Dyer's Woad/ Farvevajd

Isatis tinctoria

Flora and Fauna

seeds from woad (wikipedia)

Woad/Farve-vajd (Isatis tinctoria) is a biennial plant of the cruciferous family . It grows wild in beach banks in the southeastern parts of Denmark. It was earlier cultivated and from here it went feral in nature. It is commonly called Farvevajd (Dyer's Woad) and is occasionally known as Asp of Jerusalem.

Woad is also the name of a blue dye produced from the leaves of the plant.

Woad is found along the coasts of the Baltic, in Central and Eastern Europe and in Central Asia.  In Denmark it was long known in Bornholm but the spread has expanded since 1960 and also includes the eastern coast of Sjælland (Zealand) and the coast of Amager, with some occurence at the coast of Storebælt.


Woad in Denmark:

Woad in the first year. (wikipedia)

Woad/ Farvevajd was used for dyeing fabrics blue in the North. The cultivation of woad stopped in Denmark ab. 1800 due to the import of indigo. Woad contains a lightfast and colourfast dye.

In the first year the woad forms a 20 cm high rosette of green leaves - if a leaf is crushed with the fingers they turn blue. The leaves from the first year are used for the dye  The colour is extracted by letting the leaves ferment in urin for ab. 5 days. In the second year the plant puts an inflorescence with yellow flowers in June, then puts seeds and wither. Today the colour from both woad and indigo are virtually outcompeted by the anilin colours.

The name vajd (1672) (weid) comes from old German weit, common German waida. It is possibly familiar to Latin vitum = glass. It was in 1670 also called glass herb, maybe because of the old name glastum.

The seeds of farvevajd was found in a house from before Roman Iron Age (400 BC)  in Ginnerup in Thy (Jutland); the plant was cultivated in Jutland in Roman Iron Age (1-200 AC). At that time no other lightfast and colourfast dye was known, until indigo ab. 1600 became a commodity in Europe. In 1792 woad plantations are mentioned at Copenhagen, outside Nørreport, where Holmblad and Son (dyers at the royal textile factory) cultivated both woad and krap (madder).

The woad was distinguished after sowing seasons, either winter- or summer woad . The leaves were cut when they were yellow headed, this could be done twice or three times during summer. After being washed the leaves were laid out to wither, and then  they were crushed with a stone on special mills or in an oblong curved trough. From the lot were formed little lumps, which after being air-dried were sold as "vejd" or "pastel"  and were used for dyeing without or with indigo. i

The plant could also dye a yellow-brown colour, and an oil could be pressed from the seeds. In ab. 1805 the woad-cultivation in Denmark had almost stopped as a result from the import of indigo. Still in 1900 woad was used for dyeing in Denmark, but the material was imported from France. In France and Germany the plant is still used for cultivation.   

In an old folk song about the knight Ramund is referred to blue yarn, which means clothes dyed by woad.

The main biotope of woad is a stony, gravelled soil along the coasts, often where is brought extra nutrients from rottening seaweed, but the plant is seldom found at the edge of roads, ruderates etc. It is possibly still cultivated as a decorative plant. It is not certain if the plant originally was spread feral from cultivation, or if the appearance at the Baltic coast is a Late Glacial relict. It is often found at the coasts of Bornholm and Sjælland, esp. East Sjælland (Zealand), where it is rare, but might be frequent in local places. It is undoubtedly under spread. In the other Danish districts is woad still very rare.


European History of Woad (from wikipedia)

Dyer's Woad/ Farvevajd  (wikipedia)

Woad was long important as a source of blue dye, it has been cultivated throughout Europe, especially in Western and southern Europe since ancient times. In medieval times there were important woad growing regions in England, Germany and France, and towns such as Toulouse became prosperous on the woad trade. Woad was eventually replaced by the stronger indigo and then by synthetic indigoes.

The first archaeological finds of woad seeds date to the Neolithic and have been found in the French cave of l'Audoste, Bouches-du Rhone, France.  Named Färberwaid (Isatis tinctoria L.) or German Indigo, of the plant family (Brassicaceae), in the Iron Age settlement of the Heuneburg, Germany, impressions of the seeds have been found on pottery. The Hallstatt burials of Hochdorf and Hohmichele contained textiles dyed with Färberwaid (woad dye).

