Posted by Ian Edmondson-Noble on June 11, 1998 at 12:29:58:
In Reply to: What is your "wild cat"? posted by Posted by Robert Dilley on October 22, 1997 at 16:21:18:
>I had never imagined the "wild cat" of Wild Cat Island being other than the feral cat
>*Felis sylvestris* that is still to be found in parts of Scotland. The term is also
>used as a metaphor for a hot-tempered, excitable individual -- from the characteristic
>behaviour of the European wild cat in contrast to that of the typical domestic
>cat. Presumably Captain Flint had Nancy in mind more than the tabby-like Peggy.
Hmmmm my rather late 2d worth
my guess is that Arthur Ransome had in mind the "hot-tempered, excitable individual"
meaning when naming Wild Cat Island in that he named it (or it was already named
such when he was introduced to it) after Raineach the heroine of W.G.Collingwood's
"Thorstein of the Mere" who was an earlier literary denizen and defender of the island.
She is described as "slender and strong and wild", she is scarred by a wild cat that
"fixed teeth and claws all together in her shoulder" and she fights and kills - "broke
his backbone like a rotten stick".
Ian
