''Tobermory Cat'' is the name of a

celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

ginger cat used as an "evolving, interactive artwork" by Scottish artist Angus Stewart.

Background

The ''Distillery Cats'' originally lived at The Tobermory Distillery Tobermory on Mull, Argyll, Scotland, their two ginger cats were named ''Tobermory'' and ''Ledaig'' after two

whiskies Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

produced at the Tobermory Distillery. The cat named ''Tobermory'' remained at the

distillery Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

while ''Ledaig'' later moved to Browns Hardware Shop. A third ginger cat known as "McGinty" or the ''Mishnish Cat'' lived at Mishnish Hotel. Together these three similar ginger cats became a single fictional cat character named ''Tobermory Cat'' through a Facebook page created by Angus Stewart. Currently there are two cats, (''Tobermory'' having been killed in September 2012). Angus Stewart's

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page entitled ''Tobermory Cat'', created 25 Feb 2011. Due to the Facebook page and promotional merchandise the name Tobermory Cat became widely used by visitors and residents of Tobermory. He published a book, ''Tobermory Cat'' subtitled ''famous for being famous'', published 22 September 2012, Tobermory Cat Publishing, Softback, 52 pages, . There is also a later illustrated children's book produced under a licensing agreement, ''The Tobermory Cat'' published 12 October 2012, by Debi Gliori published by Birlinn. Birlinn, Limited, Hardback, 32 pages, . An earlier work (with no association to the town) featuring a troublesome talking cat named 'Tobermory' appeared in a collection of

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

Saki Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), popularly known by his pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirise Edwardian society and ...

titled '' The Chronicles of Clovis'' in 1911.'' Tobermory'' written by Hector Hugh Munro (1870–1916), who wrote as

. The story may be found in ''The Chronicles of Clovis''.

Angus Stewart's ''Tobermory Cat''

On 25 February 2011, Tobermory artist Angus Stewart created a Facebook page and viral marketing project entitled "Tobermory Cat" containing photoshopped images of the famous for being famous celebrity cat. As the Facebook page gained popularity the character became an "internet sensation", attracting regional and national press coverage in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' and

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

's television news programme ''Reporting Scotland''. The programme was broadcast at 6:30pm, UK time, on 7 November 2012. The piece runs from 24:33 onwards and was available online until 6:59pm on Thursday 8 November 2012. The

piece is also available in this Gaelic language version. Stewart's artistic creation is a parody of celebrity culture based largely on the T.V. persona of Donald Trump, his brand and use of promotion. The famous Tobermory Cat lived in T.C.Towers and enjoyed the trappings of fame such as paparazzi photographers and a helicopter seen delivering cat books and postcards around Scotland. The work was fabricated using photoshopped images of the everyday antics of three cats in a work usually set in Tobermory however during Spring 2012 Tobermory Cat was seen traveling around the world, the cat having been photoshopped into images supplied by Facebook followers around the world. The resulting photographs are described using exaggerated celebrity terms, the premise being that by repeatedly describing a cat as famous it will become famous. The fictional work is narrated by the second assistant tea maker at T.C.Management and explores the nature of the construct of

through a fictional cat who is simply "famous for being famous". Having created and promoted his fictional work, Angus Stewart registered the web domain tobermorycat.co.uk 22 November 2011, registered as a company Tobermory Cat Ltd 19 March 2012 and applied for the Tobermory Cat Trade Mark on 23 March 2012. As part of the creative work, the artist documented the process of creating and promoting his fictional celebrity cat on the Facebook page. In December 2011 a prominent Scottish publisher and a children's book illustrator visited the artist with a view to producing a series of children's books about the famous Tobermory Cat. There followed a long running legal dispute centering on creative rights leading to publisher Birlinn challenging the artists trademark "Tobermory Cat" in both the UK and USA. The impact of the dispute became a prominent theme on Stewart's Tobermory Cat Facebook page. Tobermory Cat is now a registered UK trademark held by Angus Stewart. The dispute over the rights and attribution of the work was covered in the media during November 2012. Birlinn raised an opposition action against Angus Stewart's Tobermory Cat trademark at

Edinburgh Sheriff Court Edinburgh Sheriff Court is a sheriff court in Chambers Street in Edinburgh, within the sheriffdom of Edinburgh and Borders. History Until the mid-1990s, hearings took place in the Justiciary Building, Edinburgh, Old Sheriff Court in the Lawnma ...

on 30 October 2014. On 27 July 2015 a public statement was released by both parties, the matter having been resolved by means of a license agreement.

References

External links

Official websiteTobermory Cat's Facebook pageTobermory, Mull painting and print gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tobermory Cat Fictional cats Books of photographs Scotland in fiction Isle of Mull

Background

Angus Stewart's ''Tobermory Cat''

See also

References

External links