Cautionary Tales About Lions - and where to see the stuffed Lions

 After I read the distressing news about the fatal accident at a safari park in Yorkshire, I recalled a cautionary tale about a lion. I first came across the poem The Lion and Albert when it was performed at a Christmas party for the American Women's Association at the American Club in Singapore, or at the British Club, probably at both the same year by the same person. Later I tracked down the story online.

Victorian Cautionary Tales

Cautionary tales serve a dual purpose. 

1 They warn of dangers, without giving you nightmares. Before you learn about fatalities.

2 Like jokes at funerals, humorous cautionary tales distract you and insert a feeling of relief when you are overwhelmed by stress.

Two famous poems feature lions, rather than tigers.

1. "Jim, Who Ran Away from His Nurse, and Was Eaten by a Lion" by Hilaire Belloc

This is a classic satirical cautionary tale from Belloc's Cautionary Tales for Children (published in 1907).

The Lion and Albert by Marriott Edgar

This is a famous northern English comic monologue (often performed by Stanley Holloway) written in dialect.

Hilaire Belloc passed away in 1953. His copyright expired at the end of 2023 (70 years after 1953), meaning his works are now out of copyright and in the public domain.

Marriott Edgar passed away earlier, in 1951. His copyright expired at the end of 2021 (70 years after 1951), meaning his works are also out of copyright and in the public domain.

Blackpool's Pub: Albert And the Lion

The Wetherspoons pub located right near the lamdmark Blackpool Tower was named The Albert and The Lion in honor of the poem.

The interior decor and displays inside the pub

1 Illustrations Of The Story Of Naughty Schoolboy Albert

According to J D Wetherspoon, the pub walls feature framed illustrations and prints telling the story of young Albert Ramsbottom, after poking the lion in the ear with a stick with a horse's head handle, being swallowed whole by the lion.

2 Photos and Portraits of Actor Stanley Holloway

Actor Stanley Holloway made the monologue famous. Pictures and stories about the actor are around the pub.

Blackpool's Memorabilia

The poem mentions Albert buying his stick with the horse's head handle in Woolworths. Memorabilia of black pool includes Woolworths store, Blackpool Tower Circus, and the comedian couple Laurel And Hardy.

Where To See Wallace The Lion

The well - known lion, Wallace, gave Marriott Edgar the idea of calling the lion in his poem Wallace, which became a popular name for a lion at that time (like Jumbo the elephant and Rover the dog).

An altogether safer way of seeing animals is on videos, or taxidermy (stuffed dead animals) in museums.

The Wallace lion cam be seem in two museums, one in the south east of England and one further north.

• Saffron Walden Museum (Essex): A famous historical lion named Wallace—born in a traveling menagerie in 1812 and belonging to George Wombwell—was taxidermied after his death in 1838 and is still on display there.

• Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens: Later, a famous 19th-century touring lion named Wallace (associated with the lion tamer Martini Maccomo) was stuffed by a local taxidermist and bought by the museum in 1879, where he remains a well-known permanent fixture on the ground floor.

• Useful Websites On Places To Visit

• Wetherspoons Pub with Albert & Lion Memorabilia

• Salffron Walden Museum, Essex with a Wallace Lion

• Sunderland Museum with a Wallace Lion