Bergeijk

The legend of the Dancing Cats of Bergeijk tells the story of a burial mound called the Kattenberg, located in Bergeijk. According to the legend, witches used to gather here to dance during their witches’ sabbath. Cycle this route and pass the places where the witches, disguised as black cats, showed themselves.

In order not to be noticed, the witches turned themselves into black cats. This is how they danced hand in hand (or actually paw to paw) in a circle on the hill. If a man passed by on his own, the witches became more aggressive and lured him into the circle to dance with them. This sometimes resulted in a fatal outcome.

The only man who dared to defy the dancing cats was Dorus, the miller. He had to grind his grain at night, because only at night the wind still blew. The witches managed to find him. The black cats attacked him, scratching, screaming and biting. Dorus ran out of his mill: “I will never grind again!” A problem, because then Bergeijk was without bread.

The miller’s helper Jan did not believe in witchcraft and dared to work in the mill the following night. It seemed like a quiet evening, until a small black kitten appeared. Jan stroked the little animal. “Nothing to worry about,” he still thought. But suddenly he too was surrounded by 41 dancing cats. He swung an old sabre around and managed to chase them away. The cats left something behind.

The next morning, Dorus made a gruesome discovery: he found the chopped off finger with the ring of his missing wife. He went looking for her. He searched everywhere, under trees, in the pools near De Liske, at the Heksenbusselke and at the air castle. She could not be found anywhere. Then he knew it: he had to find her at the Kattenberg.

That night Dorus went to the burial mound and saw 41 black cats, paw to paw, dancing in a witches’ circle. He danced with them, all night long. Suddenly he felt something strange: a cat with a missing knuckle.

When the sun came up, the cats suddenly disappeared. How was he supposed to find his wife now? He asked the priest for help, and he knew that witches would come to the sound of church bells. He rang the bells of Het Luihuis. Then the sky turned completely black and the 41 witches flew around the church on their broomsticks. The priest sprinkled holy water into the air. As soon as the witches were hit by the water, they fell down like large boulders. Dorus’ wife too.

So Dorus would never see his wife again. In memory of her, he placed a plaque of a black cat in his mill, the Standerdmolen of Bergeijk.

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