The Wampus cat is a cat-like creature in American folklore that varies widely in appearance, ranging from frightful to comical, depending on region.
Description
editEarly references, by the American Dialect Society, noted the Wampus cat as "a creature heard whining about camps at night," "a spiritual green-eyed cat, having occult powers," or "an undefined imaginary animal."[1] Folklorist Vance Randolph described the Wampus cat as "a kind of amphibious panther which leaps into the water and swims like a colossal mink."[2] The Wampus cat was mentioned in newspaper accounts of the 1930s in the Piedmont of North Carolina. The creature was accused of killing livestock. [3]
Examples
editThe Wampus cat is the mascot of the following:
- Clark Fork Junior/Senior High School, Clark Fork, Idaho[4]
- Conway Junior High/ High School, Conway, Arkansas[5]
- Atoka High School, Atoka, Oklahoma[6]
- Itasca High School, Itasca, Texas[7]
- Leesville High School, Leesville, Louisiana[8]
In popular culture
edit- A musical ensemble who recorded several tracks in 1937 and 1938, and consisting of six or seven string musicians including Oscar "Buddy" Woods, were billed as "the Wampus Cats".[9]
- J. K. Rowling's Pottermore story History of Magic in North America[10] lists the Wampus cat as a source for hair used in magic wands.[11] The American School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Ilvermorny, also has named one of its four houses for the mythical beast.[12]
- Strangeways Brewing in Virginia brews a beer[13] named after the cat.
- In the Cormac McCarthy novel The Orchard Keeper, the character Uncle Ather tells stories about Wampus cats, or "painters".[14]
- In the Roald Dahl novel James and the Giant Peach, the police officers and firemen of New York City mistook the Centipede for a Wampus.
- In Skylanders: Imaginators, the Skylander Sensei Mysticat is a sphinx who evokes the traits of the Wampus cat.
- Kobold Press converted the Wampus cat into a monster for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition in its sourcebook Tome of Beasts. These Wampus cats appear as female mountain lions with the heads of human, trollkin, orc, or goblin women and are created through curses leveled by shamans upon women who practice forbidden magic. Possessing the ability to enthrall others with their voice, Wampus cats despise all men, but especially holy men, priests, and shamans, whom they seek to kill in retribution for their fate.
- Pardon My Take, a sports podcast, used the Wampus cat as a euphemism for consuming a large amount of chewing tobacco as a punishment for mistakenly predicting a “whomping” in the 2022 NBA Playoff series between the Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets.
- The 1965 Tommy Collins song "If You Can't Bite, Don't Growl" includes the lyrics "I'm a wampus kitty and a mean mamma".
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "American Dialect Society. Dialect Notes (1905-1912). Volume III. (New Haven: The Turtle, Morehouse & Taylor Company, 1913)". September 4, 1890. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
- ^ Randolph, Vance. We Always Lie to Strangers: Tall Tales from the Ozarks. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1951.)
- ^ Stonestreet, O. C.; Stonestreet, O. C. I. V. (March 2, 2016). Curse of the Wampus, and Other Short Spooky Stories of Piedmont North Carolina. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1523237494.
- ^ Clark Fork Junior/Senior High School website Legend written by lifelong Clark Fork resident Shirley Dawson Crawford
- ^ Owens, Judy (June 20, 2008). "Reporters Looking for Stories, Finding Wampus Cats | Daily Yonder | Keep It Rural". Daily Yonder. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
- ^ "Atoka Alumni Association – Home". Wampuscatalumni.com. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
- ^ Itasca ISD - TX - IISD Home Archived September 8, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Leesville High School - Home Archived April 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Uncle Dave Lewis. "Buddy Woods". Allmusic. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
- ^ Sian Cain (March 8, 2016). "New JK Rowling story History of Magic in North America depicts Native American wizards". the Guardian.
- ^ Rowling, J.K. (March 11, 2016). "1920s Wizarding America", "History of Magic in North America". Pottermore.
- ^ Rowling, J.K. (June 28, 2016). "Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry", "Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry". Pottermore.
- ^ "Strangeways Wampus Cat Triple IPA". RateBeer. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
- ^ McCarthy, Cormac (August 11, 2010). The Orchard Keeper. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307762504.