One of the most interesting Scottish clans is the Clan Chattan Confederacy of the eastern Highlands, an alliance of several clans under the overall leadership of the Mackintoshes. Their name literally means the “cat clan confederacy,” and their coat of arms features a rearing cat with the slogan “touch not the cat bot a glove,” or “don't touch the cat without a glove.”

Thus, it would be fair to say that the cat functions as a kind of totem animal for the members of this Confederacy, and this is born out by the fact that the cat was seen as a bad omen by all Highlanders except Clan Chattan members, to whom it was a lucky omen.

Supposedly the cat clans take their name from a St. Catan, but there is evidence of a very ancient tribe with a cat totem in the Scottish Highlands. For instance, the Shetland islands were once known as “the islands of the cat people” in Gaelic, and there was a Pictish kingdom in the region of Caithness and Sutherland called “Cait,” which means “cat.” For this reason, it is my personal theory that the origins of the Clan Chattan Confederacy may be much more ancient than is generally acknowledged.

The Clan Chattan was frequently opposed to the MacDonalds, and the last of the big clan battles was fought between these clans. Clan Chattan split during the Jacobite Rebellions, with the MacKintosh chief supporting the government while his own wife raised troops for the rebels.