Re(1): Vavasours IP: 93.228.76.33 Posted on 20/3/2011 at 04:38:10 AM by Colin Withers
Hi Ann,
The dead lion does not appear in any of the coats of arms of the Vavasours, which is blazoned as Or, a fess dancettee sable. This means the shield is gold (or) with a thick zigzag line across the middle (fess dancettee) coloured black (sable). See the arms here:
I do remember the dead lion and the bees though, and the motto "out of the strong came forth sweetness", but that was the lion and motto on the tins of Lyle's Golden Syrup tin. See here:
This is a reference to the Biblical story in chapter 14 of the Book of Judges in which Samson was travelling to the land of the Philistines in search of a wife. During the journey he killed a lion, and when he passed the same spot on his return he noticed that a swarm of bees had formed a comb of honey in the carcass. Samson later turned this into a riddle at a wedding: "Out of the eater came forth meat and out of the strong came forth sweetness".