Society for Creative Anachronism

College of Arms

16308 SE 165th St

Renton, WA 98058-8221

+1-425-277-0763

herald@sca.org

For the October 2007 meetings, printed February 2, 2008

To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Elisabeth Laurel, Jeanne Marie Wreath, and Margaret Pelican, greetings.

Items listed below in square brackets have not been scheduled yet. For information about future scheduling, please review the status table located on the Web at http://oscar.sca.org/index.php?action=137.

The October Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, October 27, 2007 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, October 14, 2007. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Middle (03 Jun 2007), Outlands (03 Jun 2007), Laurel LoPaD (14 Jun, 2007), West (19 Jun 2007), Gleann Abhann (20 Jun 2007), Calontir (20 Jun 2007), East (24 Jun 2007), Drachenwald (25 Jun 2007), Lochac (25 Jun 2007), Outlands (27 Jun 2007), Æthelmearc (28 Jun 2007), An Tir (28 Jun 2007), Atlantia (28 Jun 2007), Meridies (28 Jun 2007), Trimaris(28 Jun 2007)] Atenveldt (29 Jun 2007), Palimpsest Rules Letter (29 Jun 2007), Ansteorra (30 Jun 2007), Caid (30 Jun 2007), Ealdormere (30 Jun 2007), and Northshield (30 Jun 2007). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by September 30, 2007.

The November Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting on Saturday, November 17 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, November 4, 2007. These meetings considered the following Letters of Intent: East (03 Jul, 2007), Gleann Abhann (05 Jul, 2007), Loyall (10 Jul, 2007), Laurel (15 Jul, 2007), Drachenwald (20 Jul, 2007), West (27 Jul, 2007), Meridies (25 Jul, 2007), Calontir (26 Jul, 2007), Atlantia (26 Jul, 2007), Atenveldt (28 Jul, 2007), Outlands (30 Jul, 2007), Lochac (30 Jul, 2007), Ansteorra (31 Jul, 2007), Siren (31 Jul, 2007), An Tir (31 Jul, 2007), and Artemisia (31 Jul, 2007). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by October 31, 2007.

The December Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, December 15, 2007 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, December 16, 2007. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Middle (04 Aug, 2007), Northshield (09 Aug, 2007), East (10 Aug, 2007), East (16 Aug, 2007), Æthelmearc (17 Aug, 2007), Drachenwald (20 Aug, 2007), Laurel LoPaD (22 Aug, 2007), Calontir (25 Aug, 2007), Siren LoItUP (26 Aug, 2007), Outlands (27 Aug, 2007), Atlantia (28 Aug, 2007), An Tir (30 Aug, 2007), [Lochac (30 Aug, 2007)], Meridies (30 Aug, 2007), and Caid (31 Aug, 2007). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Friday, November 30, 2007.

The January Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, January 19, 2008 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, January 12 2008. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Atenveldt (01 Sep, 2007), East (06 Sep, 2007), Caid (20 Sep, 2007), Gleann Abhann (20 Sep, 2007), Drachenwald (24 Sep, 2007), Northshield (27 Sep, 2007), West (27 Sep, 2007), Ansteorra (29 Sep, 2007), Calontir (29 Sep, 2007), Outlands (29 Sep, 2007), An Tir (30 Sep, 2007), Atlantia (30 Sep, 2007), Æthelmearc (30 Sep, 2007), Calontir (30 Sep, 2007), Meridies (30 Sep, 2007), and Siren LoItP (30 Sep, 2007). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Monday, December 31, 2007.

The February Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting on Saturday, February 16, 2008 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, February 09, 2008. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Laurel LoPaD (08 Oct, 2007), [Middle (14 Oct, 2007)], Atenveldt (15 Oct, 2007), Drachenwald (20 Oct, 2007), Caid (26 Oct, 2007), Laurel LoPaD (28 Oct, 2007), Atlantia (29 Oct, 2007), An Tir (30 Oct, 2007), [Ansteorra (30 Oct, 2007)], [Lochac (30 Oct, 2007)], Meridies (30 Oct, 2007), [Artemisia (31 Oct, 2007)], Caid (31 Oct, 2007), Calontir (31 Oct, 2007), East (31 Oct, 2007), Northshield (31 Oct, 2007), Outlands (31 Oct, 2007), and West (31 Oct, 2007). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Thursday, January 31, 2008.

The March Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, March 22, 2008 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, March 30, 2008. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: [Trimaris (31 Oct, 2007)] (delayed for administrative reasons), Atenveldt (20 Nov, 2007), Outlands (21 Nov, 2007), [East (23 Nov, 2007)], [An Tir (26 Nov, 2007)], [Northshield (26 Nov, 2007)], Atlantia (27 Nov, 2007), [Ansteorra (28 Nov, 2007)], [Lochac (28 Nov, 2007)], Meridies (29 Nov, 2007), West (29 Nov, 2007), [Artemisia (30 Nov, 2007)], Æthelmearc (30 Nov, 2007), and [Trimaris (30 Nov, 2007)]. All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Friday, February 29, 2008.

