Martlet - Mark of Cadency

Mark of Cadency

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.