Pope Clement IX. One of his devices was the pelican in its piety. Motto: “Aliis non sibi clemens” (“Tender-hearted to others, not himself”).
Other mottoes for the pelican:
“Ut vitam habeant” (“That they may have life”).
“Immemor ipse sui” (“Unmindful herself of herself”).
“Mortuos vivificat” (“Makes the dead live”).
“Nec sibi parcit” (“Nor spares herself”).
The Martlet
| “The guest of summer, The temple-haunting martlet.” “Macbeth.” |
The Martlet (Merlette or Merlot, French; Merula, Latin). The house-marten or swallow is a favourite device in heraldry all over Europe, and has assumed a somewhat unreal character from the circumstance that it catches its food on the wing and never appears to alight on the ground as other birds do. It builds its nest frequently under the eaves of houses, from whence it can take flight readily, rarely alighting, as it gains its food while on the wing; the length of its wings and the shortness of its legs preventing it from rising should it rest on the ground.