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 continuously on the wing. It is a compelling 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.
23-511: Chaworth is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Joan Chaworth Bridget Chaworth (died 1621), gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber to Elizabeth I Maud Chaworth (1282–1322), English noblewoman and heiress Viscount Chaworth Baron Chaworth [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with the surname Chaworth . If an internal link intending to refer to
46-412: A likely explanation for the legend of the legless martlet. In French heraldry , the canette or anet is a small duck (French: canard ), 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 . ("The canette represents the duck or drake; if she is deprived of beak and feet she becomes
69-619: A lion rampant or . 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 (the French word for swallow is hirondelle ), who were the leading county family for many centuries, or the name of their castle. The university of Sussex 's coat of arms also bear these six martlets. A bend between six martlets forms
92-454: 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, of birds, without beak or claws"). English heraldry uses
115-469: A merlette"). In French un merle , from Latin merula (feminine), is a male blackbird , a member of the thrush family (formerly the term was feminine and could designate a male: une merle —a hen blackbird: une merlesse ). A merlette (diminutive form of merle : a little blackbird) in common parlance, since the 19th century, is a female blackbird, but in heraldic terminology is defined as une figure représentant une canette mornée ("a figure representing
138-461: A specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chaworth&oldid=1007513981 " Category : Surnames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata All set index articles Joan Chaworth Joan Chaworth (died 29 August 1507)
161-613: 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. 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
184-572: Is made to this in their proper cadence mark (an annulet and fleur-de-lys respectively). The inability of the martlet to land is said by some commentators to symbolize the constant quest for knowledge, learning, and adventure. Martlets appear in the arms of Worcester College , St Benet's Hall , and University College at Oxford University, of Magdalene College and Pembroke College at Cambridge, and of long-established English schools including Bromsgrove , Warwick , and Penistone Grammar . More recently they have been adopted by McGill University ,
207-572: The University of Houston , the Charles Wright Academy , Mill Hill School (London), Westminster Under School (London) Westminster School (Connecticut) , Saltus Grammar School (Bermuda), McGills House of Aldenham School and the University of Victoria (British Columbia) — where the student newspaper is likewise named The Martlet . A talking martlet is employed as a story-device in E.R. Eddison's fantasy novel The Worm Ouroboros . At
230-481: 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-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,
253-852: The chancel of the parish church of Alfreton a memorial tablet inlaid with brass plates bears the engraved effigies of Joan and her husband, John Ormond. The arms of Chaworth of Alfreton were Barry of ten, argent and gules , three martlets sable . Graves Park , Sheffield , part of the Norton estate, was included in the lands of the former manor of Alfreton. Joan Chaworth married, in 1458, John Ormond (d. 5 October 1503), esquire. John Ormond and his two brothers, Sir James Ormond (d. 17 July 1497) and Edward Ormond, were illegitimate sons of John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond (d. 14 October 1476), by his mistress Reynalda O'Brien, daughter of Turlogh "The Brown" O'Brien, King of Thomond . By John Ormond, Joan had three daughters: Martlets The word "martlet"
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#1732851107322276-412: 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. Three of these martlets, in reversed tinctures , form the arms of the local association football team Dundalk FC . It has been suggested that
299-459: The death of Joan's brother Thomas in 1483, the male Chaworth line was thus all but extinguished, and Joan, as her brother's heir at law, inherited most of the extensive Chaworth estates. By her marriage to John Ormond (d.1503), Joan had three daughters, among whom any barony of Chaworth which had been created by a writ in 1299 to her ancestor, Thomas de Chaworth (d.1315), is considered to have fallen into abeyance . Joan died 29 August 1507. In
322-454: The design on a coin minted during Edward's reign. 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 precinct. The French word for swallow is hirondelle , from Latin hirundo , and therefore martlets have appeared in
345-515: 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. The attributed arms of Edward the Confessor contain five martlets or (golden martlets). The attribution dates to the 13th century (two centuries after Edward's death) and was based on
368-549: The fourth son, George, left surviving male issue. John Chaworth was murdered in 1464, leaving an only son, Thomas, who died without issue in December 1485; Sir Thomas Chaworth died without issue in May 1465; and George Chaworth died in 1466, leaving a young grandson, George Chaworth (d.1521), who inherited the manors of Wiverton and Edwalton , and was ancestor of George Chaworth (d.1639), created Viscount Chaworth of Armagh in 1628. With
391-500: The martlet in A Rule Against Murder , the fourth book in her Inspector Gamache series (see chapter 27). Gamache discusses the four adult Morrow children with their stepfather, Bert Finney, while overlooking Lake Massawippi at the fictional Manoir Bellechasse, the site of the murder. Gamache explains that the martlet signifies the fourth child, who must make his/her own way in the world. The fangame Undertale Yellow features an avian character named Martlet, whose strong moral code during
414-525: The outset of the novel the martlet conducts the reader to Mercury whereon the action proceeds. Thereafter it performs a linking role as a messenger of the Gods. It also appears in Shakespeare's Macbeth Act 1 Sc 6, when King Duncan and Banquo call it a 'guest of summer' and see it mistakenly as a good omen when they spot it outside Macbeth's castle, shortly before Duncan is killed. Louise Penny makes reference to
437-517: The restlessness of the martlet due to its supposed inability to land, having no usable feet, is the reason for the use of the martlet in English heraldry as the cadency mark of a 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 churches of which their father held the advowson , and the fourth had no well-defined place (unless his father possessed, as
460-497: 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" . 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 (bordered) with martlets, as can be seen on
483-412: Was described as 'a sickly man', unable even to ride, and died within two years. Joan's only brother, Thomas Chaworth (1457–1483), married Margaret Talbot, daughter of John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury , and sister of John Talbot, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury , but he suffered a mental illness and died without issue in 1483. Sir Thomas Chaworth's three younger sons had all also died by that time, and only
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#1732851107322506-417: Was often the case, more than two vacant advowsons). As the fourth son often therefore received no part of the family wealth and had "the younger son's portion: the privilege of leaving home to make a home for himself", 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
529-481: Was the heiress of the manor of Alfreton . Her father was Sir William Chaworth. Joan Chaworth was the daughter of Sir William Chaworth (d.1467) and Elizabeth Bowett, daughter and coheir of Nicholas Bowett of Rippingale , Lincolnshire . She was the granddaughter of Sir Thomas Chaworth (d.1459), who had four sons, Sir William Chaworth (d.1467), John Chaworth (d. 1464), Sir Thomas Chaworth (d. May 1465), and George Chaworth (d.1466). In 1465 Joan's father, Sir William,
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