<Li> A possible origin of the phrase is one favoured by the people of Cheshire, a county in England which boasts numerous dairy farms; hence the cats grin because of the abundance of milk and cream . </Li> <Li> According to Brewer's Dictionary, "The phrase has never been satisfactorily accounted for, but it has been said that cheese was formerly sold in Cheshire moulded like a cat that looked as though it was grinning". The cheese was cut from the tail end, so that the last part eaten was the head of the smiling cat . </Li> <Li> In 1853, Samuel Maunder explained: </Li> <P> This phrase owes its origin to the unhappy attempts of a sign painter of that country to represent a lion rampant, which was the crest of an influential family, on the sign - boards of many of the inns . The resemblance of these lions to cats caused them to be generally called by the more ignoble name . A similar case is to be found in the village of Charlton, between Pewsey and Devizes, Wiltshire . A public - house by the roadside is commonly known by the name of The Cat at Charlton . The sign of the house was originally a lion or tiger, or some such animal, the crest of the family of Sir Edward Poore . </P>

Name of the cheshire cat in alice in wonderland