Kingdom of Cat facts for kids

This map of Scotland shows roughly where the Pictish kingdoms were located, superimposed on a (simplified) map of the traditional counties of Scotland.

Cait or Cat was a Pictish kingdom originating c. AD 800 during the Early Middle Ages. It was centered in what is now Caithness in northern Scotland. It was, according to Pictish legend, founded by Caitt (or Cat), one of the seven sons of the ancestor figure Cruithne. The territory of Cait covered not only modern Caithness, but also southeast Sutherland.

The place name Caithness derives from Cait, which is also preserved in the Gaelic name for Sutherland (Cataibh), in several specific names within that county and in the earliest recorded name for Shetland (Inse Catt, meaning "islands of the Cat people").

Watson (1994) compared this usage with the early Irish Innse Orc (islands of the boars) for Orkney and concluded that these are tribal names based on animals.

See also

• Fortriu
• Kingdom of Ce
• Scotland in the Early Middle Ages