Emporiblog - The Mousehole Cat
Where does the Mousehole Cat take place?
This legend takes place in Cornwall (UK) in the village of Mousehole (pronounced Mouzel) just a few miles from Penzance.
Who is the Mousehole Cat?
The Mousehole Cat is a black and white cat called Mouzer.
What did Mouzer do?
Mouzer and her human Tom Bawcock, saved their village from starvation caused by a bad storm, just in time for Christmas of course!
How did they save Mousehole?
Story time.....
Like most Cornish towns, Mousehole is a fishing town. Unfortunately, the weather in Cornwall during the winter, can bring terrible storms that make it impossible to sail. This is what happened in the Mousehole legend.
The month of December had started and so had the storms. Said storms were making it impossible for the fishermen to go and bring fish back to the village. Legend has it that these storms are caused by the Great Storm Cat (this will be important for later). After several weeks, the village was beginning to run low on food and soon everyone would starve. A decision was made that Tom Bawcock would be the one to try and brave the storm.
Tom was the oldest fisherman in the village and decided to use his experience to at least try to save the village and his beloved black and white cat, Mouzer. Mouzer loved Tom and she loved fish almost as much as she loved Tom because Tom would always bring fresh fish to feed her, which also made her fur nice and soft and shiny. But now, her tummy was grumbling, longing for some fish. She looked out of the window and she could see the Great Storm Cat pounding against the harbour walls with all its fury. When Tom returned home, he told Mouzer that he would be braving the storm to try and bring some fish back for everyone. So, on the 23rd of December, Tom set off.
But Mouzer wouldn't let her Tom go alone! She followed him to his boat and jumped on deck before Tom could say otherwise. Together, they braved the waves and made it out of the harbour and to the see. However, the Great Storm Cat saw them and started to play with their boat like a cat plays with a mouse and began to throw the boat up into the air. Tom and Mouzer were terrified but then, Mouzer had an idea. She ran to the bow of the ship and started to sing. Her song began to calm the Great Storm Cat and the seas calmed with him. Mouzer sang and sang while Tom saw an opportunity to cast his nets. When he pulled his nets back, they where full of fish! Mouzer's song had completely calmed the Great Storm Cat and the ferocious winds had been replaced by his purrs.
Now that the storms had calmed, the rest of the villagers were standing on on the docks with laterns and torches, worrying about Tom and Mouzer and whether they would return. To their delight, Tom and Mouzer came home with enough fish to save Mousehole!
I should point out that there are 2 versions of this story. The story that I recanted is from the book The Mousehole Cat by Antonia Barber which is based on the legend of Tom Bawcock and the Stargazy Pie.
In the original legend, there was no cat and Tom braved the waters on his own and brought back seven different kinds of fish which where then baked into a pie but the heads poke out of the top of the pastry, hence the name Stargazy Pie.
Does The Mousehole Cat still have a place in modern times?
Yes she does! In Mousehole, the 23rd of December is called Tom Bawcock's Eve and Stargazy Pie is baked and served at the local inn. There are also some Christmas lights in the shape a Stargazy Pie to commemorate the original legend and some lights in the shape of a cat to commemorate Mouzer and the retelling of the legend.
I was lucky enough to visit Mousehole many years ago on a holiday (I used to live up North but am half Cornish and have family here). The visit also happend to coincide with a school project as we where learning about The Mousehole Cat at the time! Unfortunately, I don't have the pictures of the lights with me!!
I hope you've enjoyed this post!! Stay tuned for more festive posts!!
Blessings,
C )0(
👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
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