Tradition / Region: Dutch Mythology
Alternative names: Miller’s Cat, Witch Cat
Category: Cat
The Myth
The Mulderskat appears as a large black cat with glowing yellow or green eyes. Unlike an ordinary cat, it can speak in a human voice and serves as the animal form of a witch. Although it behaves like a normal feline, injuries inflicted upon the cat are reflected on the witch after she resumes her human form.
According to the legend, a miller living in Veendam could never keep a farmhand for very long. Every servant eventually abandoned the mill because the miller’s wife was secretly believed to be a witch.
One night, a new farmhand climbed onto the mill to turn its cap into the wind. There he found a large cat sitting in the darkness, its eyes shining brightly. To his surprise, the cat spoke to him, warning him that the Wicked Bonde would soon arrive.
Unlike the previous servants, the young man was not afraid. Realizing that the strange animal was a witch in disguise, he grabbed a piece of wood and struck the cat with a powerful blow. Crying out in pain, the cat fled into the darkness.
The following morning, the miller’s wife could not get out of bed. Her head was heavily bandaged, bearing the same wound that the cat had received the night before. Forced to explain herself, she admitted that she had inherited witchcraft from her mother and begged the doctor to free her from the curse.
The doctor knew of an old remedy. On a dark evening, the woman had to travel to the Wildeveld, where three ancient hollow willow trees stood beside a meadow. Wearing a gray woolen cap, she had to lure a mysterious owl that lived inside one of the hollow trees. The owl had to scratch the cap from her head, for only then could the witchcraft be removed.
After recovering from her wounds, the miller’s wife followed the doctor’s instructions. She went to the old willow trees and whistled until the owl landed on her cap and clawed it from her head. The owl immediately carried the cap into its hollow tree and disappeared.
No one ever discovered what became of the cap, but from that day onward, the miller’s wife was cured of her witchcraft, and the strange speaking Mulderskat was never seen again.
Sources
Ter Laan, K. Groninger volksleven. I. Verhalende folklore. Groningen: J.B. Wolters, 1959. 1st ed.