Unto the members of the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive do Shayk Da'ud ibn Auda, Laurel King of Arms, and Baron Talan Gwynek, Pelican King of Arms, send Greetings!

The July 1995 Laurel meeting was held on Saturday, July 15, 1995, and considered the following Letters of Intent: Ansteorra (3/2); Atlantia (3/12); West (3/12); An Tir (3/14); Outlands (3/20); and Caid (3/27). Original commentary on these LoIs must have been in the College's hands no later than May 31, 1995. Responses and rebuttals to commentary must have been in the College's hands no later than June 30, 1995.

The August 1995 Laurel meeting is scheduled for Saturday, August 12, 1995, and will consider the following Letters of Intent: Middle (2/19); Meridies (3/31, posted 4/3); Atenveldt (4/4); Brachet Letter of Intent to Protect (4/11); East (4/14); Caid (4/16); Middle (4/17); West (4/19); Ansteorra (4/22); and Atlantia (4/23). The Letter of Intent from An Tir (4/13) will be considered at a "roadshow" meeting tentatively scheduled for Friday evening, August 18, at Pennsic. Original commentary on these LoIs must have been in the College's hands no later than June 30, 1995. Responses and rebuttals to commentary must be in the College's hands no later than July 31, 1995.

The September 1995 Laurel meeting is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, September 16, 1995, and will consider the following Letters of Intent: Outlands (4/30, posted 5/3), East (5/1); Maxen Letter of Intent to Protect (5/6); An Tir (5/11); Atlantia (5/20); Outlands (5/23); and West (5/25). Original commentary on these LoIs must be in the College's hands no later than July 31, 1995. Responses and rebuttals to commentary must be in the College's hands no later than August 31, 1995.

The October 1995 Laurel meeting is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, October 21, 1995, and will consider Letters of Intent dated and/or mailed in June. Original commentary on these LoIs must be in the College's hands no later than August 31, 1995. Responses and rebuttals to commentary must be in the College's hands no later than September 30, 1995.

Not all Letters of Intent may be considered when they are originally scheduled on this Cover Letter. Date of mailing of the LoI, date of receipt of the Laurel packet, or other factors may delay consideration of certain Letters of Intent. Additionally, not all Letters of Intent received have been scheduled because the administrative requirements (receipt of the forms packet, receipt of the necessary fees, etc.) have not yet been met.

SOURCES AND RESOURCES

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A CORRECTION

There is an error in the Administrative Handbook, Appendix C: Titles of Rank. Under the entry Viscount/Viscountess, the description should read: "Persons who have reigned over a principality. The title is assumed at the end of the first complete reign." It currently reads that the title is assumed at the end of the second complete reign, which is incorrect.

GETTING THE HERALDIC HOUSE IN ORDER (or, "Who ordered the stuffed pelican sandwich")

A recent Letter of Comment stated: "[W]e, the stuffy heralds of the College, would appreciate it if you would get your heraldic house in order, and either register the title, or issue a Laurel Letter of Intent for commentary on the title. Thank you."

Laurel would note the following: (1) By our own rules, the title Pelican King of Arms is an exact conflict with the Order of the Pelican. The designator does not, per RfS V.2.a., count for difference. (2) We do not normally register exact conflicts, even with a letter of permission to conflict. (3) The purpose of registration is to prevent usurpation or unauthorized use of a name or piece of armory. (4) The title "Pelican" is already registered, and thus already protected.

We are following both period and Society practice here. "It is an ancient and honorable tradition to name heraldic offices after orders: Garter and Toison d'Or (Golden Fleece) are well-known medieval examples, while the classic Society example is (ahem) Laurel." (Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme, LoAR March, 1993, pg. 5). There are a number of kingdoms who have heralds titles named for a kingdom order or award. Some of these have been registered separately; others have not. In either case, the title of the heraldic office is protected to the same extent that the name of the order or award is.

No separate registration of the heraldic title "Pelican King of Arms" is necessary (or, to be strictly technical, possible). The name of the Order is already registered and protected; the herald's title has no need to be registered separately.

COMMENTARY TIME AND THE SCHEDULING OF LETTERS OF INTENT

A recent Letter of Comment stated no particular opposition to reducing the commentary time to three months from the current four months, but requested that "the Laurel handling of the letters of intent be regulated by the date received, rather than the date of the letter or the date postmarked. For example, if an LoI dated 28 June 1995 is mailed on 29 June 1995, but not received by the Laurel office and the majority of the College until 1 July 1995, this letter should be treated as a July letter rather than as a June letter." Laurel has no objection whatever to this. Indeed, already Laurel not infrequently reassigns the consideration of LoIs when they are received by a number of the commenters some time after the first of the month following their putative date. (For examples, see the schedule at the beginning of this cover letter.)

However, the date on which the letter is received by the Laurel office should not be the determining factor. Owing to the varied ways individual kingdoms and submissions heralds handle the mailing of LoIs and the Laurel packets, it has not been unusual for Laurel to find out about the existence of an LoI first by receiving commentary on it, before receiving the LoI and packet itself. There have also been times when Laurel has received a copy of an LoI well before the rest of the College. The College may, and frequently does, receive an LoI on an entirely different date than Laurel does; the date of posting to Laurel may also be different than that to the rest of the College.

I rely on the commenting members of the College to let me know when an LoI is received "late"; if several commenters note that a letter dated, for example, August 28 was not mailed until September 4 and not received until September 7, I will usually schedule that LoI as a September letter rather than as an August one. Conversely, no matter when an LoI is posted and no matter when received by the commenters, if no one tells me it is a "late" letter, I have no way of knowing that it should be considered later than it would be otherwise. So it should continue to be up to the commenters to let Laurel know when consideration of an LoI needs to be moved back a month, because the date of mailing to and date of receipt of the LoI by the College will often be different than the dates of mailing to and receipt of the LoI by Laurel.

MISCELLANY

An Odd Ode

The Royal Arms

One will find the Royal Arms

in Church and other places,

One thing that intrigues us

is those Lions faces,

Many of them are dismal,

some of them look bright,

One thing is for certain,

very few of them look right.

Some look like people,

but we wonder who,

They're nothing like one can see

at the London Zoo.

Now here's a face I recognize

I think I ought to know,

You are right, my wife replied,

it is your Uncle Joe.

A Verger once said to us,

with a little snicker,

See that lion's face up there,

dead spit of our Vicar.

My wife called me over,

Oh come and look at that,

I've seen some faces in my time,

this one's a Cheshire Cat.

The Unicorn is so forlorn

with doleful eye and main,

No wonder its unhappy

it's tied up with a chain.

So, when you go into a Church

to admire its charms,

Have a look at Lions faces

on the Royal Coat of Arms.

Joss Froggatt, from The Pursuivant, A Newsletter for Young Members of The Heraldry Society, No. 3, March 1995, p. ii

Until next month, pray believe that I am, and remain,

Your faithful servant,

Da'ud ibn Auda

Laurel King of Arms