The Last Wolf

Although no longer to be found in the wild in the UK since around the 17th century, wolves in British folklore are seen as animals to be feared, We are all familiar with tales of wolves in the woods, luring and eating unsuspecting children or grandmothers. The wolf also snatches women and  babies in some British tales. In Medieval stories, he would spit on his paws to make his approach silent to unsuspecting victims, or bite a paw if he trod on a twig. This image appears in some church carvings.

There are a few stories where the wolf is shown in a positive light- in some Scottish stories, a wolf nurtured human babies and in some saints’ legends the wolf appears as a dog-like companion. There is a story of a wolf guarding St Edmund’s head near Hoxne, Suffolk.

There are many stories about the ‘last wolf’ hunted in England. January was known as ‘wolf month’ because it was the time of year when people were in most danger of falling victim to wolves and the wolf hunting season was between 25th December to 25th March. There are stories of the last wolf being killed in Cheshire at the end of the fifteenth century, at a farmhouse named ‘Wolfa’ near Great Salkfield in Cumberland, or at Wolverstone in Devon. There are also stories of a wolf being killed at ‘Wolfscrag’, West Chiltington, Sussex but it is thought that many of these stories were most likely inspired by their wolfish place names.

In recent years there have been proposals to reintroduce wolves to parts of Scotland and England.

'The Last Wolf' is now available in my Etsy shop as a greeting card, small or large print.

Dratsie

My latest work features an otter, or ‘dratsie’ to use its Scottish name.

Otters usually offer help to humans in folk tales by bringing food so are usually considered to be animals symbolising joyfulness, playfulness and happiness. Their Anglo-Saxon name was the ‘water-snake’ and in Celtic folklore they are referred to as ‘water dogs’.

Irish and Scottish highlanders believed that otters had other-wordly powers and that they secretly lived as part of kingdoms, like humans. Their rulers were called ‘otter kings’ and were thought to be accompanied by seven black otters. It was thought that the Otter king’s skin was magical and could protect an entire household from harm, but this came at a price. The person or beast who killed the otter king would die shortly afterwards. Legend says that the few surviving suporters of Bonnie Prince Charlie at the Battle of Culloden were all carrying king otter skin to protect them from harm.

This new design will be available as cards and prints at my open studio as part of h.Art from the 10th-18th September. Please see details below.

My Final Fox Design

Earlier in the year, I created this new piece of work entitled 'Mr Fox'. Foxes are very much out of favour with me at the moment after losing my beautiful cat Mia to one a few months ago. Unfortunately, I don't see myself painting any more for the foreseeable future but 'Mr Fox' was already finished and in my batch of recent work to be scanned and made into prints.

'Mr Fox'

There are folk tales across Britain of a cunning foxy gentleman who tricks a young lady into agreeing to marry him with his elegance and fine manners. Little does the lady know that Mr Fox is planning to murder her. Foxes often represent male predators hunting female prey in these stories. Thankfully in most of the tales the lady is more cunning than sly Mr Fox.

This picture is now available as a greeting card and print and is the second fox in my collection along with 'The Kirtlington Vixen'.

In British folklore witches were rumoured to be able to turn themselves into foxes, amongst other creatures.

According to the story, there was once a vixen in Kirtlington, Oxfordshire which no huntsmen were ever able to catch. Once day they finally tracked her down with their hounds and chased her for many miles. They thought they had her trapped when she ran inside a small cottage. By the time they reached the cottage, the only living thing they found inside was an old woman, slightly out of breath.

Please visit my Etsy shop or get in touch to order any foxy related products from me. I always have them with me at art markets too. The next one will be the Teme Valley Market at The Talbot at Knightwick on Sunday 14th August.

The Magic of the Hare

It seems like hares are having a bit of a moment; Every art show and gallery I go to features some kind of beautiful representation of these mysterious animals, yet we still can’t get enough of them. My hare designs are by far and away my most popular prints and cards, and I absolutely love to paint, draw and read about them.

So why are we so drawn to the hare?

'Midwinter Messenger'
Kate Betty Smith
Coming Soon as original, greeting card, small & large print

The hare features in many myths linked to the moon from all over the world. He was believed to be the messenger of the moon in many ancient legends and was linked to many gods and goddesses such as the Anglo Saxon goddess Eostre. In some stories he was though to travel between worlds under the cover of darkness when the moon was full. These mysterious creatures become associated with life and re-birth due to their appearance when the moon is full.

'Winter Moon'
Kate Betty Smith
Available as greeting card, small & large print

As well as being seen in a positive light, there are many myths and legends featuring the hare as a trickster closely tied to witchcraft. According to ‘The Lore of the Land’, almost every rural area in the country has stories of a witch able to shape-shift into a hare. The hare always managed to evade the local hunters but on occasion would become wounded and a trail of blood would lead back to an old woman’s cottage. Inside there was no sign of the hare, but the old woman had an identical injury. At this point her identity was usually revealed and her powers broken.