Historians Melo and Rondão write that woad was known "as far back as the time of the ancient Egyptians, who used it to dye the cloth wrappings applied for the mummies."  One of the early dyes discovered by the ancient Egyptians was "blue woad (Isatis tinctoria)." Lucas writes, "What has been assumed to have been Indian Indigo on ancient Egyptian fabrics may have been woad." Hall states that the ancient Egyptians created their blue dye "by using indigotin, otherwise known as woad." Julius Caesar tells us (in de Bello Gallico) that the Britanni used to colour their bodies blue with vitrum, a word that roughly translates to "glass". Many have assumed that vitrum refers to woad, but other modern authors regard this as a misconception, possibly repeated for political reasons; Caesar may also have described some form of copper- or iron-based pigment. The northern inhabitants of Britain came to be known as picts (Picti), which means "painted ones" in Latin, and may have been due to these accounts of them painting or tattooing their bodies.

Woad was one of the three staples of the European dyeing industry, along with weld (yellow) and madder (red).  Chaucer mentions their use by the dyer ("litestere") in his poem The Former Age, among other cultural inventions that were previously absent

No mader, welde, or wood no litestere.

Ne knew; the flees was of his former hewe

Hunt of the Unicorn tapestry (wikipedia)

The three can be seen together in tapestries such as the Hunt of the Unicorn (1495–1505), though typically it is the dark blue of the woad that has lasted best The Hunt of the Unicorn tapestry, dyed with weld (yellow), madder (red) and woad (blue). 

Jean de Bernuy's house in Toulouse.

In Viking Age levels at archaeological digs at York, a dye shop with remains of both woad and madder  dating from the 10th century has been excavated. In medieval times, centres of woad cultivation lay in Lincolnshire and Somerset in England, Jülich and Erfurt area in Thuringia in Germany, Piedmont and Tuscany in Italy, and Gascogne, Normandy, the Somme Basin from Amiens to Saint Quentin, Britany and above all Languedoc in France. This last region, in the triangle created by Toulouse, Albi, and Carcassonne, was for a long time the most productive of woad, or "pastel" as it was known there, one writer commenting that "woad... hath made that country the happiest and richest in Europe." The prosperous woad merchants of Toulouse displayed their affluence in splendid mansions, many of which are still standing. One merchant, Jean de Bernuy, a Spanish Jew who had fled the inquisition, was credit-worthy enough to be the main guarantor of the ransomed King Francis I after his capture at the Battle of Pavia by Charles V of Spain. Much of the woad produced here was used for the cloth industry in southern France, but it was also exported via Bayonne, Narbonne and Bordeaux to Flanders, the Low Countries, Italy, and above all Britain and Spain.

A major market for woad was at Görlitz in Silesia. The citizens of the five Thuringian Färberwaid (dye woad) towns of Erfurt, Gotha, Tennstedt, Arnstadt and Langensalza had their own charters. In Erfurt, the woad-traders gave the funds to found the University of Erfurt.. Traditional fabric is still printed with woad in Thuringia, Saxony and Lusatia today: it is known as Blaudruck (literally, "blue print(ing)").

woad mill in Thuringia (wikipedia)

Other use: 
Medieval uses of the dye were not limited to textiles. For example, the illustrator of the Lindisfarne Gospels used a woad-based pigment for blue paint. A method for producing indigo dye from woad is described in the book The History of Woad and the Medieval Woad Vat (1998) In Germany, there are attempts to use woad to protect wood against decay without dangerous chemicals. Production is also increasing again in the UK for use in inks, particularly for inkjet printers, and dyes, as woad is biodegradable and safe in the environment, unlike many synthetic inks. The plant's presence has its problems, however, since Isatis tinctoria is viewed as an invasive species in parts of the United States.

Indigowoad Root  is a traditional Chinese medicine herb that comes from the roots of woad.







