Society for Creative Anachronism
College of Arms
1702 Sea Ventures Ln
Hampton, VA 23665-2429
+1-757-848-5813
laurel@heraldry.sca.org
For the January 2010 meetings, printed April 19, 2010
To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Olwyn Laurel, Istvan Wreath, and Aryanhwy Pelican, greetings.
Items listed below in square brackets have not been scheduled yet. For information about future scheduling, please review the status table located on the Web at http://oscar.sca.org/index.php?action=137.
The January Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held on Saturday, January 16, 2010. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Outlands (07 Sep, 2009), Atenveldt (15 Sep, 2009), Palimpsest Rules Letter (18 Sep, 2009), An Tir (21 Sep, 2009), East (25 Sep, 2009), Drachenwald (26 Sep, 2009), Gleann Abhann (28 Sep, 2009), Meridies (29 Sep, 2009), Outlands (29 Sep, 2009), Ansteorra (30 Sep, 2009), Artemisia (30 Sep, 2009), Atlantia (30 Sep, 2009), Northshield (30 Sep, 2009), Trimaris (30 Sep, 2009), and West (30 Sep, 2009). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Thursday, December 31, 2009.
The February Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held on Saturday, February 6, 2010. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Caid (21 Sep, 2009) (pushed due to lack of packet), Atenveldt (15 Oct, 2009), East (24 Oct, 2009), Æthelmearc (25 Oct, 2009), Northshield (26 Oct, 2009), Ansteorra (28 Oct, 2009), Meridies (28 Oct, 2009), Gleann Abhann (29 Oct, 2009), Laurel LoPaD (29 Oct, 2009), An Tir (31 Oct, 2009), Artemisia (31 Oct, 2009), Atlantia (31 Oct, 2009), Ealdormere (31 Oct, 2009), Outlands (31 Oct, 2009), Palimpsest Rules Letter (31 Oct, 2009), and West (31 Oct, 2009). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Sunday January 31, 2010.
The March Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, March 6, 2010 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, March 7, 2010. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Middle (29 Sep, 2009) (pushed due to lack of payment), Middle (30 Oct, 2009) (pushed due to lack of payment), Lochac (31 Oct, 2009) (pushed due to lack of packet), Calontir (05 Nov, 2009), Æthelmearc (14 Nov, 2009), Atenveldt (15 Nov, 2009), Drachenwald (16 Nov, 2009), An Tir (25 Nov, 2009), Gleann Abhann (27 Nov, 2009), Laurel LoPaD (27 Nov, 2009), Meridies (28 Nov, 2009), Ansteorra (30 Nov, 2009), Artemisia (30 Nov, 2009), Atlantia (30 Nov, 2009), Lochac (30 Nov, 2009), Middle (30 Nov, 2009), Outlands (30 Nov, 2009), Palimpsest (30 Nov, 2009), and Trimaris (30 Nov, 2009). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Sunday, February 28, 2010.
The April Laurel decisions were made at the Rowany Festival roadshow held on Sunday, April 4, 2010 and at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held on Saturday, April 10, 2010. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: West (30 Nov, 2009)(pushed due to lack of packet) , East (13 Dec, 2009), Atenveldt (20 Dec, 2009), Drachenwald (21 Dec, 2009), Drachenwald (27 Dec, 2009), Gleann Abhann (27 Dec, 2009), An Tir (29 Dec, 2009), Atlantia (29 Dec, 2009), Ansteorra (30 Dec, 2009), Outlands (31 Dec, 2009), Æthelmearc (02 Jan, 2010), Atenveldt (20 Jan, 2010), Ansteorra (27 Jan, 2010), Meridies (29 Jan, 2010), Gleann Abhann (30 Jan, 2010), Middle (30 Jan, 2010), Atlantia (31 Jan, 2010), East (31 Jan, 2010), Gleann Abhann (31 Jan, 2010), Outlands (31 Jan, 2010), and Trimaris (31 Jan, 2010). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Wednesday, March 31, 2010.
