In browsing the webpage, I saw that someone else asked why the Cheshire cat grinned. This made me think of a question that I’ve had a couple times: What would be meant by a reference to the Cheshire cat? Like if you refer to someone as a Cheshire cat, what are you saying? I’ve seen Alice in Wonderland (the Disney version) a few times, but I heard a song in which the guy refers to his girlfriend as a “Cheshire cat doorstop,” and I wasn’t quite sure what that would mean.
Welcome to the message board, Jamie. You say you saw a reference to Cecil’s column on the Cheshire Cat. Did you read it? If you do, you’ll find a fairly definitive answer to your question, if I understood you correctly. It’s our convention here to link to whatever column of Cecil’s or the Staff’s we may be referring to.
Also, you may wish to review the column descriptions. This question more appropriately belongs in Comments on Cecil’s Columns. Chances are, a moderator will be around shortly to move it. Finally, at the top of each forum, there may be “sticky notes” with helpful information you should check out before posting.
I hope some of this is helpful to you. Again, welcome to SDMB, and I hope you enjoy your time here!
I have an answer for which I don’t have a cite, but take it for what it’s worth.
I remember reading once a conjecture that Lewis Caroll may have been thinking about a certain figure of Cheshire history. Bear with me here because it’s been a long time since I saw this,and I can’t recall where.
It seems that in the middle ages there was a character who liked to torture people and was renowned for smiling while he did. Think of a “Sherrif of Nottingham” type.
I’m taking a big chance posting a poorly researched answer like this in GQ, but I am hopeful that I have given you some clue for further research.
Maybe another doper out there has heard of this, and can provide greater detail.
I entered “cheshire cat” into Yahoo! Search and got 45000 hits. Many of them were Bed & Breakfast Inns. I suspect that somewhere in that 45000 you can find clues as to what Carroll had in mind. Or at least speculations about the Cheshire Cat.
This link provides some interesting insight.
Quoted from site:
*Hugh Lupus bore as his coat of arms a wolf’s head, jaws open and teeth bared. He had this symbol of authority displayed all over the conquered Cheshire countryside given to him by his royal uncle as a reward for his services.
Medieval provincial artists had a somewhat primitive drawing technique, and his noble emblem soon debased to a pale imitation of the original. The snarl of the wolf began to resemble a grin. Defeated Saxon peasants were quick to call their new master’s badge -‘Fat Hugh’s Cat.’ *
It doesn’t back up my earlier claim, but I think now I might have read that (my earlier claim) in Barbara Tuchman’s “A Distant Mirror”. Hard to say for sure.