Source. Brøndegaard, folk og flora 2, Danmarks natur, Felthåndbogen, wikipedia. 
photo: borrowed from wikipedia.

The Vikingship Museum, Roskilde after the Storm.

gb: Vikingship Museum, boatyard 2001

Video:

Vikingship Museum Roskilde storm december 2013


 The Vikingship Museum in Roskilde was in danger of being flooded during the storm in December 2013. The violent storm pressed the waters of Roskilde Fjord up to a dangerous level and the water was 2.06 meter above normal when it was at its highest. The police in Mid- and West Zealand, the Emergency Agency, the Home Guard and the Fire department were all fighting a battle against the clock to save this national treasure from a devastating flood.

Also the Museum staff had a long and dramatic night. The water stood up to the edge of the large window facades of the ship building, and they were also worried if something, floating in the water outside, would crush the windows and make the water enter the buildings with the irreplaceable 1000 years old Viking ships. They said afterwards that the sound of the waves against  the building was frightening. The Emergency and the Fire Department had helped securing the window facades against the water pressure and the Museum staff was especially fighting to keep water away from the Viking ships. Fortunately the ships were not damaged, they were being packed in plastic, and the water was pumped out of the buildings.

But the Museum Island with the café, the education center and the boatyard was massive damaged by the flood.

The Vikingship hall was damaged by the waves, seven windows were crushed and the concrete structure was pressed in several places, causing cracks. On the Museum Island the water stood high and floors,walls and installations were badly damaged. In spite of the massive damage the Vikingship Museum did not close to the public, and it is expected that the buildings of the Museum Island are ready for the summer season from 16 May.
Source: DR.dk, Vikingeskibsmuseet Roskilde.

To a visitor:
You have asked for Elmelunde kirke, which you cannot find here at Thyra,
but please look at my block: Church and Manor.

Whooper Swans singing a Swan Song in March

I don't think I have seen so many swans in one flock before. I guess there were about 500, it is common that they gather in large flocks of 500-1000 swans in winter. They were singing their special song,and  they were really singing loudly  - as if they were all joining the Pilgrims Chorus from Tannhäuser.  Suddenly they got agitated over something and their voices rose to inferno and chaos. I'm not sure the farmer-family on the other side of the road has a good night's sleep if the swans stay there for some days, singing  their swan song each night !!

But they are beautiful birds, and it was a great experience to watch such a big flock. Soon they will fly eastwards to their breeding places in Scandinavia and Russia, some of them will fly all the way to Sibiria and to the Pacific coast. It is so amazing.   

I did not use a wide angle lens - I did not have space enough for a photo of the whole flock, which spread over a large area.

 

 














The Whooper Swan (Source: DOF, Dansk Ornitologisk forening, Fugle og Natur) 
The whooper swan is of same size as the mute swan, but easy to recognize with its yellow beak, which has no black knot like the mute swan. It keeps its neck more straight and higher than the mute swan, and it has a strong and very sonorous voice, sounding almost like a trumpeting - contrarily to the mute swan, which usually is silent, except from the rhytmic singing sound from the wings during flight. 

The whooper swan is a common guest in Denmark in the winter season and is often seen in large flocks in fields or in the the outskirts of flocks of mute swans in lowwatered areas.

The whooper swan breeds in forest moors and lowwatered lakes in a large nothern region from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and in a broad belt in Russia and Sibiria till the Pacific coast. The whooper swan has expanded with breeding pairs south to Skåne and also eastern Germany. In Denmark a single pair has tried to breed in North Jutland. In 2007 three breeding pairs were registered in Denmark, two pairs in  West Himmerland in some small moors, and one pair in Bølling Sø (lake) at Silkeborg. One pair in Himmerland had eight chicks.

Denmark is together with Germany the most important overwintering area for the whooper swan in Europe. It also overwinters in large numbers in Great Britain and Ireland, but is seen in most European countries in the winter season, except in Spain, Portugal and Italy. The whooper swan stays mostly in Denmark during mild winters, but migrates southwards in hard winters.

The food of the whooper swan is water plants, grass and winter crops like wheat and rape. 

