Buttress, nor coigne of vantage, but this bird
Hath made his pendant bed and procreant cradle.
Where they most breed and haunt, I have observ’d,
The air is delicate.”
Macbeth, Act i. Sc. 6.
Sir Joshua Reynolds was struck with the beauty of this brief colloquy before the castle of Macbeth, and he observes on it:—“This short dialogue between Duncan and Banquo, while they are approaching the gates of Macbeth’s castle, has always appeared to me a striking instance of what, in painting, is termed ‘repose.’ Their conversation very naturally turns upon the beauties of its situation, and the pleasantness of the air; and Banquo, observing the martlets’ nests in every recess of the cornice, remarks that where these birds most breed and haunt, the air is delicate. The subject of this quiet and easy conversation gives that repose so necessary to the mind after the tumultuous bustle of the preceding scenes, and perfectly contrasts the scene of horror that immediately succeeds.”
The bird is mentioned again in the Merchant of Venice, where we are reminded that—
“The martlet
Builds in the weather on the outward wall,
Even in the force and road of casualty.”