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Martello Towers

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Round towers about forty feet in height, of great strength, and situated on a beach or river; so called from the Italian towers built as a protection against pirates. As the warning was given by striking a bell with a martello, or hammer, the towers were called Torri da Martello.

Some say that these towers were so called from a tower at the entrance of St. Fiorenzo, in Corsica. Similar towers were common all along the Mediterranean coast as a defence against pirates. They were erected in the low parts of Sussex and Kent in consequence of the powerful defence made (February 8th, 1794) by Le Tellier at the tower of Morteila, with only thirty-eight men, against a simultaneous sea and land attack—the former led by Lord Hood, and the latter by Major-General Dundas.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Marseillaise
Marseilles Good Bishop
Marsh [Le Marais]
Marshal
Marsham (Men of)
Marsiglio or Marsilius
Marsyas
Martano (in Orlando Furioso)
Marteau des Heretiques
Martel
Martello Towers
Martext (Sir Oliver)
Martha (St.)
Martial
Martian Laws
Martin
Martin
Martin Drunk
Martin of Bullions (St.)
Martin’s Running Footman (St.)
Martin’s Summer (St.)

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Martello Towers