Thrre swans came flying and landed by the flock.
They had been out on a little study trip I suppose! 







photo 1 March 2014, a field near the village Løve: grethe bachmann

Spring Signs 2014 and a Tour out.

There are many early signs of spring after this mild month of February.  The marsh harrier has arrived, the white-tailed eagle has started nesting, the skylark is singing, reports have come about the first cranes. There are numbers of snowdrops and eranthis in the garden and the first crocus are on their way up. If the mild weather continues it won't last long before the brimstone butterfly is here. The bumble-bee queen will soon wake up. There is nothing as fine as the sound of the first bumblebee.

G

One of the first signs of spring are the flowers of hazel.









General and usual signs of spring:  

Sweet violet is one of the first flowers in March. The dark violet flower has a wonderful scent and the colour is easy to spot by hedges and glades. It is also called "Mary and the child". If the petals are plucked, a figure is seen, looking like Virgin Mary with Child Jesus.
Lesser celandine is one of our earliest spring plants. The flower has shining yellow petals, and the plant is often called buttercup. Lesser celandine belong to the family Ranunculus like the anemone.
When you see coltsfoot it is a certain sign of spring. Back in school our teacher told us that when we saw the first coltsfoot then it was really spring and we had to bring it to her. Coltsfoot is seen in  road banks, edge of ditches and lakeshores. The leaves have a contour like a little horse hoof.

As soon as the sun brings warmth to a sheltered place, the ant comes out - and the ants clump together upon the anthill. They function like mobile radiators, and they bring warmth down in the hill to the queens.
The brimstone butterfly is another certain sign of spring. The male with the magnificent  lemon-yellow colour is easy to spot in March. The white-yellow female arrives about two weeks later. The brimstone roams far and wide.
The orange-red butterfly, the small tortoiseshell, leaves its overwintering place in April. It is often seen with outspread wings in the warm sun. The small tortoiseshell is Denmark's national butterfly.

In late March and first of April the frog eggs are seen in little lakes and waterholes, the eggs are small transparent lumps with a little black spot in the middle. The frog is fully developed in 85 days, but already after four days it is possible to notice that the black spot has changed.
 
And then there is the sweet little ladybird. We put it on our forefinger and let it crawl up, and we tell this little red thing to fly up to God and ask for good weather - and it flies up!  The ladybird is also very helpful in the garden, fighting the little green mites.

The beautiful sight of the white anemone in the forest floor is magic. The flowers cover the earth before the trees have leaves. This happens in April-May - and when the beech after this beautiful sight shows us another miracle with the new incredible light-green leaves, then it is spring for good.

Nature is magic.

May

photo: grethe bachmann


A short Tour out on 22 February. 

At the end of February 2014 we'll say goodbye to the fifth mildest winter in 140 years.

On Saturday 22 February we went to the east coast of Jutland south of Århus . The weather report had told us that there would be some after effects from the recent storm in the British Isles. The weather was very windy, but also warm and with rainy showers and sunshine, changing all the time. Big black clouds came rushing, followed by rain and  a blue sky.


Here is a little collection of my photos from 22 February: 

Black buzzard

Brown buzzard.

repair after storm in October.

The Bees are buzzing now................

What happens in Spring?


When the temperature is above 7-8 Celsius the bees wake up and start their work. A bee family has about 20.000 working bees in early spring. The bees have been waiting through winter in the beehive and in the center of the bees is the queen, well protected from the cold.



In the first month of spring the bees gather pollen,  especially the yellow catkins of the willows give an important source of protein. If you get a close look at a bee  near a willow tree, you'll see it wearing big pants filled with golden pollen. The bees, who are fed with pollen in spring, are the same who are pollinating the fruit trees in April and May. While gathering pollen the working bees are vey busy, they have to fly 20.000 trips to cover the need of pollen for the beehive. If it is raining, the bees have to use the deposits from the previous years. But when summer arrives they can gather more pollen than they use.

bees gathering water

The Queen bee lays 200 eggs in each 24 hours during April. Almost all eggs are working bees, unfertilized eggs are male bees or drones. They must be hatched in April to reach maturity for the swarming season in May. All the other eggs are female bees, but only the Queen bee can lay eggs.



