Part 22 (1/2)

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 303.--Lion salient.]

_Lion statant guardant_ (Fig. 302).--This (crowned) is of course the Royal crest of England, and examples of it will be found in the arms of the Sovereign and other descendants, legitimate and illegitimate, of Sovereigns of this country. An exceptionally fine rendering of it occurs in the Windsor Castle Bookplates executed by Mr. G. W. Eve.

_Lion salient._--This, which is a very rare position for a lion, represents it in the act of springing, the _two_ hind legs being on the ground, the others in the air (Fig. 303). {184}

_Lion salient guardant._--There is no reason why the lion salient may not be guardant or regardant, though an instance of the use of either does not come readily to mind.

_Lion sejant._--Very great laxity is found in the terms applied to lions sejant, consequently care is necessary to distinguish the various forms.

The true lion sejant is represented in profile, seated on its haunches, with the forepaws resting on the ground (Fig. 304).

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 304.--Lion sejant.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 305.--Lion sejant guardant.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 306.--Lion sejant regardant.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 307.--Lion sejant erect.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 308.--Lion sejant guardant erect.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 309.--Lion sejant regardant erect.]

_Lion sejant guardant._--This is as the foregoing, but with the face (only) turned to the spectator (Fig. 305).

_Lion sejant regardant._--In this the head is turned right back to gaze behind (Fig. 306).

_Lion sejant erect_ (or, as it is sometimes not very happily termed, sejant-rampant).--In this position the lion is sitting upon its haunches, but the body is erect, and it has its forepaws raised in the air (Fig.

307).

_Lion sejant guardant erect_ is as the last figure, but the head faces the spectator (Fig. 308).

_Lion sejant regardant erect_ is as the foregoing, but with the head turned right round to look backwards (Fig. 309).

_Lion sejant affronte._--In this case the lion is seated on its haunches, {185} but _the whole body_ is turned to face the spectator, the forepaws resting upon the ground in front of its body. Ugly as this position is, and impossible as it might seem, it certainly is to be found in some of the early rolls.

_Lion sejant erect affronte_ (Fig. 294).--This position is by no means unusual in Scotland. A lion sejant erect and affronte, &c., is the Royal crest of Scotland, and it will also be found in the arms of Lyon Office.

A good representation of the lion sejant affronte and erect is shown in Fig. 310, which is taken from Jost Amman's _Wappen und Stammbuch_ (1589).

It represents the arms of the celebrated Lansquenet Captain Sebastian Schartlin (Schertel) von Burtenbach [”Gules, a lion sejant affronte erect, double-queued, holding in its dexter paw a key argent and in its sinister a fleur-de-lis”]. His victorious a.s.sault on Rome in 1527, and his striking successes against France in 1532, are strikingly typified in these arms, which were granted in 1534.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 310.--Arms of Sebastian Schartlin von Burtenbach.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 311.--Lion couchant.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 312.--Lion dormant.]

_Lion Couchant._--In this position the lion is represented lying down, but the head is erect and alert (Fig. 311).

_Lion dormant._--A lion dormant is in much the same position as a lion couchant, except that the eyes are closed, and the head rests upon the extended forepaws (Fig. 312). Lions dormant are seldom met with, but they occur in the arms of Lloyd, of Stockton Hall, near York.