Cheshire Smile
One of the ancient Celtic tribes living in the region during the Roman occupation were the Cornovii of Cheshire and Staffordshire whose symbol has always been thought to have been a cat, which may explain the presence of many cats in Cheshire and Staffordshire. They were known as the 'People Of The Cat' and it is said that some Celtic tribes like the Cattraighe (cat folk) worshipped the goddess 'Catha' or 'Cata'. In his book 'Earth Mysteries Of The Three Shires' Doug Pickford is of the opinion that a tribe worshipping Catha centred their worship on a rock feature known as the 'Cat Stones' which are part of 'The Cloud', a dramatic hill on the way into Leek from Macclesfield. It is said locally that sacrificial victims were thrown down this sheer rock face to be dashed to pieces on an altar somewhere below at the spring equinox (Easter time) and the rock face does indeed have a natural image of a giant cat's face formed from time-etched cracks and curves. As Doug says: "The cat's face comes and the cat's face goes. Now you see it, now you don't. Surely a magical and mysterious sign to the worshippers of the cat goddess ?"
In a similar sacrificial vein the 'Cheshire Smile' or 'Cheshire Grin' was a term once widely used in the area for death by the cutting of the throat from ear to ear or by hanging. The first instance of the 'smile' surviving in Cheshire is probably represented by the garrotted remains of Lindow Man or 'Pete Marsh', the Celtic sacrificial peat bog body thought to have been sacrificed in about 61 AD by local Druids in an attempt to avert the impending Roman attack on Anglesey (which came in 63 AD). Two other bodies have also been recovered, one on Lindow moss and a head on Worsley moss, both killed in the same way at about the same time. However, the term, as it survives today, comes entirely from the days of capital punishment and execution by hanging.
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