When summer is near the number of bees in the family have raised till 60.000 -  and with so many bees in the same family, the Queen bee cannot control them anymore. The working bees build one or several special cells - Queen cells. They are larger than the working cells and hang down vertical. The Queen bee lays a common fertilized egg in the queen cells. When the eggs are hatched the larvae is fed with a special fodder - gele royal . This makes the larvae grow fast and be larger than the working bees. The larvae will become a new Queen.

Before the new Queen leaves her cell, the old Queen collects about half her subjects and leaves the beehive - she knows, she will lose to the new Queen if she stays. The old Queen and her following subjects gather in one big brown living lump upon a tree or a branch. During the next many hours some bees fly to and fro the place of residence, they are scouts looking for a new place where the bee family can live. When they come back to the other bees they tell them about their discoveries by dancing a special dance outside the lump. And when many scouts are dancing the same dance, they are telling about the same place. The big swarm flies up again and leaves and the scout bees fly through the swarm again and again to lead them to their new residence.






Source: Naturstyrelsen, Miljøministeriet: Forår, Bierne summer. 

photo: grethe bachmann
photo: yellow flower and bee: stig bachmann nielsen, naturplan.dk

The Cheshire Cat

from 1866 publication Alice in Wonderland (wiki) 

The Cheshire Cat is one of many iconic characters depicted in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland that have become enmeshed in popular culture, appearing in various forms of media, from political cartoons to television. One of its distinguishing features is that from time to time it disappears, the last thing to be seen being its grin.

I love the Cheshire cat, a great invention by Lewis Caroll. Its behaviour by disappearing, only leaving its grin, is a very catty behaviour. But I wanted to know a little more about this famous cat and found that it is amazing how much the Cheshire Cat is involved in: Literature, Film, TV, Games, Amima, Manga, Businesses, Art, Comics. Lewis Caroll really did hit bull's eye with that cat.




 CARVINGS

carving, St.Nicolas Church, (wiki)

Where did Lewis Caroll catch

carving, St.Wilfried's Church, Cheshire (wiki)

that great idea? Many have guessed that it came from sandstone carvings on old churches. There is a carving of a cat on the tower of St Wilfried's church in Grappenhall, a neighbourhood of his birth place in Daresbury Cheshire, but some historians believe that his Cheshire cat was inspired by a carving in Croft church. In 1992 the Lewis Caroll Society wondered if a gargoyle on a pillar in St Nicolas church in Cranleigh, where Caroll used to travel when he lived in Guildford - or if a church in the village of Croft on Tees in the north east of England where his father had been rector - had inspired him. But seemingly it could not be the church in Cranleigh, since he moved to Guildford about three years after Alice in Wonderfland was published. The cat in Cranleigh is very similar to a very grinning Cheshire cat though. He might have been there anyway. He cannot tell us now. And according to someone, whom nobody knows, he had visited St Christopher's Church in Pott Shrigley, Cheshire, which has a stone sculpture most closely resembling the picturial cat in the book. There are many theories.


English Stone Masons in Jutland.

with a grin, Hedensted Church (grethe b)

without a grin, Hedensted church (grethe b)

Maybe the Cheshire Cat visited Denmark?. When all the stone churches were built in a relatively short period, there was a need of both men of the church and craftsmen, and the king sent for bishops and stone masons from England. Many Danish churches have got some fine carvings, some were made by English stone masons - and I have found two cats in a church in Hedensted in East Jutland. A cat with a grin and a cat without a grin. Maybe the stone mason came from Cheshire? What do you say about that? 

