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David
Brown’s Prowling Lion |
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(Draft - Work in Progress) Below right, is a wax image of a lion walking
or striding with some purpose. (Some
might interpret that the lion is bowing).
The lion’s head seems to be looking down rather than ahead, perhaps
with a reflective or contemplative countenance. Its mouth appears to be
open. The tail of the lion, though
hanging down, is curled up. The seal that produced the wax image had been brought to the colony by David Brown in 1801, and
is believed to have belonged to his grandfather. It is claimed
that the ‘Chevalier’ or ‘Old Pretender’, gave this seal to his close
friends. It is purported to be a Jacobite seal. The
image has been usually referred to, or described as a ‘Lion Morne’, which is meant to represent a lion without
tongue, teeth, or claws (and possibly
without a tail). Family legend
suggests that the image on the seal is meant to be a
lion with a forlorn countenance, and that it is intended to represent the
Royal Lion of Scotland mourning for the loss of his crown. No evidence has come to light yet to support this claim. One
of David’s granddaughters, most likely Mary (1823–1910), but possibly
Catherine (1826–1905), is said to have remembered
that when she was a little girl, her grandfather showed her a chest of
dresses, fans and slippers and a seal. Supposedly this seal that created the
‘Lion Morne’ image. A
photograph was taken of the impression on a wax seal
on a deed signed by David in 1826.
The Brown family gave a photo of the wax seal to Miriam Chisholm. In
consequence, it now resides in the National Library of Australia as part of
her collection[1] The deed concerned a transfer of ownership
of land - It is most probable that the
deed concerned his grant on the Hunter River at Jerry’s Plains which he
transferred to his son David (II) in 1826. Informed
sources suggest that the lion as portrayed in the seal may have some family
significance rather than 'Jacobite'. There were apparently many a seal about at
the time that had nothing to do with royalty and things Jacobite. As it is, the image bears little
similarity to the stylized images of heraldry such as shown in the example
below left.
Below
is a comparison of the David’s lion and photo’s of the real thing.
If someone was going to have a seal
made for him or her, a lion with a forlorn countenance seems an unusual
choice. But a
hunting lion or prowling lion, that is quite a different matter! Perhaps at
some point it was meant to be indicative of the following biblical text? - ‘He
prowled among the lions, for he was now a strong lion. He learned to tear the
prey and he devoured men’. Ezekiel 19:6. Whatever
its origin the seal has become part of the David Brown legend. INDUSTRY & PERSEVERANCE – A History of David Brown (1750 – 1836), Appendix
A, Relics of Interest refers. Lion
Morne -
This is a lion without teeth and claws, but no instance of the use of the
term would appear to exist in British armory. Woodward mentions amongst other
Continental examples the arms of the old French family of De Mornay (Vicomté de Léon) [
Fasce d'argent
et de gueules au lion morne
de sable, couronne d'or brochant sur le tout ".] Morné Pour
un lion sans griffes, ni
langue, ni dents (ni
queue selon certains auteurs) - [For a lion without claws, tongue or teeth[or queue (tail) according to some
authors]. d'or au lion morné de sable http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_%28h%C3%A9raldique%29
Indicative of research and expert advice obtained so
far, concerning the origin of these items, is the following: 'Thank you for your
interesting 'Jack' and 'Lion Morne' emblems. I must say that I haven't
seen these before, so can't offer
any confirmatory evidence that they were in fact in use. ….'
John
Griffiths March 2012
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