[1] According to others, a reed-pipe made of the stalks of hemlock;
the reading _scutica_ ("whip") has also been proposed.
MARSYAS, in Greek mythology, a Phrygian god or Silenus, son of Hyagnis.
He was originally the god of the small river of the same name near
Celaenae, an old Phrygian town. He represents the art of playing the
flute as opposed to the lyre--the one the accompaniment of the worship
of Cybele, the other that of the worship of Apollo. According to the
legend, Athena, who had invented the flute, threw it away in disgust,
because it distorted the features. Marsyas found it, and having acquired
great skill in playing it, challenged Apollo to a contest with his lyre.
Midas, king of Phrygia, who had been appointed judge, declared in favour
of Marsyas, and Apollo punished Midas by changing his ears into ass's
ears. In another version, the Muses were judges and awarded the victory
to Apollo, who tied Marsyas to a tree and flayed him alive. Marsyas, as
well as Midas and Silenus, are associated in legend with Dionysus and
belong to the cycle of legends of Cybele. A statue of Marsyas was set
up in the Roman forum and colonies as a symbol of liberty. The contest
and punishment of Marsyas were favourite subjects in Greek art, both
painting and sculpture. In Florence there are several statues of Marsyas
hanging on the tree as he is going to be flayed (see GREEK ART, fig. 54,
Pl. II.); Apollo and the executioner complete the group. In the Lateran
museum at Rome there is a statue representing Marsyas in the act of
picking up the flute, a copy of a masterpiece by Myron (Hyginus, _Fab._
167, 191; Apollodorus i. 4, 2; Ovid, _Metam._ vi. 382-400, xi. 145-193),
for which see GREEK ART, fig. 64 (Pl. III.).
MARTABAN, a town in the Thaton district of Lower Burma, on the right
bank of the Salween, opposite Moulmein. It is said to have been founded
in A.D. 573, by the first king of Pegu, and was once the capital of a
powerful Talaing kingdom; but it is now little more than a village.
Martaban is frequently mentioned by European voyagers of the 16th
century; and it has given the name of "Martavans" to a class of large
vessels of glazed pottery, also known in India as "Pegu jars." It was
twice captured by the British, in 1824 and 1852. The Bay of Martaban
receives the rivers Irrawaddy and Salween.
MARTELLO TOWER, a kind of tower formerly used in English coast defence.
The name is a corruption of Mortella. The Martello tower was introduced
in consequence of an incident of the French revolutionary wars. In
September 1793 a British squadron of three ships of the line and two
frigates was ordered to support the Corsican insurgents. It was
determined in the first place to take a tower on Cape Mortella which
commanded the only secure anchorage in the Gulf of San Fiorenzo. This
tower, according to James, was named "after its inventor"; but the real
derivation appears to be the name of a wild myrtle which grew thickly
around. The tower, which mounted one 24-pounder and two 18-pounders on
its top, was bombarded for a short time by the frigates, was then
deserted by its little garrison, and occupied by a landing party. The
tower was afterwards retaken by the French from the Corsicans. So far it
had done nothing to justify its subsequent reputation. In 1794, however,
a fresh attempt was made to support the insurgents. On the 7th of
February 1400 troops were landed, and the tower was attacked by land and
sea on the 8th. The "Fortitude" and "Juno" kept up a cannonade for 2½
hours and then hauled off, the former being on fire and having sixty-two
men killed and wounded. The fire from the batteries on shore produced no
impression until a hot shot set fire to the "bass junk with which, to
the depth of 5 ft., the immensely thick parapet was lined." The garrison
of thirty-three men then surrendered. The armament was found to consist
only of two 18-pounders and one 6-pounder. The strong resistance offered
by these three guns seems to have led to the conclusion that towers of
this description were specially formidable, and Martello towers were
built in large numbers, and at heavy expense, along the shores of
England, especially on the southern and eastern coasts, which in certain
parts are lined with these towers at short intervals. They are
structures of solid masonry, containing vaulted rooms for the garrison,
and providing a platform at the top for two or three guns, which fire
over a low masonry parapet. Access is provided by a ladder,
communicating with a door about 20 ft. above the ground. In some cases a
deep ditch is provided around the base. The chief defect of the tower
was its weakness against vertical fire; its masonry was further liable
to be cut through by breaching batteries. The French _tours modèles_
were somewhat similar to the Martello towers; their chief use was to
serve as keeps to unrevetted works. While the Martello tower owes its
reputation and its widespread adoption in Great Britain to a single
incident of modern warfare, the round masonry structure entered by a
door raised high above the base is to be found in many lands, and is one
of the earliest types of masonry fortification.
