Out of the strong...

...came forth sweetness.

I took this during the setting up of the Absent Voices pop-up event at The Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock.

This poster was made by Absent Voices artist, Ryan King, and the glass panel is by Alec Galloway. Both were were quietly sitting at the window on the second floor of the Beacon when the event was being set up and I was having a quick look round.

I'm helping Absent Voices, group of eight artists (which blips as SugarSheds1), to spread the work about their fantastic re-imagining of the once mighty sugar industry in Inverclyde.

This quote comes from Judges 14:14 and it's also the slogan on the iconic tin of Lyle's Golden Syrup, which I remember fondly from my childhood.

Not only did my big brother and I routinely munch on 'syrup pieces' (bread smeared with sticky golden syrup), I used to make stilts out of the syrup tins once they were emptied and cleaned.

I used to love these tins with the dead lion surrounded by a swarm of bees, but I didn't really take in what it was all about. My late dad - a Church of Scotland minister - probably told me repeatedly but I was too busy getting a sugar rush it didn't sink in.

The story is that Abram Lyle, who created a sugar empire from his home town of Greenock, was a God-fearing man who drew inspiration from the Bible in all things.

This 'out of the strong' quote came from The Book of Judges, Chapter 14, which tells the story of Samson slaying a lion and later finding a swarm of bees forming a comb of honey in the carcass.