Brewer's: Martha

(St.), patron saint of good housewives, is represented in Christian art as clad in homely costume, bearing at her girdle a bunch of keys, and holding a ladle or pot of water in her hand. Like St. Margaret, she is accompanied by a dragon bound, but has not the palm and crown of martyrdom. The dragon is given to St. Martha from her having destroyed one that ravaged the neighbourhood of Marseilles.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Related Content