research on the subject where the author concludes:
Firstly, the domestic cat had a wide, if not universal distribution, in rural Early Christian Ireland but is present in very small numbers on individual sites. Secondly, the cats present were of a relatively large size. Thirdly, most of the cats present on rural sites were mature or old individuals. This evidence suggests that cats were wellbred and cared for and kept as prized domestic pets.
This final conclusion is concrete evidence of the interest shown in all types of cat in medieval Ireland, particularly pets and ‘recreational’ cats which go unremarked in the medieval Welsh legal corpus.