A cat has surprised bus drivers by commuting on a busy route most days for the past three months.
The mystery cat jumps on the No 331 service in Wolverhampton and rides it two stops down the road before leaping off near the shops. (a fish and chip shop is nearby)
Since January, the cat - nicknamed Macavity by drivers - has caught the bus three times a week and always gets on and off at the same spot.
"It was quite strange at first but now seems normal. He is the perfect passenger. The only problem is he never pays."
(as seen at daily mail.co.uk)
18 comments:
More of the story has been revealed. This is not a real cat. It is a ghost. The poor cat was sturck by a car and killed on that section of the road. Since the cat was not "done" living, it rides/haunts that section of road. Perhaps forever.
After a little more research, it turns out he was killed chasing a black cat named Smokey. Smokey dropped a piece of fish in the middle of the road (stolen from that very same fish and chips shop) and when Macavity went to retrieve it, BAM. He was a goner. Smokey was seen sitting on the edge of the road, grinning, before he disappeared with an unidentified female tabby cat. It's now thought Macavity travels that section of road looking for Smokey.
dododododo how strange??? great story though!
Interesting. I was doing some research too, on the name they gave the cat, and found that Macavity was the name of a Shakespear character. He was a lost stranger that frequently appeared in many stage productions. He never had any lines. He would typically cross the stage quietly, once, maybe twice. Sometimes he would drop something. Other times pick something up. Today he would have been considered an extra in a crowd shot.
even as an extra with no lines, his presence was so notable onstage (albeit infrequently) that they brought in an understudy by the name of Griddlebone. Griddlebone would take his place on stage when Macavity wouldn't show.
but back to Macavity the ghost. British legend says if your house is haunted by a cat, that is lucky. Your house will be free of trouble, and safe from predators. You will also seldom lose things.
Some people leave small bowls of water out near a door in the hopes of attracting a cat ghost into their home.
The original Macavity was a breed called a Chester Fair. They were a very light colored cat, typically white but sometimes a fawn color. They were extremely soft coated and often sought after as they were an allergen free cat. They were not the brightest cat however. They were also often deaf, which lead them to trouble. As the legend of Macavity illustrates, he most likely was so involved in the food scrap in the road he never heard the car coming.
The breed still exists but has been bred so often to try to eliminate the hearing loss from the breed that finding a pure bred in England, let alone anywhere else is nearly impossible. Many in England call a fair colored short haired cat a Chester Cat.
it's true they were very soft coated. And yes, for that reason they were much sought after, but not just because they were allergen free. Sadly, because of the hearing loss they were not considered a good pet, so were sold on the black market for their fur. I have never seen a full Chester coat but know the fur was used for stoles and wraps as well as glove lining and collars. The fawn color was especially popular but hard to come by. Luckily our friend Macavity led a good life before his untimely demise and his fur is still intact.
Was hoping to avoid this topic. But as recent as this past February, the practice of using domesticated animal fur for clothing still remains.
Check out this article "Humane Society: "Faux Fur" often animal hair at http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/02/07/dog.fur/
that is sad.
I've been trying to find out more about Smokey and the unidentified Tabby as they were both present when Macavity was killed. I still don’t know a lot about the Tabby other than she and Macavity were seen together quite often before Smokey came into the picture. Smokey and Macavity were not pals. Whenever the two were in the same vicinity, fur would fly. It was said both had a number of scratches to show for it.
More interesting than the other cats are the owners of Macavity.
Katherine "Kate" Morris, a nurse from Hampstead, and her husband Colin, an accountant, originally found Macavity. When they bought their tiny rowhouse in Wolverhampton, a small kitten was found living under a step in the yard. Colin was incredibly allergic to dogs and cats, but this kitten did not bother him at all. Kate, having a soft spot for all little creatures, used to nurse injured birds back tp health in her potting shed, brought the tiny white kitten into the house.
Eventually, they found out the lineage of this rare breed and began the first formal Cat Breeding Club in Britain, The Chester and North Wales Cat Club, in existance to this day.
I love cats i have 10 of them myself so i find this very interesting thanks for sharing.
it is pretty weird the information you can find these days using the internet!
This is fascinating, and I am gonna keep on digging.
Hi Lilli and Nevada, thanks for stopping by!
R, it is fascinating!
I did some more digging myself and came up with an interesting story on Kate and Colin Morris!
The Morris family was very well known in Wolverhampton. They had been in the area for years. They were a family of means and highly respected. Mayor John Morris, a relation, was knighted by the queen in 1869.
Colin was to take over the family business and stood to inherit a great deal of money. Colin met Kate through a mutual acquaintance in Hampstead. They dated only a short time before marrying.
Colin’s father cut Colin out of his will after he married Kate. It turns out Kate was born in the village of Canewdon in Essex. Canewdon has a long history rooted in witchcraft. All who lived in the village were said to be descendants of witches. As Kate had been born and raised in Canewdon, Colin’s father (who was in the early stages of dementia) believed she was a witch. He thought Kate had bewitched Colin for his money.
Colin never contested the change in his father’s will. He must have been happy with his modest life with Kate (and Macavity!)
Been trying to find out more about the Morris family. How did they gain their wealth? I found some connection to the Queen's court but little else.
I did find out that Colin had an older brother and two younger sisters. Colin's brother seemed to be in charge of the family wealth as he was the eldest. Sadly, Frederick came to an unfortunate demise. He drowned on a fishing trip. His sisters came to an untimely death as well. Sarah was in a riding accident and Anne in a fire at their country home in Essex.
In the end, Colin did take control of the family estate, although under terribly unfortunate circumstances which left him broken. He did find great comfort in his simpler life and love with Kate. Few people knew his family history or where he came from. Morris was Kate's family name. Halstead was Colin's family's surname.
I'm not sure how they acquired their wealth to begin with. I know part of their business was artificial manure manufacturing and this was quite successful.
Kate's family name was Halstead, not Colin's. They took the name Halstead from a neighboring village in the hopes that no one would know they were from Canewdon. Colin's family surname was Morris. (An understandable mistake though as sifting through bits and pieces of information on the internet can be difficult with so much unverified!)
From Wikipedia:
Canewdon is a village in the Rochford District of Essex in England.
The origin of the name is unclear. It is mistakenly believed by some to come from King Canute, who famously demonstrated the error of his subjects who believed him to have God-like powers, by telling the tide to stop (which of course did not). The village is on a hill, and locally is claimed to be the site of an ancient camp used by Canute, during a battle during his invasion of Essex in 1013.
A 14th Century Church, with its 15th Century Tower and Porch, stands on a hill, 128 feet above the marshes. The oldest part of the Church is the outside wall of the North Aisle which contains many Roman bricks, presumably from an earlier building.
There is much superstition around the village, believed to be a centre of witchcraft. Legend has it that while the church tower stands, there will always remain six witches in Canewdon. Local folklore also has it that if you walk around it seven times on Halloween you will see a witch, and 13 times you will disappear. Both these stories can make the village a popular destination on Halloween, to the extent that the police have been known to seal off the village to non-residents.
The majority of the village was built in the mid-Sixties.
It is about 2 miles from the River Crouch.
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