THE WEMBLEY LION

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 148, 26 June 1925, Page 9

THE WEMBLEY LION

A CHANGE IN TRADITIONAL FORM

SCOTLAND OR JUDAH?

(PROU OCR OWN CO-RESPONDENT.)

LONDON, 14th May. . Colonel , Applin asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department, in the House of Commons/ whether the Lion of Jii- ' dah was adopted as the emblem of j. the British -Empire.■•Exhibition';'in place of the British Lion with the : approval pf his. Department • and if he could inform the House why this '' change in the traditional form of the British Lion-was made. ' ;'■ Mr. A. M. Samuel (Parliamentary Secretary, Overseas Trade Department): "The answer to both parts of the question is in the negative." Lieut.-Commanded, Kenworthy: •" Ib the hon. gentleman aware, that the traditional lion on the Arms of- England is the Lion of Judah, and that the Kings of Scotland always claimed descent direct, from the Kings of Judah?" (Laughter.) Mr. Samuel: "The Lion of Wembley is,not; in my private opinion, like the conventional Lion of Judah. The Lion of . Judah was a Palestinian' (Asiatic) lion, and that lion was rounder and shorter;in the' body, and has a shorter and curlier mane than the Wembley Lion. (Laughter.) Aristotle and Pliny thus describe the ■" Palestine 'lion. ■':; A typical example of the Lion of Judah was discovered many years' ago among the sculptured remains of the ruinß of Arban, and it confirms the description given. by Aristotle and Pliny, and it does not resemble in any way the Lion of Wembley." (Renewed laughter.) ■*■:. Lieut.-Commander Kenworthy:- "I am sorry to press ,the; hon. gentlemandaughter)—but this is a. very important matter. '-. (Loud laughter.) Is he aware that all. Scottish students, of -heraldry are agreed'that the Scottish Lion is the Lion.of Judah?" .-'• ;. ■ .-'"': CREATOR NEVER-THOUGHT OF ;-o-',;.'; '-;-. : JUDAH; ■./>,-.' ... .' Everybody : knows the; Wembley-Lion now, for it has been,reproduced millions upon millions of ' times - as' the symbol of the Exhibition. It--is 'no ordinary beast, of course, for it. has shingled hair and a tail-without-any brush at the end. A lithe, athletic-looking sort of Hon But the suggestion that the lion is of Judah is not agreed to by the''artist who it,.Mr. r.JV C, Herrick. ■, ~°. tar. as ---'1'- am concerned," he said, this, lion might:- have .come•'straight from the Zoo, for if is the result'of my, own study/; of lions.- But :it' was essential.to rule out every. non-essential line,; in order to achieve the' simplicity' necessaryto reproduction on a big scale 1, gavei the hon the qualities that I thought the most appropriate to the occasion. It-must not: oe. aggressive, for it was to be the symbol of ah empire at peace. It to be strong and slnified. People have called it' all sorts of things during the three years it has been^ in. existence, and, it has appeared in all-.:k.ndß of guises; but the re^ept on I think has.been pn-the-.wholi.a-JaTOuii.-.^le,9ne. Asforitibeinpthe Lion.of Judah-well, I simply dfd not think : OI'"1D. ■ '.'■'•:. ' r"' ' ' --.■ -' ■'. ','-'.';-.'. .'.'. .''■•'- ■'.'''-■..-'.';,'■ V:;:ALL^ ABOUT LIONS ; ..Referring :;totlie merriment' in " the if£f e:,?v^.«*? .Wembley-Lion' "The Times editorially says: "At Wem\tl are ' ™ year ™re, several hons.,There.; were Mr.deniensV : s ix great lions _ in front .of: the Government pavilion; lions, couchant with (as™ tiiein. . J. here: were Mr. Percy Metcalf H 'o hon on: the Exhibition 'm^l^h^n for official. pubUcations,: and his 'biggest lio n ,>wln c h: : is n even fiercer' than .his fion of industry. The lion rampant of Scotiland_ proclaimed, the; beverage from Which, a S the wa g ; o f :the .eighteen-nC ties declared Scotland- take! its name Therei~were others., .But the lion which moved the House. of - Commons to mirth was the official Wembley Lion, the on which appears on; all .the printed matter and has been carried out also in relief and-.an,the. round-tlie; lion designed by Mr.Hernck. -::From Sir Lawrencf-Weav^ er s o book on .Wembley, ,■ in' which, lions: | .have-a^age or-two to themselves, we Mr-- perriok>s lion -hns been called hard names,-. Assyrian, cowardly unnatural; .un-English^ And. now tfie bewildering beast; is discovered to be' T6^ 3 I™Z .other than the Lion of Judah; which- ,s mentioned • in' G»»esis M '^^^'^^ere beS THE ENGLISH LloKl A-LEOPARD ff^S^tiSi^aS S». -taa of British lions? 'He SSo^S.^CwabSis 8 f^^eSHtral^^ was that no member of a poorly raid assembly could .find half a cFown^in his pocket v which to refute the pleas ?ant + gardant in pale, lift paw^and'nour ! (the En.r Mh9 fifSt and in Wfi |f ras^SSti^ J W^TfVV-^ haS TOore fo?; legs.. If the Lion of Scotland be indeed the Lion of Judah, let him roar 'Nemo me irapnno lasessit' as loud as he wHI someone has robbed him of aleg w' ?"? '•!? Ye 'u fc t0- (he.House of, Commons nke'The 6 lT^ th fer ifi- be sP°rt "° ake_the leg of a L,on or to pull the leg of a Parliamentary Secretary. But one plea, for ,Mr. Herrick's lion must be entered By keepin £ his tail doWn