SCA - College of Arms
600 Cedar Street, NW
Washington, DC 20012
(202) 726-4396
jaelle@access.digex.net
October 31, 1996
Unto the members of the College of Arms and all others who may
read this missive do Mistress Jaelle of Armida, Laurel Queen of
Arms, and Mistress Sionyn Muirgen níDhomnall, Pelican
Queen of Arms, send Greetings!
The October 1996 Laurel meeting was held on Saturday, October 5,
with two Laurel roadshows later in the month in Lochac, and
considered the following letters of intent: Drachenwald (June 5),
Meridies (June 5), Middle (June 8), Atlantia (June 12) Calontir
(June 14), An Tir (June 17), East (June 21), Caid (June 22) and
Trimaris (June 25).
The November 1996 Laurel meeting is scheduled for Sunday,
November 10, 1996 and will consider the following letters of
intent: Meridies (July 6), Caid (July 12), Drachenwald (July 12),
An Tir (July 15), Atlantia (July 18), Meridies (July 20), West
(July 21), Calontir (July 25), East (July 25), and Middle (July
27). Original commentary on these LoIs must be in the
College's hands no later than September 30, 1996. Responses and
rebuttals to commentary must be in the College's hands no later
than October 31, 1996.
The December 1996 Laurel meeting is scheduled for Sunday,
December 15, 1996 and will consider the following letters of
intent: Caid (August 3), Atenveldt (August 10), Ansteorra (August
11), Drachenwald (August 19), An Tir (August 25), Trimaris
(August 25), West (August 27), Meridies (August 27), Atlantia
(August 29), East (August 29), Ansteorra (August 30), and
Ansteorra (June 18, but mailed in August, which is being treated
as an August 31 letter). Original commentary on these LoIs
must be in the College's hands no later than October 31, 1996.
Responses and rebuttals to commentary must be in the College's
hands no later than November 31, 1996.
The January 1997 Laurel meeting is scheduled for Sunday, January
5, 1997 and will consider the following letters of intent: Middle
(September 9), Meridies (September 13), Drachenwald (September
12), Atlantia (September 14), An Tir (September 23), East
(September 26), Caid (September 28), Middle (September 28), West
(September 29), and Meridies (September 30). Original
commentary on these LoIs must be in the College's hands no later
than November 31, 1996. Responses and rebuttals to commentary
must be in the College's hands no later than December 31,
1996.
The February 1997 Laurel meeting is tentatively scheduled for
Sunday, February 9, 1997.
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.
Changes to the Roster
Please delete from the roster Meistari Fridrikr Tomasson (Tom
Ireland-Delfs), 731 South Main St., Newark, NJ 14513.
Unfortunately he does not have the time to comment.
Crescent asks us to add to the mailing list Pursuivant
Extraordinary at Large Ghislaine d'Auxerre (Sandra Linehan) 3700
Parkview Lane #11-C, Irvine, CA 92612.
Calls for Comment
Last month, with the acceptance of Henri Saint Jean le Blanc, in
the body of the LoAR, but not in the cover letter I asked the
college for their opinions on overturning our policy on scribal
abbreviations and allowing the form St. to be used. I failed to
put the request into the cover letter, so I am doing so now. We
are hereby formally calling on the college for opinions as to
whether we should overturn our policy on scribal abbreviations
and allow the form St. to be used. Please get your comments to us
no later than the end of January 1997.
The submission of Clan McBride caused some stir in the College.
The question as to whether we should register actual Scottish
names with the designator Clan has been raised. Some members of
the College feel that this is presumptuous and would make people
with the same last name who are not members of the Clan unhappy.
Please get your comments on this issue to us no later than the
end of January 1997.
Maintained and Sustained Charges
There seems to be some confusion in the College as to what is a
maintained and what is a sustained charge, and how large a charge
must be to be considered sustained and count for difference. I
can do no better than to quote Master Bruce as Laurel:
The blazonry term sustaining is used when an animate
charge (e.g. a lion) is holding another charge of
comparable size. The term supporting could be used as
well, but sustaining has this virtue: it's a known
period term, used in the arms of Winstone, Per pale
gules and azure, a lion rampant argent sustaining a
tree eradicated vert. The coat is found as the second
quartering of Sir William Cecil (b.1520), Queen
Elizabeth's main counsellor. (Bossewell's Workes
of Armorie, 1572, fo.107; Wagner's Historic
Heraldry of Britain, p.67.)
Maintained charges are small and do not count for difference.
Sustained charges are large - large enough in fact that if they
were not being held that they would be considered a co-primary,
and do count for difference.
Another Resource
There is a group that the College should be aware of both for
sending people to them, and also to join, if you should so
desire.
They call themselves the Academy of S. Gabriel. They are a
heraldic consultation group that meets over e-mail. Members of
the Academy work with people who are interested in
historical names and armory. They do rigorous research and
each of their clients gets a detailed letter which discusses
their name and gives alternatives which are appropriate to the
particular time period and place they're looking for.
They are willing to try and help anyone, and, more importantly,
let their clients know when they cannot help them.
Although the bulk of their effort is focused on consulting, they
do other research and maintain a Web page which contains name
lists, articles on naming practices, and a substantial
bibliography. The bulk of their work is done over e-mail but
they would be more than happy to get comments and questions from
people who don't have e-mail access.
The Academy Web Page is
http://www.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/
Their email address is:
s.gabriel@umich.edu
The postal address for the Academy is
Alan Terlep
1617 Washtenaw
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
While they are not an official part of the CoA, we have seen a
lot of the work they do, and they are doing a very credible
job.
LoAR Subscriptions
Send subscriptions and address changes to: Mistress Sionyn
Muirgen níDhomnall, Pelican Queen of Arms, Jackie Watkins,
3532 Winding Wind Cove, Bartlett, TN, 38135-3044. Please make
all checks or money orders payable to "SCA Inc. - College of
Arms". The cost is currently $25.00 a year.
Miscellany
An Heraldic Fictionary by Spits Godschalk
(Part 2)
Lozenge ...... a cough drop, for soothing the throat.
Martlet ...... minimart.
Maunch ...... to snack.
Ogress ...... a feminine ogre.
Ordinary ...... usual.
Orle ...... spoken, as opposed to written.
Potent ...... said of strong drink.
Retort ...... sharp reply.
Rivet ...... said by a tergiant frog.
Shears ...... toast offered with the seventh
cordial.
Skold ...... to chastise.
Slipped ...... a flower which has fallen.
Slipped and Leaved...... a flower which has fallen, and can't get
up.
Stirrup ...... to blend well.
Tergiant ...... powder used to wash garb after the
event.
Until next month, pray believe that I am, and remain,
Copyright © 1997 Society
for Creative Anachronism, Inc.