The May Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held in May 2010. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Caid (31 Dec, 2009)(pushed due to lack of packet) , An Tir (27 Jan, 2010)(pushed due to lack of payment) , Caid (31 Jan, 2010)(pushed due to lack of packet) , Ealdormere (31 Jan, 2010)(pushed due to lack of packet) , Calontir (07 Feb, 2010), Laurel LoPaD (14 Feb, 2010), Calontir (15 Feb, 2010), Æthelmearc (23 Feb, 2010), Atenveldt (23 Feb, 2010), Atlantia (25 Feb, 2010), Ansteorra (26 Feb, 2010), Meridies (26 Feb, 2010), Drachenwald (27 Feb, 2010), An Tir (28 Feb, 2010), Lochac (28 Feb, 2010), Outlands (28 Feb, 2010), and the Palimpsest Rules Letter (28 Feb, 2010). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Monday, May 31, 2010.
The June Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held in June 2010. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: West (31 Jan, 2010)(pushed due to lack of payment and packet) , Laurel (05 Mar, 2010), Artemisia (15 Mar, 2010), [Atenveldt (15 Mar, 2010)], [East (20 Mar, 2010)], An Tir (22 Mar, 2010), [Northshield (26 Mar, 2010)], [Drachenwald (29 Mar, 2010)], Gleann Abhann (29 Mar, 2010), [Caid (30 Mar, 2010)], [Trimaris (30 Mar, 2010)], [Ansteorra (31 Mar, 2010)], [Atlantia (31 Mar, 2010)], [Ealdormere (31 Mar, 2010)], [Lochac (31 Mar, 2010)], [Middle (31 Mar, 2010)], [Outlands (31 Mar, 2010)], and [West (31 Mar, 2010)]. All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Wednesday, June 30, 2010.
Not all letters of intent may be considered when they are originally scheduled on this cover letter. The date of posting of the LoI, date of receipt of the Laurel packet, or other factors may delay consideration of certain letters of intent. Additionally, some letters of intent received may not have been scheduled because the administrative requirements (receipt of the forms packet, receipt of the necessary fees, et cetera) have not yet been met.
REMINDER: Until all administrative requirements are met, the letter may not be scheduled.
From The Sovereigns of Arms: Thanks!
The three sovereigns would like to thank the Crown and People of the Kingdom of Lochac for their gracious welcome. Special thanks to the Barony of Saint-Florian-de-la-rivière for hosting the sovereigns, providing us places to sleep, and feeding us. Thanks, all!
From Laurel: KWHSS 2011 Bids Requested
For those considering bidding on the 2011 Known World Heraldic and Scribal Symposium, the deadline to have your bid entered into OSCAR is May 15, 2010. This will give the College of Arms time for consideration so that we can announce the bid's award at this year's KWHSS in An Tir, as is our preferred practice.
Please remember that bids posted to OSCAR are publicly readable. Because of this, all personal information, such as legal names, addresses, phone numbers, and email, should not be included in these bids without signed, written permission. Such information as is necessary should be posted as a comment after the bid is finalized, so that only the College of Arms can read it. Please send a courtesy copy of the full bid to Laurel at laurel@heraldry.sca.org.
As a reminder, there is a KWHSS domain and web hosting space available on the SCA's servers; you need not register your own.
Please see http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/kwhs/ or contact Laurel if you have any questions.
From Laurel: New Codex Herald
Master Robin Gallowglass has served the College and Society for several years as Codex Herald, but has decided he no longer wishes to hold that office. We would like to thank him for putting his talents in our service for that time.
The new Codex is Maol Mhichil mac Giolla Pheadair of Northshield (usually called "Mikey"). He has already assumed the duties of the office. We look forward to the new perspective he will bring to the task. The email alias codex@heraldry.sca.org has been updated so mail now goes to Mikey, not Robin. Any information on errors to the website, broken links, or suggestions for original content should be sent to that address.
From Laurel: Missing Registrations
It has come to our attention that some device registrations are lacking associated name registrations. Our thanks to White Stag and Rampart for notifying us of this issue. Most of these are errata, which are being dealt with separately, but a small number of them are due to heraldic mis-steps: the name submission never appeared on a LoI, but the associated device was registered anyway, in the era when name registration was no longer implicit in device registration.
In the interest of fairness, since the submitters were never given any indication that their names were not registered, we have decided to register these names as hardship cases without paperwork. The following are the names of the individuals in question: Veronica Brannick, Katherina von Lehmann, Robert Glendon of Auk, Berand of Bangor, and Elen Greenhand. Acceptances are in this LoAR for each of these names.
From Laurel: Society Requirements for Scrolls
Scrolls document very special occurrences in people's lives, commemorating recognition of their accomplishments. As such, we do not want to deny people scrolls because they do not have a name and/or device registered. Some people choose to refrain from registering a device because they are recreating a time and place that would not have had armory, and we do not want to punish good recreation by denying them that commemoration.
