merlon

noun

1. (historical)Any of the upright projections between the embrasures of a battlement, originally for archers to shield behind while shooting arrows over the embrasures, or through loopholes in the merlons.

   “The Merlons, to the end that they may be good, ought to be made of Earth, the most eaſie to be tempered that may be: And this Earth ought alſo to be mixed with Withy Twigs, or Brambles, provided they take Root, after which they are to be lined with good Turff.”

   “The parapet conſiſts of two parts, namely, the wall and the merlons. [...] The Merlons are detached pieces of the parapet, leaving openings called Embrasures, thro' which the cannon deliver their ſhot.”

   “A battery of guns is a bank of earth thrown up to cover the men that are to ſerve the guns; this bank is cut into holes for the cannons to fire through, about 12 feet diſtant from each other. Theſe holes are called embraſures, and the maſſes of earth between them are called merlons; [...]”

   “Along the walls, at the distance of every hundred yards, were square stone towers. In the parapets were also embrasures, and holes in merlons for archery; but there were no cannon, except a few old wrought-iron pieces near the gate.”

   “[T]he property of sloping surfaces [...] causes a cannon ball from the fortress, which enters by the mouth and strikes one cheek of an embrasure, to glance off without penetrating through the merlon on that side. Such a ball is not therefore likely to prove fatal to those men who are covered by the merlon, but to those only who stand immediately behind the embrasure, and not always even to them, for if it should strike the very sloping part of the cheek, it may be reflected upwards.”

2. (alt-of, alternative)Alternative spelling of merlin (“a small falcon, Falco columbarius”).

   “Most of the fibulae have a triangular molding above the notch, which probably contained wound wire. The crossbar is decorated either with a flat knob or with a Persian merlon.”

   “Smaller and less powerful falcons included the merlon, the hobby, and the kesterel.”

   “The connection between sporting activities and social rank is given a fanciful expression in the aforementioned The Boke of St. Albans. In that work the author lists the types of birds considered appropriate for the various stations of human life: / The eagle, the vulture, and the merlon for an emperor [...]”