For the British version of the US WWII fighterplane see Grumman F4F Wildcat

The martlet as depicted in English heraldry, here with tincture sable

A martlet in English heraldry is a heraldic charge depicting a stylized bird of the swallow family, scientific term Hirundinidae. The charge in French heraldry known as a Merlette, often believed erroneously to be equivalent to the martlet, refers to a completely different bird, duck-like, with a swan-neck and truncated beak.^[1] The two forms should not be confused.

Etymology[link]

The word "Martlet" is derived from the same origin as house marten, a bird of the swallow family. The word from its ending "-let" appears to refer to the diminutive of this bird.

Description[link]

These heraldic 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 anciently they were believed to have none at all.

[edit] French Merlette

Basic form of the French merlette, not to be confused with the English "martlet"

In French heraldry the canette or anet is a small duck (French: canard), shown without feet. According to Théodore Veyrin-Forrer ^[2] la canette représente la canne ou le canard; si elle est dépourvue du bec et des pattes, elle devient une merlette. ("The canette represents the duck or drake; if she is deprived of beak and feet she becomes a merlette"). In French un merle, from Latin merula,^[3] is a male blackbird ^{[disambiguation needed ]}, a member of the thrush family. A merlette in common parlance is a female blackbird, but in heraldic terminology is defined as une figure représentant une canette mornée ("a figure representing a little female duck 'blunted'"). Une cane is a female duck (male canard, "drake") 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(e) means: sans langue, sans dents, sans ongles et des oiseaux sans bec ni serres ("without tongue, without teeth, without nails and birds without beak or claws"). ^[4] 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".^[5]

Early usage[link]

de Valence[link]

Martlets on the heraldic shield of William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke(d.1296), drawn from his tomb in Westminster Abbey. Champlevee enamel with diapering

The arms of the Valence family, Earls of Pembroke show one of the earliest uses of the martlet. Their arms were orled (bordered) with martlets, as can be seen on the enamelled shield of the effigy of William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke (d.1296) 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[link]

Arms of King Richard II (1377-1399), showing the attributed arms of Edward the Confessor impaling the arms of Plantagenet

Centuries after his death, Edward the Confessor was assigned attributed arms containing five martlets or (golden martlets). King Richard II (1377-1399) 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 precints.

de Arundel of Lanherne[link]

Arms of Arundel of Lanherne, Cornwall, later Baron Arundel of Wardour: Sable, six martlets argent. These are early canting arms, based on the French for swallow hirondelle. They were recorded for Reinfred de Arundel (d. circa 1280), lord of the manor of Lanherne, Cornwall, in the 15th.c. Shirley Roll of Arms

The French word for swallow is hirondelle, from Latin hirundo, ^[3] 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 (d.c.1280), lord of the manor of Lanherne, were recorded in the 15th.c. Shirley Roll of Arms as: Sable, six martlets argent.^[6] 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[link]

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 unlikely this bore no canting connection to the title of the Earls of Arundell, who were the leading county family for many centuries, or the name of their castle.

de Verdon / Dundalk[link]

Coat of arms of Dundalk, showing a bend between six red martlets: Argent, a bend between six martlets gules

A bend between six martlets forms the coat of arms of Dundalk, Ireland. The bend and martlets are derived from the family of Thomas de Furnivall who obtained a large part of the land and property of Dundalk and district in about 1319 by marriage to Joan de Verdon daughter of Theobald de Verdon.^[7] Three of these martlets, in reversed tinctures, form the arms of the local association football team Dundalk FC.

Mark of cadency[link]

It has been suggested that the restlessness of the marten due to its supposed inability to land is the reason for the use of the martlet in English heraldry as the cadency mark of the fourth son. The first son inherited all the estate by primogeniture, the second and third traditionally went into the Church, to serve initially as priests in a church of which their father held the advowson, and the fourth had no well-defined place (unless his father possessed, as was often the case, more than two vacant advowsons). As the fourth son often therefore received no part of the family wealth and had to earn his own, the martlet may also be a symbol of hard work, perseverance, and a nomadic household. This explanation seems implausible, as the 5th and 6th sons were equally "restless", yet no apparent reference is made to this in their proper cadence marks.

Modern significance[link]

A martlet as shown in the modern arms of McGill University

The formerly supposed inability of the martlet to land is said by some modern commentators to symbolize the constant quest for knowledge, learning, and adventure. Thus the martlet has been incorporated into the modern arms of McGill University, in which the women's athletic teams are named the McGill Martlets); the University of Houston and the University of Houston Law Center; Simsbury, Connecticut (where the store is called the Martlet's Nest); the University of Victoria (where the student newspaper is also called The Martlet). The significance of the martlet in the arms of various ancient English colleges and schools is derived quite simply from elements within the arms of their founders.

