LoAR

of the College of Arms
of the
Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.

July 1991


P.O. Box 1646

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 meetings held Saturday, July 27, 1991, and will consider the following Letters of Intent: An Tir (4/1), Caid (4/4), Atlantia (4/6), Ansteorra (4/15), East (4/15), Atlantia (4/19), Middle (4/22), West (4/25), Meridies (4/29), and Calontir (4/30).

The August Laurel meeting is scheduled for Saturday, August 24, 1991, to consider the following Letters of Intent: Outlands (4/6), Atenveldt (dated 4/29, but mailed in mid-May), Ansteorra (5/1), Laurel (5/13), Trimaris (5/15), An Tir (5/16), Middle (5/20), Atenveldt (5/21), Atlantia (5/22), Meridies (5/30), and Calontir (5/31).

The September Laurel meeting is tenatively scheduled for Saturday, September;21, 1991, to consider the East Kingdom Letter of Intent dated May 25 and other Letters of Intent dated in June.

ROSTER CHANGES AND CORRECTIONS

Lady Elmet has a new telephone number. Her new number is (412) 422-6785. Her mailing address remains the same.

Lord Misty Star has a new address and telephone number. His new address is: Dathi O'Cooney (David C. Reed), 301 Bolton Street, College Station, TX 77840; (409) 696-8535

Lady Dolphin has a new address. It is Zenobia Naphtali (Leslie Schweitzer), 7212 Summertime Lane, Culver City, CA 90230.

Lady Aten asks that you add to your mailing lists the Corona Herald, Alwyn Stewart (Alvin Bedgood), 4978 Calle Cumbre, Sierra Vista, AZ 85635. He has returned from overseas and will be actively commenting.

Lord Batonvert will be taking a short sabbatical from commenting. Please remove him from your mailing lists (though not from the roster).

Please add to your Roster under Laurel Staff the new Codex Herald, Master Erasimierz Waspanieski (Edward Wenzer), 220 North Resler Drive, El Paso, Texas 79912. Lord Codex will be conducting research on special issues, and may from time to time be contacting you for assistance. Please give him every consideration. He will not be on the mailing list at this time, though he is active in commenting in Lord Trefoil's commenting group.

Lord Badger, Baron Marten Broeker, has been given the responsibility for suggestions and review of the Rules for Submission. He will be reviewing the letters of intent and commentary for possible areas in which the rules may need some modification, or if you have a specific suggestion of a problem area you may write him directly (a copy to Laurel would be a good idea).

ON THE TITLE DON/DOÑA

Lord Yale has formally called for a discussion and reconsideration of the use of the alternate titles Don and Doña "solely on the basis of historical usage". I am therefore calling for research and commentary on these titles in time to be considered at the November, 1991 Laurel meeting. The issue: should the alternate titles Don and Doña be restricted to knights who wish to use it as a Spanish alternate title, as is currently the case, or should we open it up to a less restricted usage and, if so, what should that usage be? Consideration will be given to the historical (pre-1600) usages of the titles as well as to Society traditional use. Please give me the benefit of your research and considered opinions.

CHARGED AND UNCHARGED GORES AND TIERCES (or, Another Gory Issue)

There has been a fair amount of commentary regarding the post-period nature of gores and gussets (and tierces), and some fairly strong feelings have been expressed by some commenters that at the very least charged gores should be banned as we have already banned charged tierces. I am calling for commentary on this issue for consideration at the November Laurel meeting. Should we no longer allow charged gores? Should we disallow gores, gussets, and tierces entirely? (Alternatively, would we be doing our clients a disservice by banning them entirely? This, too, is a factor which should be considered in the discussion of this issue.) Please give me the benefits of your research and opinions on this.

GROUP THEORY

Lord Batonvert, in his commentary on the submission of Deorwine aet Earneleia (see RETURNS in the attached LoAR), asks that we define as one-half of a group charges on each side of a line of division dividing the field into two portions, regardless of how many charges lie on each side of that line. Lord Laurel invites input to consider this issue at the November Laurel meeting.

1992 SYMPOSIUM BIDS (or, That Was Fun, Let's Do It Again!)

I am going to begin soliciting bids for the 1992 Known World Heraldic Symposium a little earlier this year. If your kingdom, or a group within your kingdom, would like to sponsor the 1992 Symposium, please put together a bid and send copies of it to me and to those members of the College of Arms on the mailing list by October, 1991. It would be nice to be able to solicit everyone's opinion on the various bids received and make a decision by the time of the Laurel meeting at the end of November. This should give the hosting group (and all of the attendees) plenty of time to prepare and make any necessary arrangements.

MISCELLANY

"The trouble, I suspect, is that a lot of time and ingenuity went into thinking of charges which were symbols of this, allusions to that and references to the other and too little into considering what one might call the visual efficiency of the design.

"It would be unfair to suggest that [this] was a unique case: there is the same tendency in some of the new arms ... in the last two years or so.... In these instances also there are lots of 'allusions,' and I am beginning to think that the clarity and impact of a shield are likely to be in inverse proportion to the length of the notes which explain it!

"However, whether charges are allusive or not matters less than preventing them from getting in each other's way; and, with that in mind, why should not each new shield be given a legibility test? It would ahve to be visible in all its detail to, and be capable of being accurately blazoned by, someone with normal eyesight when it was displayed on an 18" shield or mock-up, and viewed in a decent light at a distance of, say, 120 yards. (I have made an experiment and do not think that thie would be an excessive distance.) The range could, of course, be reduced provided that the size of the shield was reduced in the same proportion.

"The scrutineer would have to be someone who came fresh to the shield's design: he must not know what he was supposed to see. If he had problems seeing - back to the drawing board! Viewing time would be limited.

"Whatever charges and tinctures were used - allusions or not - practical verification of the sheer "visibility" of a shield would be entirely beneficial and in keeping with the original purposes of armorial design - to produce something which would catch the eye, would be instantly recognised and would be easily remembered.

"Everyone will be able to think of famous arms (e.g. Campbell, Digby) which are exemplary in these respects. I don't think we should give up now, and the need for simplicity is no less - perhaps greater - when the arms are more likely to be displayed on a bookplate or letterhead than a banner or inn-sign."

The above letter was not written by, to, or about any SCA armory, though it very well could have been. What author G.B. Dawe of Bushey, England (in "The Heraldry Gazette", December 1990, p. 7) is complaining about, however, could very easily apply to a lot of heraldry in the SCA as well as his intended target, modern British heraldry. His suggestion regarding a visual test is very similar to what the College has come to term the "across-the-field" test, and the current Rules for Submission require a certain amount of identifiability of charges, lines of division, and tinctures. But there is always room for improvement, and it is nice to know that the SCA College of Arms is not alone in trying to promote clean, clear, simple armory among its populace.

Until next month, I remain, as ever,

Your servant,


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