1898 edition (wiki)

Alice in Wonderland
Alice first encounters the Cheshire Cat at the Duchess' house in her kitchen, and then later outside on the branches of a tree, where it appears and disappears at will, engaging Alice in amusing but sometimes vexing conversation. The cat sometimes raises philosophical points that annoy or baffle Alice. It does, however, appear to cheer her up when it turns up suddenly at the Queen of Heart's croquet field, and when sentenced to death baffles everyone by having made its head appear without its body, sparking a massive argument between the executioner and the King and Queen of Hearts about whether something that does not have a body can indeed be beheaded. At one point, the cat disappears gradually until nothing is left but its grin, prompting Alice to remark that she has often seen a cat without a grin but never a grin without a cat

Adaptations: 
In the 1951 Disney animated film, Alice in Wonderland, the Cheshire Cat is depicted as an intelligent yet mischievous character that sometimes helps Alice and sometimes gets her into trouble. He frequently sings the first verse of the Jabberwocky poem.
Cheshire Cat made non-speaking cameos in House of Mouse.
Cheshire Cat has made multiple appearances in the video game series Kingdom hearts.
1999 TV film: In the 1999 television adaptation of the books, the Cheshire Cat is portrayed by Whoopi Goldberg. She fully acts as an ally and friend to Alice, the latter defending the cat when she is threatened with execution.
2010 film: The Cheshire Cat appears in Walt Disney's 2010 Alice in Wonderland, directed by Tim Burton. In the movie, Cheshire (as he is referred to by other Wonderland characters) first appears to Alice as she is walking alone in the forest. He helps her by binding the wound she suffered earlier by the Bandersnatch and taking her to the Hatter and the March Hare. He is later blamed by the Hatter for betraying him during the Red Queen's attack where the White Queen's throne was usurped. However, as the plot moves along, he redeems himself by changing his form to resemble the Hatter during his execution and then evaporates as the axe is about to make contact, thus fooling everyone as the Hatter's hat floats up to the Queen's seat and Cheshire appears and winks. In the video game adaptation of the movie, Cheshire is a playable character who can not only turn himself invisible, but other objects around him as well. The character was voiced by Stephen Fry.


Other references:
Prior to the release of the 1951 Walt Disney animated adaptation of the story, scholars observed few specific allusions to this character. Martin Gardner, author of The Annotated Alice, wondered if T.S.Eliot had the Cheshire Cat in mind when writing Morning at the Window but notes no other significant allusions in the pre-war period. Images of and references to the Cheshire Cat cropped up more frequently in the 1960s and 1970s, along with more frequent references to Carroll's works in general. (See generally the lyrics to White Rabbit by the rock group Jefferson Airplane. The Cheshire Cat appeared on LSD blotters as well as in song lyrics and popular fiction.

TELEVISION: The Cheshire Cat appears in Once upon a Time in Wonderland (a spin-off of Once Upon a Time) voiced by  Keith David. While looking for the Mad Hatter's house from the trees, Alice encounters the Cheshire Cat in giant form where the Red Queen had promised him that Alice would be good food for him. Both of them ended up engaging each other in combat until the Knave of Hearts arrived and threw a piece of one mushroom side into his mouth which shrank him back to normal size as the Cheshire Cat leaves.

 
ANIME and MANGA: In CLAMP's Miyuki-Chan in Wonderland, the Cheshire Cat appears as a sexy catgirl. In the Alice in the Country of Hearts or Heart no Kuni no Alice series of manga and anime the Cheshire Cat appears as a catboy punk called Boris Airay. He has tatoos and body piercings, wears exposing outfits, a collar and a chain and a boa. He also has a fetish with weapons, especially guns. In the series, like many of the other characters, he falls in love with Alice.
The villain Schrödinger in the manga Hellsing is described by his commanding officer the major as "the smiling cat of Wonderland".
In the anime and manga Pandora Hearts one of the main characters Alice had a pet cat that died, but returns 100 years later as a chain in a realm created by one of Alice's memories. He came to call himself the Cheshire Cat, and had a more human-like appearance or a catboy look.
 In the sixth episode of Serial Experiments Lain,  Lain refers to a Wired user with an avatar consisting of disembodied, wide-grinning lips as Cheshire Cat. Lain's friend, Alice, was named after the book's protagonist.
The Pokémon character Gengar has the Cheshire Cat's mischievous smile.
In the episode 'Haruhi in Wonderland' of the popular anime/manga Ouran High School Host Club, the twins Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin each dress up as the Cheshire Cat, allowing them to 'teleport' from one place to another. They keep up this charade until Haruhi tells them to come out. She cannot concentrate as they are making her dizzy.