Source[link]

Arthur Charles Fox Davies (2004), A Complete Guide to Heraldry, Kessinger Publishing  ISBN 1-4179-0630-8

References[link]

v t e Heraldic creatures Beasts Bear Boar Bull/Ox Dog Camelopard (giraffe) Hind/Stag (deer) Kangaroo Leopard Lion Tiger Wolf Birds Cock Dove Eagle Martlet Pelican Rook Legendary creatures Basilisk Biscione Chollima Cockatrice Dragon Enfield Garuda Griffin/Keythong Harpy Lindworm Manticore Mermaid Phoenix Salamander Sea-horse Sea-lion Turul Unicorn Wyvern Fish Dolphin Ged Hippocampus Lucy (esox) Scallop Others Bat Bee Crapaudy (toad) Emmet (ant) Serpent

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Martlets in heraldry

• Dave's Mythical Creatures and Places: Martlet
• Heraldica: Martlet

This article may rely too heavily on sources with too close a tie to the subject to be verifiable and neutral. Please help improve it by replacing them with more appropriate citations to reliable, independent, third-party sources. (February 2011)

Shawn Phillips (born February 3, 1943, Fort Worth, Texas, USA) is a folk-rock musician, primarily influential in the 1960s and 1970s.

Phillips has recorded twenty albums ^[1] and worked with musicians including Donovan, Paul Buckmaster, J. Peter Robinson, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Bernie Taupin and many others.^[2] The Texas-born singer/songwriter was described as "The best kept secret in the music business"^{[cite this quote]} by the late rock impresario Bill Graham.

In the 1960s Phillips worked as a session player on several Donovan albums including Fairytale, Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow,^[3] performed at the Isle of Wight festival, sang on the Beatles' "Lovely Rita",^[4] and was cast to play the lead in the original production of Jesus Christ Superstar (he had to withdraw due to his heavy recording and touring schedule).^{[citation needed]} In February 1969 Phillips wrote and performed, with The Djinn, the music for the controversial Jane Arden play Vagina Rex and the Gas Oven at the Arts Laboratory on Drury Lane.^{[citation needed]}

Phillips worked the folk music scene in Los Angeles, New York's Greenwich Village, and London. In 1967, Phillips moved to Positano, Italy, where he remained throughout the 1970s, recording the albums Contribution, Second Contribution, Collaboration and Faces'.

Four of his albums Faces, Bright White, Furthermore and Do You Wonder made it into the Billboard Top 100. In addition, the singles "Lost Horizon" and "We" made Billboard's top 100 in 1973 (63 and 92 respectively).

His album No Category, featuring his longtime collaborators Paul Buckmaster and Peter Robinson, was released in 2002.

In 2007, his first live album, Living Contribution, was released, along with a Live DVD of the same title.

Phillips today lives in Port Elizabeth, South Africa with his wife Juliette and their son Liam. He quit touring after 2011 and now He divides his time between writing,recording and his work as an emergency medical technician (EMT), firefighter, and 1st Officer, Navigator, and Extrication Specialist with the National Sea Rescue Institute of South Africa (NSRI).

Discography[link]

^[5]

Albums[link]

• I'm a Loner (1964) [re-issued in 1965 as Favourite Things]
• Shawn (1965) [re-issued in 1966 as First Impressions]
• Contribution (1970)
• Second Contribution (1970) US #208
• Collaboration (1971)
• Faces (1972) US #57
• Bright White (1973) US #72
• Furthermore (1974), A&M Records US #50
• Do You Wonder (1974) US #101
• Rumplestiltskin's Resolve (1975) US #201
• Spaced (1977)
• Transcendence (1978)
• Beyond Here Be Dragons (1983)
• Best of Shawn Phillips (1990)
• The Best of Shawn Phillips: The A&M Years (1992)
• The Truth If It Kills (1994)
• Another Contribution: Anthology (1995)
• No Category (2002)
• Living Contribution (2007)
• At The BBC (2009)

Singles[link]

• A Christmas Song (1970, A&M AMS-819)
• We
• Lost Horizon
• Anello (Where Are You)
• Do You Wonder (1974. A&M)

References[link]

• Walking Through the Fields: The Shawn Phillips interview

External links[link]

• Official website
• Official Youtube channel
• Official ReverbNation channel

Duncan Browne (25 March 1947 — 28 May 1993)^[1] was an English singer-songwriter.

Career[link]

Browne attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, studying both music theory and drama. He chose to become a musician when, in 1967, he met Andrew Loog Oldham, and signed with his Immediate Records label. His debut album Give Me, Take You was issued in 1968.

His choral arrangement was used on the Tim Hardin penned "Hang On to a Dream" on the album Nice, as recorded by The Nice in 1969.

Browne's biggest hit in the UK was the song "Journey" (UK number 23),^[2] as televised on Top of the Pops in 1972. The song was included on Browne's second album Duncan Browne in 1973.

By the mid 1970s, Browne moved into electric rock mode in collaboration with Peter Godwin, forming the symphonic/glam band Metro, whose recordings were issued on Sire in the United States. Suddenly, Browne was near the cutting edge of music again, and in addition to his work with Metro he released a couple of solo albums, The Wild Places and Streets of Fire. The song "The Wild Places" was a hit single in the Netherlands. From the same period, Browne's co-composed song "Criminal World" was recorded by David Bowie on his 1983 Let's Dance album.

In 1984-85, Browne composed and performed the music for the British television series Travelling Man, in collaboration with the programme's producer Sebastian Graham-Jones. The soundtrack was released on vinyl and CD. The track reached number 68 in the UK Singles Chart in December 1984.^[2]

Browne also composed "Salva Me", the theme tune of the BBC series Shadow of the Noose in 1989, and was recorded on a compilation album with 19 other television theme tunes.

Browne died of cancer in 1993, aged 46.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Duncan Browne Tribute
• Duncan Browne biography at Allmusic website

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