Nature and Art, April 1, 18G7.] 
A FEW NOTES, HISTORICAL AND HERALDIC, ON THE LION. 
107 
formed the groundwork of Pliny’s well-known 
account of the animal ; most of the additional 
information given by the latter writer consisting of 
the absurdest fables. In the case of the Lion 
these marvels have always appeared to us somewhat 
remarkable, when we keep in view the habits of 
personal observation for which the Roman naturalist 
was proverbially noted, and the number of these 
animals which it would, seem were then brought 
to Rome. Thus he relates having himself witnessed 
the triumphal entry of Marc Antony, in a car 
drawn by lions;* and a few years later, 800 of 
these animals are said to have been brought from 
the province of Numidia to the Roman arenas in 
the course of a few months. The works of Pliny 
and other writers of his day, in their turn, doubtless 
furnished the marvel-loving minds of our forefathers 
with abundance of pabulum. Not only do we find 
traces of their stories in the writings of Bossewell, 
G-willim, and other old heralds, but the illustrations 
of many mediaeval MSS., and the carvings in some 
of our older cathedrals, abound with conceits of 
evident classical origin. 
The Lion, however, plays so important a part in 
came right off, and was brought under the notice of the 
Society. It is formed of corneous matter, like an ordi- 
nary nail, being solid throughout the greater part of its 
length ; towards the apex it is sharp, at the other end it is 
hollow and a little expanded ; it is flattened, throughout its 
entire length, which does not quite amount to three-eighths 
of an inch. Its colour is that of horn, but it becomes dark 
even to blackness at the tip. Its presence or absence does 
not depend on size, as the Lion in Paris, on which it was 
found, was of considerable size, while that belonging to the 
Society, from which this was taken, was small and young ; 
nor upon sex, for, although it was wanting in the female in 
London, it existed in the Lioness in Paris.” Mr. Buckland 
adds, “it is evident from their smallness, their variable 
form, their complete envelopment in the fur, and especially 
from the readiness with which they are detached, that these 
can fulfil no very important design, let it be what it may.” 
Ho expresses his own belief that the .claw is no more than a 
bit of the ordinary scarf skin of the tail, which, confined 
to its place by the. dense hairs which form the tuft at the 
end of the tail, is prevented from falling out of its place, 
and in time becomes hard and horn-like . — Cwiosities of 
Natural History, Third Series, vol. i. p. 220. 
* Lions are occasionally depicted in the Egyptian remains. 
One instance, which is specially noticed by Sir G. Wilkinson, 
represents figures hunting with tame lions in place of 
hounds. This, if we accept the examples on these remains 
as sober representations of fact, and not as having been 
occasionally vagaries of the artist’s fancies, was but an 
instance of that skill in domesticating animals by which 
oats were taught to retrieve wild fowl in the fens, and apes 
to assist in the labours of the husbandman. It is curious, 
however, to note that this familiarity with the Lion does 
not seem to have led to the depreciation of his powers and 
attributes observable in the writings of some recent travellers. 
The Lion was, on the contrary, a favourite symbol of power 
and majesty among the ancient Egyptians. Many examples 
of this being the case occur in the hieroglyphical inscriptions 
which have been brought to light of late years. We may 
instance one at Beitou-Ally, in honour of Rameses II., given 
by Rosellini, and quoted by Mr. Birch, in his “ Introduction 
to the Study of the Egyptian Hieroglyphs : ” 
“ O perfect god, very terrible, 
The sh-ong Lion ; mighty lord ; 
Strangler of hostile lands. 
Fallen are the Tahennu [European] to thy blade,] 
Killed lies Phut [Asia] under thy sandals,” &c., &c. 
our national heraldry, that we must be permitted to 
devote a few words to this point. 
The Lion appears to have been a favourite alle- 
gorical device, in the earliest times. A golden 
Lion was the emblem of the tribe of Judah, a 
silver Lion was the badge of the Macedonian 
conqueror. Lions (not tigers) were, we are told, the 
insignia of many early Indian dynasties,* and the 
“ ruddy Lion rampant,” of Scotland — -though we 
may not be prepared, like certain Scotch anti- 
quaries, to refer it to the days of the mythical 
king Fergus, centuries before the Christian era 
— can unquestionably lay claim to great antiquity. 
It is remarkable that, with the exception of the 
Eagle, the Lion is the'only living creature figured 
in the early Rolls of Arms. Lions have so been 
borne by the sovereigns of England, from the time 
when first they possessed armorial insignia. A, 
Lion was the ensign of the native princes of 
Wales; t of the kings of Norway, of Denmark, of 
Leon, of Bohemia, of Hungary ; of the counts of 
Holland, of Hainault, of Eu, &c. &c. It occurs, 
in like manner, in the arms of the most powerful 
English barons. 
The Lion was at first represented by heralds as 
rampant, i.e. in the attitude of combat only, and as 
such was typical of all the nobler attributes, — 
courage, fortitude, magnanimity, &c. The colours 
were varied heraldically, possibly as much for the 
sake of increasing the armorial significance as for 
the pui'poses of distinction. 
Lions in a walking position Were termed herald- 
ically Leopards, a practice which continued as late 
as the fifteenth century, and which has given rise to 
many mistakes in the descriptions of the Royal 
Arms of England. Two Leopards or Lions 
leopard, gold on a red ground, were thus the Royal 
Arms until the reign of the first Richard, when a 
third Lion was added thereto, and the shield 
became what it has since remained. 
In addition to the Lions in the Royal Arms, these 
animals were frequently assumed as royal badges or 
devices, and adopted in the arms of royal retainers. 
Thus the sable Lion of Hainault was a badge of 
Edward III., being the arms of his queen, Philippa 
of Hainault, and as such, it appears in the coat 
armour of many old English families. A sable Lion, 
“ the black Lion of Powys,” was also the arms of 
Madoc ap Meredyth, and the device of his de- 
scendant Owen Glendower ; hence its frequent 
occurrence in Welsh armoury. The gules Lion 
in the arms of Scotch families, usually points to 
some intermarriage with Scotch royalty ; but in 
English coat armour it would seem to have origi- 
nated in the fact of its having been a favourite 
badge of the Lancastrians (the Lion of Leon, the 
arms of Constance, daughter of Pedro the Cruel, 
and wife of Henry, duke of Lancaster) ; and thus it 
was probably often adopted by families on the 
* Pocoek’s “ India in Greece.” 
f The names of the Lion in Welsh, in Gaelic, and in the 
Scandinavian dialects, appear to us to indicate that the 
cognomen, and probably the idea of the animal, was derived 
from a Latin source, 