MARTEN, HENRY (1602-1680), English regicide, was the elder son of Sir
Henry Marten, and was educated at University College, Oxford. As a
public man he first became prominent in 1639 when he refused to
contribute to a general loan, and in 1640 he entered parliament as one
of the members for Berkshire. In the House of Commons he joined the
popular party, spoke in favour of the proposed bill of attainder against
Strafford, and in 1642 was a member of the committee of safety. Some of
his language about the king was so frank that Charles demanded his
arrest and his trial for high treason. When the Great Rebellion broke
out Marten did not take the field, although he was appointed governor of
Reading, but in parliament he was very active. On one occasion his zeal
in the parliamentary cause led him to open a letter from the earl of
Northumberland to his countess, an impertinence for which, says
Clarendon, he was "cudgelled" by the earl; and in 1643, on account of
some remark about extirpating the royal family, he was expelled from
parliament and was imprisoned for a few days. In the following year,
however, he was made governor of Aylesbury, and about this time took
some small part in the war. Allowed to return to parliament in January
1646, Marten again advocated extreme views. He spoke of his desire to
prepare the king for heaven; he attacked the Presbyterians, and,
supporting the army against the parliament, he signed the agreement of
August 1647. He was closely associated with John Lilburne and the
Levellers, and was one of those who suspected the sincerity of Cromwell,
whose murder he is said personally to have contemplated. However, he
acted with Cromwell in bringing Charles I. to trial; he was one of the
most prominent of the king's judges and signed the death warrant. He was
then energetic in establishing the republic and in destroying the
remaining vestiges of the monarchical system. He was chosen a member of
the council of state in 1649, and as compensation for his losses and
reward for his services during the war, lands valued at £1000 a year
were settled upon him. In parliament he spoke often and with effect, but
he took no part in public life during the Protectorate, passing part of
this time in prison, where he was placed on account of his debts. Having
sat among the restored members of the Long Parliament in 1659, Marten
surrendered himself to the authorities as a regicide in June 1660, and
with some others he was excepted from the act of indemnity, but with a
saving clause. He behaved courageously at his trial, which took place in
October 1660, but he was found guilty of taking part in the king's
death. Through the action, or rather the inaction of the House of Lords,
he was spared the death penalty, but he remained a captive, and was in
prison at Chepstow Castle when he died on the 9th of September 1680.
Although a leading Puritan, Marten was a man of loose morals. He wrote
and published several pamphlets, and in 1662 there appeared _Henry
Marten's Familiar Letters to his Lady of Delight_, which contained
letters to his mistress, Mary Ward.
Marten's father, Sir Henry Marten (c. 1562-1641), was born in London and
was educated at Winchester school and at New College, Oxford, becoming a
fellow of the college in 1582. Having become a barrister, he secured a
large practice and soon came to the front in public life. He was sent
abroad on some royal business, was made chancellor of the diocese of
London, was knighted, and in 1617 became a judge of the admiralty court.
Later he was appointed a member of the court of high commission and dean
of the arches. He became a member of parliament in 1625, and in 1628
represented the university of Oxford, taking part in the debates on the
petition of right.
See J. Forster, _Statesmen of the Commonwealth_ (1840); M. Noble,
_Lives of the English Regicides_ (1798); the article by C. H. Firth in
_Dict. Nat. Biog._ (1893); and S. R. Gardiner, _History of the Great
Civil War_ and _History of the Commonwealth and Protectorate_.
MARTEN,[1] a name originally belonging to the pine-marten (_Mustela
martes_), but now applied to all members of the same genus of
carnivorous mammals (see CARNIVORA). Martens are limited to the northern
hemisphere, ranging throughout the greater part of the northern
temperate regions of both Old and New Worlds, and southwards in America
to 35° N. lat., while in Asia one species is met with in Java.
The species appear to be similar in their habits. They live in woods and
rocky places, and spend most of their time in trees, although descending
to the ground in quest of prey. They climb with great facility, and are
agile and graceful in their movements. Some are said occasionally to
resort to berries and other fruit for food, but as a rule they are
carnivorous, feeding chiefly on birds and their eggs, small mammals, as
squirrels, hares, rabbits and moles, but chiefly mice of various kinds,
and occasionally snakes, lizards and frogs. In proportion to their size
they are among the most bloodthirsty of animals, though less so than the
weasels. The female makes her nest of moss, dried leaves and grass in
the hollow of a tree, but sometimes in a hole among rocks or ruined
buildings, and produces several young at a birth, usually from four to
six. Though wild and untameable to a great degree if captured when fully
grown, if taken young they are docile, and have frequently been made
pets, not having the strong unpleasant odour of the smaller
_Mustelidae_. The pine-marten appears to have been partially
domesticated by the Greeks and Romans, and used to keep houses clear
from rats and mice. In the same way, according to Brian Hodgson, the
yellow-bellied weasel (_Putorius kathia_) "is exceedingly prized by the
Nepalese for its service in ridding houses of rats. It is easily tamed;
and such is the dread of it common to all murine animals that not one
will approach a house where it is domiciled." It is, however, to the
great value attached to the pelts of these animals that their importance
to man is chiefly due. Though all yield fur of serviceable quality, the
commercial value varies immensely, not only according to the species
from which it is obtained, but according to individual variation,
depending upon age, sex, season, and other circumstances. The skins from
northern regions are more full and of a finer colour and gloss than
those from more temperate climates, as are those of animals killed in
winter compared to the same individuals in summer. Fashion has,
moreover, set fictitious values upon slight shades of colour. Enormous
numbers of animals are caught, chiefly in traps, to supply the demand of
the fur trade, Siberia and North America being the principal localities
from which they are obtained.
With the exception of the pekan (_M. pennanti_), the martens are much
alike in size, general colouring and cranial and dental characters.
The following description by Dr Elliott Coues of the American marten
(_M. americana_) will apply almost equally well to most of the others.
"It is almost impossible to describe the colour of the marten, except
in general terms, without going into the details of the endless
diversities occasioned by age, sex, season, or other incidents. The
animal is 'brown,' of a shade from orange or tawny to quite blackish;
the tail and feet are ordinarily the darkest, the head lightest, often
quite whitish; the ears usually have a whitish rim, while on the
throat there is usually a large tawny-yellowish or orange-brown patch,
from the chin to the fore legs; sometimes entire, sometimes broken
into a number of smaller, irregular blotches, sometimes wanting,
sometimes prolonged on the whole under surface, when the animal is
bicolor like a stoat in summer. The general 'brown' has a greyish
cast, as far as the under fur is concerned, and is overlaid with rich
lustrous blackish-brown in places where the long bristly hairs
prevail. The claws are whitish; the naked nose pad and whiskers are
black. The tail occasionally shows interspersed white hairs, or a
white tip."