Martlet
A martlet in English heraldry is a mythical bird without feet that never roosts from the moment of its drop-birth until its death fall; martlets are proposed to be constantly on the wing. This condition is an allegory for continuous effort, expressed in heraldic charge depicting a stylised bird similar to a swift or a house martin, without feet. It should be distinguished from the merlette of French heraldry, which is a duck-like bird with a swan-neck and chopped-off beak and legs. The common swift rarely lands outside breeding season, and sleeps while airborne.
Etymology
The word "martlet" is derived from the bird known as the martin, with the addition of the diminutive suffix "-let"; thus martlet means "little martin". The origin of the name martin is obscure, though it may refer to the festival Martinmas, which occurs around the same time martins begin their migration from Europe to Africa.Description
These mythical birds are shown properly in English heraldry with two or three short tufts of feathers in place of legs and feet. Swifts, formerly known as martlets, have such small legs that they were believed to have none at all, which provides a likely explanation for the legend of the legless martlet.French ''merlette''
In French heraldry, the canette or anet is a small duck, shown without feet. According to Théodore Veyrin-Forrer la canette représente la canne ou le canard; si elle est dépourvue du bec et des pattes, elle devient une merlette.. In French un merle, from Latin merula, is a male blackbird, a member of the thrush family. A merlette in common parlance, since the 19th century, is a female blackbird, but in heraldic terminology is defined as une figure représentant une canette mornée. Une cane is a female duck and une canette, the diminutive form, is "a little female duck". The verb morner in ancient French means "to blunt", in heraldic terminology the verbal adjective morné means: sans langue, sans dents, sans ongles et des oiseaux sans bec ni serres. English heraldry uses the terms "armed" and "langued" for the teeth, claws and tongue of heraldic beasts, thus mornée might be translated as "dis-armed". Thus the English "martlet" is not the same heraldic creature as the French "merlette".Early usage
de Valence
The arms of the Valence family, Earls of Pembroke show one of the earliest uses of the martlet to difference them from their parent house of Lusignan. Their arms were orled with martlets, as can be seen on the enamelled shield of the effigy of William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke in Westminster Abbey. Martlets are thus shown in the arms of Pembroke College, Cambridge, a foundation of that family.Attributed arms of Edward the Confessor
The attributed arms of Edward the Confessor contain five martlets or. The attribution dates to the 13th century and was based on the design on a coin minted during Edward's reign.King Richard II impaled this coat with the Plantagenet arms, and it later became the basis of the arms of Westminster Abbey, in which The Confessor was buried, and of Westminster School, founded within its precinct.
de Arundel of Lanherne
The French word for swallow is hirondelle, from Latin hirundo, and therefore martlets have appeared in the canting arms of the ancient family of de Arundel of Lanherne, Cornwall and later of Wardour Castle. The arms borne by Reinfred de Arundel, lord of the manor of Lanherne, were recorded in the 15th-century Shirley Roll of Arms as: Sable, six martlets argent. This family should not be confused with that of FitzAlan Earls of Arundel, whose seat was Arundel Castle in Sussex, who bear for arms: Gules, a lion rampant or.County of Sussex
The shield of the county of Sussex, England contains six martlets said to represent the six historical rapes, or former administrative sub-divisions, of the county.It seems likely this bore a canting connection to the title of the Earls of Arundel, who were the leading county family for many centuries, or the name of their castle. The University of Sussex's coat of arms also bears these six martlets.