Bell the cat

Rarely heard these days, “Who will bell the cat?” meaning, who will undertake a perilous assignment used to be a popular expression down the centuries. It is first mentioned in a fable by Aesop, The Rats and the Cat, c.550 BC and remained a popular fable throughout The Middle Ages, appearing in many different European languages. The fable is about a group of rats who are terrorised by a cat. One of the rats suggests the solution of putting a bell around the cat’s neck. “A great idea but who is going to do it?” ask the other rats. The moral of the story is that a bold plan or idea is no good without someone bold enough to see it through. The OED cites the meeting of Scottish nobles in 1482 that agreed to get rid of Robert Cochrane a favourite of James III. Lord Gray remarked, “Tis well said but who will bell the cat?” Archibald Douglas, the fifth Earl of Angus, accepted the challenge and Robert Cochrane was hanged the same year. Ever afterwards, the earl was known as Archie “bell-the-cat” Douglas. It remained a popular expression from the 15th through to the 19th century, but its use has fallen away in recent times.