Brown Mackerel Tabby

Domestic Cat

Felis catus

A Mackerel tabby is a cat with a distinctive coat that features stripes, dots, or swirling patterns, usually together with an "M" mark on its forehead. Tabbies are sometimes erroneously assumed to be a cat breed. In fact, the tabby pattern is found in many breeds of cat, as well as among the general mixed-breed population. The tabby pattern is a naturally occurring feature that may be related to the coloration of the domestic cat's direct ancestor, the African Wildcat. 

Since the tabby pattern is a common wild type, it might be assumed that medieval cats were of tabby type. However, one writer believed this to be untrue, at least in England. Some time after the mid-17th century, the curious antiquary John Aubrey noted that William Laud, the Archbishop of Canterbury was "a great lover of Catts [sic]" and "was presented with some Cyprus-catts, i.e. our Tabby-catts". He then claimed that "I doe well remember that the common English Catt, was white with some blewish piednesse : sc, a gallipot blew. The race or breed of them are now almost lost."

-Wikipedia

Photography (c) Maranda L. Scott