My favourite variation of this tale is from Tavistock where an old woman’s young grandson used to make a fair amount of pocket money by tipping off the local huntsmen as to the whereabouts of a particularly tricky hare to catch. They would always reward him for spotting the hare but could never catch her. One day, however, the hounds were too close to the hare for comfort and the boy was heard to shout,

“Run, Granny, run, run for your life!”

His grandmother arrived home panting, bleeding and exhausted, but safe and with her powers intact. There are also tales of children warning the witch in Breamore and Longtown, Hereford.

'The Messenger'
Kate Betty Smith
Available as greeting card, small & large print

There was said to be a very well respected and powerful witch in Zennor, Cornwall. Well, she was treated with great respect by all but her own husband who did not believe in her magic. One night he threatened to kill her because his supper wasn’t ready. She put on her cloak and left the cottage, but there was no sign of her, only a large hare where she had been. She appeared soon afterwards with a hot and steaming feast and the husband, unnerved at what he had seen, never dared cross her again.

The feet of rabbits and hares were also used as good luck charms, with the foot being brushed against a baby’s face to ward off misfortune. Actors also used them to apply stage make up and kissed them for good luck.

'Moon Gazing'
Kate Betty Smith
Available as greeting card, small & large print

In Cornish legend if a young girl dies of a broken heart, she is said to return as a white hare to haunt her former lover. There is a particularly grizzly tale of Lord Pengersec- a man who sailed to a distant land in search of adventure. He met and fell in love with a beautiful princess and promised her his heart but returned home to his wife in Cornwall. He was horrified when the Princess appeared at his castle with their newborn child and turned her away. The princess cursed him and he pushed her over a cliff to her death. Her ghost came to haunt him in the form of a white hare with blazing red eyes during a storm whilst he was hunting. His hounds and horse abandoned him in fear and he woke half dead, without his sword and full of terror. He went on to live a cursed life and his only son Marec disappeared and was never seen again after seeing the same spectre one stormy night in a flash of lightning.

My dip pen and ink drawing from Hallmark's 1999 version of
'Alice in Wonderland'

Perhaps the most famous hare in literature is the March Hare- companion to the Mad Hatter in ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’. The phrase ‘mad as a March hare’ is thought to originate from their strange behaviour, such as boxing and jumping, during their breeding season. During the 18th century top hats were manufactured using hare skins. To prevent the fur from becoming matted, the skins would be kept in a bubbling vat of mercury nitrate and as we all now know, that’s quite enough to turn anyone into a ‘Mad Hatter’.

Messenger of the gods, moon gazer, trickster, shape-shifter, the ghostly form of the slighted lover. There’s such a rich history of stories surrounding the hare. I think they remind us of deep-rooted legends of the land and will always fascinate and inspire us.

If you would like to find out more about the folklore of hares, I thoroughly recommend two books I use to find inspiration for my work, as well as to write this blog post:

'The Lore of the Land' by Westwood & Simpson

'Spirit of the Hare' by Karen Cater

New Work: Highland Tiger

I come from a family of cat ladies. When it comes to our feline friends, the love is very strong which is why I was heartbroken to lose my beautiful cat Mia a few months ago. I miss her very much and keep expecting to see her around the house- my mind has even played tricks on me a few times when I think I’ve seen her lying on my bed, or coming in through the cat flap.

I decided that I wanted to paint a cat piece of artwork whilst the house feels empty and wrong. I like to focus on painting wild animals so I chose the elusive Scottish wildcat. 

Wildcats only remain in northern Scotland (they have died out in other areas of Britain) and are under threat due to a variety of factors including hybridization after breeding with domestic cats. There’s a fantastic program underway to try to conserve the Scottish wildcat which you can find out more about here. I was lucky enough to hear about the project on a wildlife tour in Ardnamurchan last year. I’m returning again next year and hope to learn more about how the project is progressing.

Known as the ‘Highland tiger’, the wildcat understandably has many folk tales attached to it and is an icon of the Scottish wilderness. It was even used in clan heraldry in the 13th century. The Clan Chattan Association (‘Clan of Cats’ formed of 12 different clans) use the wildcat in their badges and have the ominous motto of ‘Touch not the cat bot (without) a glove’. Be warned!

Charles St John had this to say of the wildcat,

“When caught in a trap, they fly without hesitation at any person who approaches them, not waiting to be assailed. I have heard many stories of their attacking and severely wounding a man, when their escape has been cut off... If a tame cat has 9 lives then a wildcat must have a dozen”.

There are tales of a Cat Sìth which was said to be either a fairy creature or witch. It appeared as a large black cat with a white spot on its chest and is said to haunt the highlands. It is thought that these stories are inspired by the Kellas cat which was possible a cross between a wildcat and domestic cat.

I really enjoyed creating this painting and the finished piece, entitled ‘Highland Tiger’ is going to be available in original, greeting card and print form very soon and I will be making a donation from every sale to the Wildcat Haven project.

Information from this blog post is from 'Scottish Wildcats: Naturally Scottish' by Kerry Kilshaw