This week’s featured moggie is a 14-year-old cat in St. Andrews, Scotland, named Hamish McHamish, a nominally feral cat who is actually taken care of buy the residents, though he has no home. As The Dodo notes:
“The legend is if you don’t let him into your home and feed him you will have bad luck,” says Flora Selwyn, editor of the St. Andrews in Focus magazine.
Hamish is voluntarily feral. As Wikipedia notes:
Hamish was born in 1999 and initially owned by Marianne Baird, a retired BBC producer. In the first year of his life he resided at Ms Baird’s home. During this time he became increasingly nomadic, often spending days away from home, being fed and watered at various homes in the town. He is known to spend most of his time in and around the houses and businesses on South Street, St Andrews, ironically close to his original home.
Ms Baird still cares for Hamish’s well-being by ensuring he attends a veterinarian every year for a health check up and vaccinations.
You can see what good condition he’s in! Although I once spent a lot of time in St. Andrews, I regret that I never saw, or even heard about, Hamish. Here he is enjoying his fame with the usual cat insouciance:
On April 5, a £5000 bronze statue to Hamish, funded by the local residents, was unveiled in the town square:
Hamish’s statue was also highlighted in The Independent and the CBC News, which reports:
Lovingly referred to as the “collective pet” of St. Andrews, Scotland, Hamish has been bringing joy to the people of his small town for more than a decade.According to The Scotsman, the beloved stray has been spending his time in various shops, houses and buildings around town since he ran away from home at the age of one (his former owner still ensures that Hamish gets annual veterinary check-ups, don’t fret.)“Our statue is a way of saying thank you to Hamish for being so ‘purrfectly’ adorable and to celebrate him and the joy he brings us,” said campaign founder and local resident Flora Selwyn to The Scotsman. “Hamish is a wonderful animal.”On the day of the big reveal, the guest of honour arrived in a black convertible to greet his fans:
Of course Hamish also has a Facebook page, a Twi**er account, and a really nice Wikipedia page.
He expressed gratitude for his statue in a typical catlike way:
Finally, a narrow squeak for Hamish (from Wikipedia again):
In January 2014 Hamish was chased by two dogs and escaped by climbing a tree. He was later helped to safety by students of the university and staff from a local business. This incident encouraged Jim Leishman, Provost of Fife and ex-manager of Dunfermline Athletic Football Club to ask dog owners to ensure their pets were kept on a lead while near Hamish.
h/t: Robert, Anne
A very handsome and positively leonine cat!
Lovely cat. I suppose he left home because he was just too much cat for one house.
I see that photo of the cat walking on the cobblestone street and I know he is the boss around there, and that he knows he is the boss.
Is there anything of particular note about the name Hamish?
Hamish is a widespread (in Scotland) and popular name. It stems from the Gaelic Seumas, and its English equivalent is James.
From the photos and description, Hamish allows humans to get close to him, touch him, and put a collar on him, so he is not feral, he is a well-socialized stray.
It is nice that he is so popular and that people care for him and feed him. It is not uncommon for cats to live this way if they aren’t kept indoors, but it takes a certain type of feline personality to be successful at it and make lots of human friends. I’ve known several that did it, including my cat Tabby before we adopted him.
He has a human look to him – like a man with mutton chops!
Bet he’d like mutton chops for noms, too!
And haggis too.
IF ProfCC spent time in St.Andrews, then he will, at some point have seen the “hilarious” tartan bunnets with a fringe of bright orange hair. Very popular with drunk fitba fans.
Now we know who they were modelled on : Hamish McHamish.
(Never met the moggie on our trips to St.A ; will keep eyes peeled in future.)
He’s a good looking cat.
If I remember right, the Scots are known for their smoked salmon. If so, I rather suspect Mr. McHamish would graciously accept a tribute of lox. I know Baihu does….
b&
I have never known a cat refuse smoked salmon! Or a fish supper, in reference to Hamish’s tw**t.
One time, a friend of mine was eating a fish supper (battered haddock and chips, in Edinburgh)off his knees when our cat, Spliff (he had a white tail with a black tip), raced up on his blind side, grabbed the whole fish from Stevie, tucked it under his arm like a rugby player and dived under the couch where he guarded his prize, growling like a leopard.
Can I just add that it has made my weekend to see a mention, however peripheral, of my team, Dunfermline Athletic FC, here on WEIT! Big Jim Leishman is a true gentleman and a lovely guy, so I’m not at all surprised that he should be concerned with the welfare of a stray cat.
Looks like a Maine Coon to me or at least a cross with a lot of MC in it. I ought to know as I have ten of the monsters (plus 13 kittens and two pregnant mothers).
When I use the word “ought” I suppose I mean “should”.
Looking at the ruff it could be a Norwegian.
I am surprised the original owner let it roam (assuming it is a pedigree MC).
I have always had the utmost respect for JC (the evolutionary scientist that is, not the alleged son of the deity) and have probably recommended WEIT to more people than any other book I have read. To find that he is a cat lover has just pushed that respect stratospheric.