Unto the members of the College of Arms,
from Baldwin of Erebor, Laurel King of Arms.
My lords and ladies,
Enclosed herewith are the acceptances and
returns from the Laurel meeting of February 3. Submissions were
processed at this meeting from Ansteorra (11/1), Middle (11/1),
Meridies (11/1), Caid (11/8), West (11/11), Atenveldt (10/15),
Atlantia (11/15), Atenveldt (11/20), East (11/22), and East (11/26).
There were 189 items approved, 62 returned, and 1 pending, for
a total of 252 and a 75% approval rate.
Schedule
The letters to be processed at the March
10 meeting are Atenveldt (11/26), East (11/27), Caid (12/6), Calontir
(12/8), Middle (12/10), Atenveldt (12/10), West (12/17), Meridies
(12/17), East (12/25), East (12/26), and Laurel (1/1).
The April meeting is scheduled for the 14th.
The letters to be processed at this meeting are Meridies (12/18),
Atlantia (12/31), Calontir (1/7), West (1/10), East (1/14), Caid
(1/19), Atenveldt (1/22), and Laurel (1/28). Letters of comment
for this meeting should arrive no later than April 6th.
The May meeting is scheduled for the 12th.
The letters to be processed at this meeting are Middle (1/25),
Ansteorra (1/28), Atenveldt (2/12), West (2/13), and East (2/24).
Letters of comment for this meeting should arrive no later than
May 4th.
Mailing list
The new Beacon Principal Herald is Sir Cipriano
de Alvarez (Guy Bradley), 3637 Kingshill Road, Birmingham, AL
35223. He is not presently a commenter.
Rules for Submissions
Unless sufficient grounds can be found for
continuing the practice, it is my intention to overturn (repeal?)
the portion of Article VII.3 of the Rules for Submissions that
states, "A member's Society name may not be identical to
his/her mundane name." I feel this is a matter of personal
taste that has no real bearing on the Society; it is not something
we should be legislating.
The more I consider the matter, the less
happy I am with the current policy of regarding semy to
be a treatment of the field. This seems inconsistent with the
notion that a field or charge semy is strewn with as many
charges as will comfortably fit, symmetrically arranged; and it
leads to such anomalies as the one I noted in the LOAR of 16 December
(pp. 1718). I have not been able to find the basis for
the original decision in the correspondence; I am told that most
of the discussion took place at one of the symposia, and never
really made it into print. Batonvert has raised this as one
of the issues to be considered during the review of the Rules
for Submissions, and I'd like to have both sides of the argument,
if at all possible.
With regard to the problem of "technical
conflict" between two coats consisting of different single
charges plus a charged chief or bordure, I would like to propose
that we allow difference in type of the principal charges to count
up to a pointanda half. An additional minor point
of difference in the charges on the chief or bordure would make
the two coats sufficiently different. Any comments?
Heraldry handbook
The following is taken from a letter from
Melinda Sherbring (Mistress Eowyn Amberdrake), Board ombudsman
for the Chronicler's office:
The Office of the Stock Clerk has noted
a demand for the Caerthen Symposium papers on heraldry, and inquiries
on basic SCA and/or mundane heraldry publications. A positive
demand from our membership for this information exists. In fact,
the demand is such that the Caerthan Symposium papers will need
to be reprinted this summer to meet that demand. However, that
source is not the best for those interested in an introduction
to the subject. Such an introduction to heraldry is needed, either
as a special publication or through current channels, such as
the Compleat Anachronist. I've been asked to alert the
new CA editor to this topic, and ask you to find someone
to write or edit it from existing sources (such as the various
heraldic symposia, West Kingdom Herald's Handbook, other Kingdom
Herald's Handbooks, if such exist, etc.) A completion time set
for early this summer would allow publishing and advertising schedules
enough leeway to make it available this year as a reasonable alternative
to the symposium papers. The topic should probably be focused
on heraldry as practiced in the SCA, though an overview of heraldry
in general would address the demand, as well.
The preferred vehicle is either one or two
issues of The Compleat Anachronist, the first of them to
be published by the end of this year. Lord Alexandre le Bon Homme,
the CA Coordinator, has expressed interest in both SCA
and mundane (period) heraldry ("not in comparison, but separately,
as different topics"). Melinda feels enough has been written
about heraldry that it should be possible to compile at least
one of the issues from existing articles. And I would like to
see some attention paid to the practice of heraldry, rather than
a mere recitation of detail. All of these are suggestions, however,
not requirements. The two hard requirements, at this point, are
completion date (this summer) and size (no more than forty pages
for an issue of Compleat Anachronist).
Anyone who is interested in writing (or
acting as artist for) a work of this nature is invited to submit
an outline of the proposed contents, and a brief description of
his or her qualifications. Applications should reach me by the
end of April. Lord Alexandre and I will review the proposals
at that time.
Et cetera
Due to increases in postage and copying
expenses, the $12 a year presently being charged for subscriptions
to the LoARs is no longer adequate. A cost analysis for the last
six months places the cost at closer to $1.50 per issue than $1.00.
I am therefore raising the subscription price to $18 for twelve
months.
Does anyone know of a formal heraldic definition
(or, for that matter, a mundane example) of the term maintaining?
I haven't been able to find any, and am wondering (1) if this
is an SCA neologism, and (2) if it has a prescribed definition
or usage. The word itself is derived from Latin manu tenere
'to hold in the hand'. (Webster's Second) I have been using it
in cases where an animate charge is holding something in its hand(s)
or paw(s), and substituting holding (or some other appropriate
term) when this condition isn't met.
Please believe me to be,
Your servant,
Baldwin of Erebor
Laurel King of Arms