Grimalkins, or greymalkins, are thought by many to be the angry, ill tempered feline familiars of witches. However we can probably blame Shakespeare, and in a roundabout way Scotland, for this word.
A grimalkin (also called a greymalkin) is an old or evil-looking female cat. The term stems from "grey" (the color) plus "malkin", an archaic term for a cat, derived from a hypocoristic form of the female name Maud.[1] Scottish legend makes reference to the grimalkin as a faery cat that dwells in the highlands. (Wikipedia)



















