Eastmarch

3 Las Palomas

Orinda CA 94563

18 August XII (1977)

Karina of the Far West, Laurel Queen of Arms,

to the Heralds of the four Kingdoms,

Greetings.

I appear at last to have a workable procedure for the processing of applications. I look over the submitting Herald's letter of intent, comparing the blazons listed there with those in the applications and with the emblazons, and making minor changes if necessary. I read the comments from the other Kingdom Heralds and from Lord Virgule. I check each submission against the Society Ordinary and against the (unfortunately somewhat old and limited) copy of Papworth which is available to me.

At this stage I am able to write up my tentative opinions as to whether each submission should be accepted or rejected, and I do so on 3x5" cards which are slipped into the application's file folder. I then bundle up the whole batch of perhaps 200 submissions and arrange to confer with the Lord Clarion King of Arms. Sometimes he comes here; sometimes I go to his house. He is currently in the hospital undergoing treatment for a half­healed broken leg, painful for him but ideal for the College: he has very little to do but give his opinion on device applications. Between us we decide whether each device is possible or impossible, and mark the cards accordingly.

The "impossibles" can now be rejected, and you will find several of them in this letter. They aren't always that impossible. Sometimes it's a case of "your blazon was incorrect and/or incomprehensible so the other Herald's haven't had a fair chance to comment," or "I need the name of an individual to register this household badge to," or "your blazon says 'dandelion' and your emblazon shows a Queen Anne's lace; which do you want?" or "the device will probably be all right but you can't call yourself "John of Barsoom'; please change your name and resubmit."

The "possibles"­­that is, the applications that could be passed for anything Lord Clarion and I know to the contrary­­are typed up in a sort of Laurel's letter­of­intent and sent to Lord Codex, so that he can check them against arms registered in the United Kingdom and trademarks copyrighted in the United States. There is usually an intermediate stage wherein he writes back asking questions and correcting our heraldic vocabulary. (Lord Codex does this sort of thing for a living.)

When he sends them back, anything he's passed I can pass. We can type up the letter, draw the pictures, photocopy it and send it out.

Of the last batch of several dozen Lord Codex rejected two for being identical to registered arms, two for being almost identical, one for a violation of tincture (my fault; I wrote it up wrong) and one for putting a charge on something that isn't supposed to be charged. The rest were passed. It's not a bad ratio.

Our percentages on the Kingdom level are improving too; of the current bundle, there are fifteen rejections (in this letter) and seventy­one possibles gone to Lord Codex. There have been days when of a given Kingdom's submissions I had to reject two­thirds outright.

When the College of Arms was first established, it was assumed that it would be no more than a central registry office; that the essential checking, correcting and rejecting would all be done at the Kingdom level and everything submitted to this office would be ready to be accepted. How I wish it could have worked out that way.

The following are rejected.

RETURNS

FROM THE KINGDOM OF THE WEST:

Agmund Hidölfson. Conflicts with Drummond of Kinteith, 1877. Lord Finnvarr de Taahe has kindly waived all objections to the similarity to his arms, but there's not much we can do about Drummond.

Cristina Guiliana dell'Onda. Conflicts with Godwin, Dorset, 1741, which has the same except per pale sable and azure.

Harold of Warrington. Conflicts with Losh (Papworth, p. 909) and Ross (Papworth, p. 917).

Kahina Dhabiya (al­Lailat). device. Lord Breakstone informs me that the hand charged with the eye is an occult or magical symbol, not suitable for heraldry. A Lailat is a succubus, and thus non­human. Do not use as a surname.

Lyonesse, Canton. I regard Lyonesse as quasi­historical, as real as Narnia or Cornwall; it may be used in personal names but not branch names.

Scellanus of Skye. Lord Virgule reports that there is a cartoon character called "Scully the Sea­Dog." The device is attractive; alter name.

Tamsin of the Raven Tresses. Conflicts with Imperial Japanese emblem of the Rising Sun. Your local herald ought to know better.

Thomas the Incomplete. Flaunches are always borne in pairs. Try a bend or fess couped at one or both ends.

FROM THE KINGDOM OF ATENVELDT:

Academy of Celtic Sciences, Bjørnsburg. Their blazon is incorrect and I am unable to come up with a correct one. The design is lovely, but it isn't a gurges and I don't know how to describe it in heraldic language.

Gwynnedd ap Gwynnedd yr Arvon. The name is all right, but the device as it was submitted is a little too much like a 19th­century landscape painting with wild life. Reduce to one hillock and alter it from vert to a metal, or remove it entirely. It would be so much nicer with only the hart and the decrescent.

FROM THE KINGDOM OF THE EAST:

Andrea de Vulpes. Conflicts with Wales.

Morgana de Gormenghast. Conflicts with Hammil (Papworth, p. 990). "De" with the name of a castle implies ownership or at least a familial relation to the owner, which in this case is the Earl of Groan. The name Morgana, taken with the mullet voided, implies magic. "Morgana de Somethingelse" with an acceptable device would be all right.

Myrrphye of Southeshyrre. I'm afraid this is too close to almost every cat we have. Try it in a markedly different position.

Steven Red Cloak. Conflicts with Burton, Purpure, a cross engrailed Or between four roses argent leaved vert, a crescent for difference (Papworth).

Vardak of Iloi, badge as Vicar­General of Østgardr. Conflicts with Ellen Cross Quills. Almost all the quills we have are argent on azure. Could you use a different field? What are the duties of the Vicar­General??

I remain at your service,

(Laurel seal) Karina of the Far West

Laurel Queen of Arms

KFW:dcm

cc: Steward

Clarion

Codex

Virgule

POSTSCRIPTUM: By a clerical error, two names were switched in my acceptances of 11 August. On page 1 read "Anna McAyre of Gorabh" for "Anne de Villanova", and on page 2 read "Anne . . ." for "Anna . . ." I regret the error.

KFW