The commune’s coat of arms are those of Gaston de Grailly-Foix, Seigneur of Gurson in the 15th century and are composed as follows : the escutcheon is quartered by Foix and Béarn and a label of five sable pendants are each charged with five argent scallops (Grailly).

The coat of arms can be seen in Windsor Castle chapel in England in the 25th stall, as Gaston de Grailly-Fox was a knight of the Order of the Garter who served under Henry VI of England.


 

The commune is made up of forests and vineyards and is situated between the Isle and Dordogne rivers at the westernmost point of the département, half-way between Bergerac and Libourne.

Once upon a time the land was crossed by the Talbot Path which, following an old Roman road, went from Castillon (in the Gironde) to Montpon (in the Dordogne) passing the châteaux of Gurson and Puy-Chalus.

The village of La Boueyne (otherwise known as La Borne) which had place names such as ‘Poste de Garde’ (‘Look Out Post’) and ‘Barrières’ (‘Barrier’), provided the western entrance to the county of Périgord.

The parish’s earliest name - Sanctus Martinus de Heremus - is first noted in the 13th century.
The name was frenchified into Saint Martin de Lerm which came from the Latin ‘eremus’ meaning desert and hermitage.

Negotiations between Hélie VI Talleyrand, Count of Périgord and the Seigneur of Gurson in 1244 suggests that Saint Martin was one of five parishes in the castellany of Gurson, whose name, over time, it adopted.
Traces of ancient civilisations show that the area has long been inhabited by man.

Near the village is the Guinot Spring where, legend has it, druids picked mistletoe on the first day of the year (new mistletoe).

The hamlet of Taules owes its name to a Roman tile (tegulae) factory.

It would seem that, once, long ago there was a nunnery at Priorat where stone tombs have been found.