The Catman of Greenock
Greenock, Inverclyde
“An unhoused man, covered from head to toe in thick, black mud, lived rough in the parks, wooded areas and back alleys of Greenock.” - Will Howard
Folklore can truly come from anywhere, at any time. The Catman of Greenock is a prime example of how something quite simple can evolve over time into legend…
Greenock is a town in Inverclyde in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. In the 1970s, it seems, locals remember a homeless man living rough in Greenock, covered entirely in muck so that he appeared a dark shade. He would frequent wooded areas, such as parks, and rumour began to spread that his diet consisted entirely of rodents. Some even went as far as saying he was unable to walk on two legs, like regular humans, and instead got around on all fours… ‘with unnerving speed’.
Now, this was probably just a homeless man who was trying his best to get by, but the rumours continued to escalate about him as more and more locals twisted and swerved tales of the Catman. He would supposedly crawl around with his limbs bent at unnatural angles. Some created lore of the Catman, claiming he was once a Russian soldier who docked at Greenock to start a new life, but was ambushed by street gangs. Due to his background, many thought he was unable to communicate as he didn’t know the language and could only understand Russian. People even went as far as to claim that he lived with a pack of feral kittens, earning him the title of Catman.
The lore of the Catman of Greenock could have been entirely dismissed as made-up horror stories, maybe even cautionary to prevent children from roaming in wooded areas at night time, but in 2007 the Catman made a come-back as videos and photos began to circulate on the internet.
Supposedly, people had caught footage of a man crawling around on all fours, with dead rodents in his mouth, face entirely covered in what looked like soot. This brought back the terrifying tales that began way back in the 1970s…
Image of the supposed Catman of Greenock, sourced from Scottish Daily Express
Many locals were sceptical of the resurfaced images of Catman. Given that he was crawling around and terrifying children back in the 1970s, many believe him to have passed away long before 2007, especially living rough as he did.
It is, however, testament to the outstanding legacy of the Catman of Greenock that people who began copycat-ing his behaviour wanted to relive the Catman era!
Sources
The grim legend of the Cat Man of Greenock
The legend of the Catman of Greenock? - Scottish Daily Express
