Dallas, TX 75221-1646

Unto the members of the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive does Da'ud ibn Auda, Laurel King of Arms, send Greetings!

The attached Letter of Acceptances and Returns covers the following Letters of Intent considered at the Laurel meeting held Saturday, February 23, 1991, and will consider the following letters of intent dated in 1990: Outlands (10/3), Caid (11/10), Outlands (11/12), An Tir (11/12), Middle (11/12), Meridies (11/17), Caid (11/19), Atlantia (11/20), Ansteorra (11/20), West (11/26), Calontir (11/30), East (11/30) and Atenveldt (11/30).

The March Laurel meeting is scheduled for Saturday, March 16, 1991, and will consider the following letters of intent dated in December, 1990: Meridies (12/15), Ansteorra (12/20), Middle (12/20), West (12/21) and Calontir (12/31).

The April Laurel meeting is scheduled for Saturday, April 27, 1991, and will consider the following letters of intent: An Tir (dated 12/6 but mailed in January), Caid (1/7), Atlantia (1/10), Middle (1/15), Atenveldt (1/16), Outlands (1/20), Atlantia (1/27), and Calontir (1/31).

The May Laurel meeting is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, May 18, 1991, and will consider letters of intent dated in February, 1991.

ROSTER CHANGES AND CORRECTIONS

Lady Vesper asks that you add to your mailing lists Compline Herald, Master Caiomhin O Fiodhabhra (Kevin Furey), P. O. Box 1735, West Sacramento, CA 95691; (916) 371-4458.

Please remove the following from your mailing lists for non-commenting:

Solar Herald: Sean the Eversleeping (John Clark), 721 North Crest, Tucson, AZ 85716

Eclipse Herald and Tamarisk Herald: Robin of Gilwell and Adelicia Gilwell (Jay and Peggy Rudin), 7135 Vinland, Dallas, TX 75227.

Well, results are in on the poll regarding whether or not fieldless badges may consist of disconnected charges, and the results came out overwhelmingly in favor of banning such. So on and after June 1 of this year, the College will no longer register fieldless badges consisting of disconnected charges. This ban will include charges "framing" another charge, unless such charges are conjoined. The three-month delay in implementing this action will allow those fieldless badges currently pending at the College of Arms level to be considered without prejudice, since they were submitted before this ruling. I do not believe that this ruling will require a change to the wording of the rules, since it is really only a stricter interpretation of the current wording of Rule VIII.5, Fieldless Style ("Ideally, a fieldless design will have all its elements linked together.")

CHARGED TIERCES

Owing to what is becoming overwhelming support for the idea, on and after June 1, 1991, the College will no longer register charged sides or tierces. The three-month delay in implementing this action will allow those submissions with charged tierces currently pending at the College level to be considered without prejudice, since they were submitted before this ruling. I would like a discussion in the College as to whether uncharged tierces should be included in this ban (and whether we could or should expand it to un/charged gores, gussets, etc.).

PARTICLES AND PERIOD PRACTICE

We need to be educating our submitters regarding name formation. One particularly noticeable area is the formation of geographical, occupational and descriptive bynames. "Of" this and "from" that and "the" something-or-other are not really non-period style, but it isn't good period style, either. The next couple of paragraphs are excerpted from my column to be published in the Summer issue of Tournaments Illuminated. Please feel free to use the examples here, or look up some of your own. It's not hard to do; simply open Reaney's Dictionary of British Surnames. I doubt that it is possible to read through a single page without finding an example of a geographic or occupational or descriptive byname which very rapidly dropped the "of" or "the" or "atte" or whatever. If we can teach our members (and our heralds, too!) what good period name formation is, we will end up registering more good period-style names.

Many geographical bynames in English lost the article "of" and became hereditary surnames in their own right, passed on from parents to children despite the actual place of birth or residence: Lincoln (from "of Lincoln"), Stafford ("of Stafford"), and Maxwell ("from Maxwell") are only a few examples of these.

Occupational Bynames: Another common way of differentiating one Tom, Dick or Harry from another is to append their occupations: "the Smith", "the Baker", "the Cooper", and so on. In English, and in many other languages in period, the article "the" was often dropped. You may have noticed that the examples of occupational bynames given just above have all become surnames in their own right without the article: Smith, Baker, and Cooper. Wainwright (from the wainwright, or wagon maker), Woodman (woodsman), and Chandler (candler, maker or seller of candles) are just a few of many other examples. This occurred in other languages as well.

Descriptives: Descriptive epithets were frequently appended to an individual's given name, usually referencing some aspect of that individual's physical or personality traits. Many descriptive epithets, like geographical and occupational bynames, were used without the article "the" and became hereditary surnames: the Big became "Big", "Bigge", the Tall became "Longman", the Quiet became "Still", "Stille", as only a few examples.

Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time. "The Heraldry Gazette", published by The Heraldry Society, on page 1 of their September 1990 issue, notes the introduction by MBNA America Bank, N.A. of a Customized Murphy Crest Visa Card. Applications have been sent to people with the surname Murphy, one of whom is a member of The Heraldry Society, who reported it to them. The flyer states "Your Murphy tradition is a tradition of honor. Be the first to carry a credit card based on the distinctive Murphy heritage. Your Murphy Card brings the pride of you historic lineage into your daily life." The card bears what is purportedly the Murphy crest, "On a mount vert a lion rampant gules bezanty, holding between the forepaws a garb Or." "It's a great way to display the Murphy Coat of Arms, but what sets the Murphy Crest Card apart from the rest?... There is no better way to express pride in your heritage. Apply for your Murphy Crest Card today. Upon approval, you will receive a fasinating report on your Murphy name and Coat of Arms FREE!" Mind you, after all that hype, the Murphy crest as registered by the English College of Arms is "basically a martlet".

Remember, without eternal vigilance, it can happen here!

Until next month, I remain, as ever,

Your servant,

Return to the LoAR Index Page