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THE MARTLET. 
Smells wooingly here ; no jutty, frieze, 
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 ob¬ 
serves on it:—“ This short dialogue between Duncan and 
Banquo, while they are approaching the gates of Mac¬ 
beth’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.” 
Merchant of Venice , Act ii. Sc. 9. 