In the September 1996 Letter of Acceptances and Returns, Laurel ruled:
It has been Laurel policy since the time of Wilhelm von Schussel that scrolls that convey arms at either award, grant or patent level, be only given to people who have registered names and devices. Note: this does not preclude someone without a registered name or device from receiving an award, just from receiving an official scroll. Promissory notes are not considered scrolls.
In the 2001 revision to the Administrative Handbook, language which had previously read "[The primary registered name] is the name that will appear on scrolls and other formal documents" was changed to read "Kingdoms or principalities may require this name to be used on awards, honors, scrolls, and other formal documents." From that time, the only requirement that the Laurel office has made for scrolls is that unregistered arms should not be placed on a scroll as armory, nor its blazon used in a way that implies that the arms are registered.
While kingdoms may require that a registered name be used on a scroll if one exists, Laurel does not require that all names that appear on scrolls must be registered. The Laurel office encourages kingdoms to not withhold scrolls from those individuals who do not have a registered name or device. Registration of a name and device should be its own reward, rather than a prerequisite for receiving recognition from one's kingdom.
From Laurel: A Reminder About the Forms
We wish to remind submissions heralds that all submissions need to be on forms that have been approved by Laurel. If the submissions form does not say "Approved by Laurel" or is not dated in 2006, then it is not approved by Laurel. Submissions which use unapproved forms may be returned for administrative reasons.
From Wreath: Conflict Checking
In the years of paper mailings, we were all about saving paper and postage costs. We can find the phrase "silence equals assent" in an online article on commenting, implying that the only positive comments that should be made were for extra supporting documentation. (As an aside: perhaps this is where all the perceptions of heralds as negative comes from?) However, it is impossible to tell if a submission has no comments because it's fine and clear, or if it's being ignored because "somebody else will do it." Since we now have OSCAR, the cost of addressing this is minimal.
In the future, we would ask all those doing conflict checking to state, either in each submission or as a comment on the entire letter, that you have checked each submission and found no conflicts. A simple "No conflicts found" is entirely sufficient. For completeness, we request that those who are discussing style or other non-conflict issues with a device also conflict check the submission and mention the result of that check, even when the other issues may cause a return.
From Wreath: X.1.
This month, there was a discussion of possible wording changes to make section X.1 of the Rules for Submissions more clear. Due to the ongoing rules change discussion, it makes little sense to tweak a rule that may be substantially changed in the near future. The proposed change will be rolled into the update taking place later this year.
From Wreath: OSCAR and submissions
There have been a few notable instances lately where Wreath was about to return a device or badge for lack of documentation when it was pointed out that the necessary documentation was attached to the name submission item in OSCAR.
Submissions heralds: remember that the name and device submissions in OSCAR are separate, and that Wreath has his preferences set to display only devices. If the documentation for the armory is attached to the name, there is a good chance that it will be missed.
From Wreath: Pierrot Masks
Historically, we have registered Pierrot masks. Research on a submission this month showed that the creation of the character Pierrot in commedia dell'arte occurred after 1650. Therefore, unless documented to period, Pierrot masks will be no longer be registerable after the June 2010 decision meeting.
Send What to Whom
Letters of Intent, Comment, Response, Correction, et cetera are to be posted to the OSCAR online system. No paper copies need be sent.
Submission packets (one copy of each name form plus documentation, including petitions; two colored copies of each armory form plus two copies of any associated documentation, including petitions) to the SCA College of Arms, PO Box 31755, Billings, MT 59107-1755.
Cheques or money orders for submissions, payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms" are to be sent to David Duggar, Attn: Laurel Chancellor of Exchequer, 1705 Holiday Pl, Bossier City, LA, 71112-3706.
Send roster changes and corrections to Laurel. College of Arms members may also request a copy of the current roster from Laurel or view it on OSCAR.
For a paper copy of an LoAR, please contact Laurel, at the address above. The cost for one LoAR is $3. Please make all checks or money orders payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms". The electronic copy of the LoAR is available free of charge. To subscribe to the mailings of the electronic copy, please see the bottom of http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/lists.html#lists for more instructions.
For all administrative matters, please contact Laurel.
Pray know that I remain,
In service,
Olwynn ni Chinnedigh
Laurel Principal Queen of Arms