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There are numerous instances on the Internet and in Google books, which claim the cat-o'-nine-tails, a late 17th century instrument of punishment used by the Royal Navy, was kept in a bag. It is said that this bag was a necessity in order to protect the nine leather tails from the corrosive effects of salt water. However, the only evidence I have found of its existence is limited to 20th and 21st century accounts.

  1. Taking the cat o'nine tails – a whip with nine leather strands, with the end of each one having a small knot – from its red baize bag, he dips the implement into a bucket of seawater, withdraws it, brings his right arm back well behind him and well behind him and then swings it forward. source (2019)

  2. Discipline has always been demanded by the taskmaster of the sea. “He let the cat out of the bag”, said today, is often followed by an expletive. Six score years ago on board a square rigger, this utterance would have brought chills to the spine, for some poor soul had just committed an offense sufficiently grave to extract the cat-of-nine-tails from its canvas bag. Source (1979)

  3. He took the cat of nine tails out of its linen bag and inflicted the requisite number of strokes under the watchful eye of an officer, who ensured that they were "laid on well." source (2003)

  4. The bosun's mates stood by, one of them holding the red baize bag containing the cat of nine tails. source (1981)

  5. A new cat was made for each flogging by a bosun's mate and kept in a red baize bag until use. source (post 2003)

  6. “Boatswain's mate”, on which that functionary, drawing a cat-of-nine tails out of a little red or green baize bag in which it had hitherto reposed, administered the first swinging dozen … source (1902)

I was unsuccessful in finding any 19th century resources that mention a bag; linen, canvas, baize or otherwise, where the brutal whip was stored in. One EL&U user, in a comment said

If you visit museums, particularly near naval bases, you may see cat-o'-nine-tails, but you never see their mythical "bag". If bags were required for whips, we would expect a coachman's whip or a bull whip to have a bag.

Was this user's observations founded? Is this baize bag ‘mythical’, an invention to explain the origin of the English phrase "Let the cat out of the bag"? Is there any evidence to suggest otherwise?

Mari-Lou A
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    Related: [Phrases attributed to the "cat o nine"](https://english.stackexchange.com/q/548119) –  Oct 06 '20 at 14:56
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    [Page 5 of Word Myth](https://books.google.nl/books?hl=en&lr=&id=QQovEeLHVl0C&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=%22cat+o%27nine+tails%22+%22cat+out+of+the+bag%22&ots=ZFimoAvprL&sig=nggSlc6tfm5t5nCAdZvIc2FAScs#v=onepage&q=%22cat%20o'nine%20tails%22%20%22cat%20out%20of%20the%20bag%22&f=false) states that there is no evidence this is the origin of the phrase, but this doesn't necessarily mean the bags didn't exist. – Jordy Oct 06 '20 at 15:11
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    I'd always heard that "let the cat out of the bag" and "pig in a poke" both derived from a medieval con trick in which the mark was sold a piglet in a closed bag (a "poke") with the warning not to open it because the piglet would escape. When the mark got home and opened the bag he found a worthless cat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_in_a_poke – Paul Johnson Oct 06 '20 at 15:36
  • @PaulJohnson yes that is another theory, which I don't believe much myself. But this post is focused on the cat o' nine tails' bag. If there was no such bag for keeping [cat-o'-nine-tails](https://youtu.be/sf_DUlkC6uQ?t=26) (Youtube link) or [catsticks](https://dare.wisc.edu/words/quarterly-updates/quarterly-update-14/catstick/), then we are one piece closer to finishing the puzzle. – Mari-Lou A Oct 06 '20 at 18:35
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    I don't think the logic in the quote follows, a coachman's whip or bullwhip would be in continual use, not stored away somewhere, and not exposed to salt water either. Perhaps there wasn't a particlar bag – any bag would do, which would be of little interest to a museum, unless it has a bag section. A sailing ship is "tight" meaning they don't have things lying around in the way: everything is stowed properly. – Weather Vane Oct 06 '20 at 19:26
  • The "Pig in a poke" origin makes more sense because when you "let the cat out of the bag" you are revealing some previously unknown information. When you take a Cat o' nine tails out of a bag you aren't really revealing anything people don't already know. – Dave Smith Oct 08 '20 at 12:38
  • @DaveSmith I can see how "let the cat (i.e. the whip) out of the bag" means the instrument is hidden from view until it is pulled out when someone makes a blunder or disobeys the rules of etiquette etc.. from there it evolves to its present-day meaning – Mari-Lou A Oct 08 '20 at 12:46
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    @Mari-LouA I don't know the actual answer. But generally when you "Let the cat out of the bag" you're revealing something that is secret or unknown. Also using the word Let rather than take implies that it's an actual cat that you are letting out rather than a whip. But I may be wrong, that's just my interpretation – Dave Smith Oct 08 '20 at 13:19
  • The English phrase "Let the cat out of the bag" would seem to be totally unrelated here: it doesn't mean anything at all like that? – Fattie Oct 09 '20 at 21:06
  • Also might be worth noting: If you have a cat in a bag, it probably isn't a happy cat. Shouldn't be too difficult to imagine how the scene would play out if you let the cat out. _Now,_ imagine letting the cat out, and then immediately trying to stuff it back in. I'd wager that it probably is almost as difficult as un-telling a secret. – Solomon Slow Jan 18 '21 at 19:14

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