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.
Read more about this topic: Martlet
Famous quotes containing the words mark of and/or mark:
“It is the mark of a mean, vulgar and ignoble spirit to dwell on the thought of food before meal times or worse to dwell on it afterwards, to discuss it and wallow in the remembered pleasures of every mouthful. Those whose minds dwell before dinner on the spit, and after on the dishes, are fit only to be scullions.”
—Francis De Sales, Saint (1567–1622)
“For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
—Bible: New Testament, Mark 12:44.
Jesus watching the widow contribute her two mites.