ART: An exhibit called The Cheshire Cat at the Exploriatum in San Francisco, created by Bob Miller in 1978, features a mirrored eyepiece that allows visitors to look at a picture of the Cheshire Cat's face with one eye, while the other eye sees a reflection of a white screen to the side-

stuffed toy, Museum Indianapolis(wiki)

BUSINESSES:The Cheshire Cat lends its name to two public houses in the county of Cheshire; one near stockport and another on the a41 south of Chester.

COMICS: In DC Comics, the New Goddess Malice Vundabar, niece of the villain Virman Vundabar, resembles Alice and controls a carnivorous creature called Chessure, that looks like nothing more than a grinning face. Cheshire is also the codename of the human assassin Jade Nguyen, who has a daughter with the heroic archer Roy "Speedy" Harper.
In Marvel Comics, Cheshire Cat is a foe of Luke Cage. An ally of fellow Cage enemy Big Brother, Cheshire Cat is able to make himself invisible and teleport. His physical appearance and manner of speaking are both evocative of a classic hep cat., despite debuting in 1976.

Jabberwock (wiki)

FILM: "le fond de l'air est rouge" (1977), the English title Grin Without a Cat. Like the original, it signifies that revolution was in the air but failed to take root. In the film, it is also stated: a spearhead without a spear, a grin without a cat.
The late filmmaker Chris Marker gave his monumental documentary on the New Left Movement of 1967–1977,
The Disney version of the character can also be spotted during the final scene of the film Who framed Roger Rabbit (1988). The Cheshire Cat is heard singing the poem Jabberwocky before he materialises in front of Alice.

GAMES: The character Luka in video game Bayonetta is nicknamed "Cheshire" by the titular character, which is exhibited through his ability to appear or disappear at many locations throughout the game by use of a grappling hook.

American McGee (wiki)

In the video games American McGee's Alice (2000); and the sequel Alice: Madness Returns (2011), the Cheshire Cat is portrayed as an enigmatic, yet wise guide for Alice in the corrupted Wonderland. In keeping with the twisted tone of the game, the Cheshire Cat is mangy and emaciated in appearance. His voice was provided by Roger L. Jackson, who also voiced the Mad Hatter and the Jabberwocky in the game.
In the Disney/Square Enix video game series Kingdom Hearts, loosely based on the Alice books as a subsequent adventure, the Cheshire Cat offers Sora, Donald and Goofy clues to prove that the Heartless attempted to steal the Queen of Hearts' heart and not Alice, along with the blizzard spell.

MUSIC:Pop punk band Blink-182's debut studio album is called Cheshire Cat(1994).
Hypnogaja's  song "Looking glass" states that "There's a cat that smiles like the crescent moon".
Blood on the Dance Floor's "Where's My Wonderland" song makes a reference to the Cheshire Cat's smile.
The Cheshire Cat is part of the chorus of victim effect's "Alice Alice".
French singer Nolwenn Leroy produced the album Le Cheshire Cat et moi in (2009)
Radiohead's "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" contains the lyric "You've got a Cheshire cat grin".
Though never mentioned by name, the Cheshire Cat is a central character in vixy's "The Girl Who's Never Been".
The Cheshire Cat is in the Mad T Party at Disney's California Adventure park. He is portrayed after Chessur and is found onstage playing the drums.

 
PRINT: Cheshire cats is the name given to the widespread genetically engineered cats appearing in Paolo Bacigalupi's biopunk novel The Windup Girl (2009).
In Frank Beddor's The Looking Glass Wars series of novels, the Cat is Redd's top assassin. The Cat has butcher knife claws and can change from his true form to the form of a small black kitten. He initially has nine lives, but loses all but one by the end of the book.
In the  Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde, the Cheshire Cat is an overseer in the Great Library, a library within the "book-world" which contains copies of every book ever written. However, due to "boundary changes", the Cat is renamed the "Unitary Authority of Warrington Cat".



Don't despair, take it easy, we're all mad here!

Source: wikipedia
photo Hedensted church, grethe bachmann
photocopies; wikipedia