The April Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held in April 2008. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Gleann Abhann (03 Dec, 2007), [Ealdormere (12 Dec, 2007)], [East (16 Dec, 2007)], [Lochac (17 Dec, 2007)], [An Tir (22 Dec, 2007)], [Drachenwald (23 Dec, 2007)], [Ansteorra (24 Dec, 2007)], Outlands (24 Dec, 2007), [Atlantia (29 Dec, 2007)], [Calontir (30 Dec, 2007)], [Meridies (30 Dec, 2007)], [Artemisia (31 Dec, 2007)], [Atenveldt (31 Dec, 2007)], [Caid (31 Dec, 2007)], [Northshield (31 Dec, 2007)], and the Palimpsest Rules Letter (31 Dec, 2007). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Monday, March 31, 2008.

Not all letters of intent may be considered when they are originally scheduled on this cover letter. The 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, some letters of intent received may not have been scheduled because the administrative requirements (receipt of the forms packet, receipt of the necessary fees, et cetera) have not yet been met.

REMINDER: Until all administrative requirements are met, the letter may not be scheduled.

From Laurel: Administrative Handbook Revisions, Plural

On June 29, 2007, Palimpsest issued a Letter of Intent asking for commentary on a proposed change to the Administrative Handbook II.B.4 regarding registration of heraldic titles, and another, related change to Section IV.C.4.

Since that letter was issued, we have begun a systematic revision of the entire Administrative Handbook, working through the entire document beginning to end. The first installment of the proposed revisions appears in Palimpsest's letter dated December 31, 2007. You will notice that this includes the section that the letter of June 29 also addresses.

I have decided to defer ruling on the AH changes brought up in the June 29 letter, as these same sections are being considered again in the letter of December 31. At this point I would rather consider such changes in the context of a completely revised document, rather than individually.

Thanks to all who have contributed commentary to the AH revisions. The preliminary results look comprehensible as well as comprehensive, and I have fervent hopes that this project will be largely completed by the end of my tenure as Laurel.

From Laurel: Applicants for Laurel Staff

As of this writing, the following persons have applied for the positions of Laurel, Pelican or Wreath.

-	Olwynn ni Chinneidigh (Amy Kennedy-Butler)--Laurel

-	Tanzos Istvan (Lewis Tanzos)--Wreath

-	Aryanhwy merch Catmael (Sara Uckelman)--Pelican

-	Teceangl Bach (Brenda Klein)--Wreath

-	Rikharðr inn Vegandi Svansson (Richard W. Bohlman)--Pelican

The deadline for applications is March 1, as previously announced. Any further applicants will be mentioned in future cover letters.

From Laurel: Tedious Yet Necessary Reminders

Principal Heralds and submissions heralds need to be accessible by phone, e-mail or at least paper mail. Ragged Staff, my co-Sovereigns and I may need to speak with you urgently -- in fact, most of the time when we need to talk with Kingdom heralds, it's because there is a deadline involved.

You are responsible for making sure that your contact information as it appears on the roster is up to date, as you already know. However, you are also expected to check your e-mail, listen to voice mail and read your paper mail, regularly. If you are going to be out of touch for a significant period (a week or more), and you are a Principal Herald or submissions herald, let the Laurel staff know about it. The alternative may be explaining to a lot of submitters and possibly your Crown why your Letter of Intent got pushed back.

This seems self-evident to me too, but evidently that's not the case. Please take note.

From Wreath: Reblazoning Defaults

In processing submissions every month, Wreath and her staff frequently review past SCA registrations, to insure that our assumptions regarding the College's defaults are true. This can lead to our discovering gaps in our policies over the years, which we then try to correct by reblazoning. There are a number of such reblazons in this month's LoAR; the topics they address may be summarized as follows:

-	Bobbins. There were several types of bobbin in period; none have been ruled the Society default. We hereby rule that there is no default form of bobbin in society armory. If lace bobbins are intended, they must be specified.

-	Brushes. In medieval heraldry, the default brush was a large handheld bundle of straws, as in the canting arms of von Börstel, 1605 (Siebmacher, plate 174). We accept this as the default brush in society heraldry, as well. The most common type of brush in Society armory, the artist's (paint)brush, wasn't known in period armory, and is not the Society default; if this type is intended, it must be blazoned as such.

-	Human figures. Unless a specific type of human is stated, whose definition includes the style, or lack, of clothing (e.g., monk, savage, etc.), the type of clothing on a human figure is usually left to the artist. However, some clothing is assumed. Nude human figures must have the fact expressly blazoned.

-	Lizards. Lizards, or natural salamanders, are statant by default, as are heraldic (enflamed) salamanders. This is true in period heraldry as well, as in the canting arms of Lagartos, c.1540 (Livro da Nobreza, fo. xxxviii). Lizards tergiant must be blazoned as such.

-	Pipes. There are several types of pipe found in SCA heraldry: bagpipes, panpipes, smoking pipes (or clay pipes), and organ pipes. Given this profusion, no one type of pipe will be considered default. The unmodified term pipe should not be used: the type of pipe must be specified in the blazon.

-	Pomegranates. The unmodified term pomegranate refers to the fruit alone. If a pomegranate is slipped and leaved - which we admit is more often found than the unslipped fruit - the fact must be blazoned.

From Wreath: Color Emblazons

In the past, when LoIs were primarily available only on paper, a mismatch in tincture between an emblazon and a blazon was cause for the submission to be pended; commenters generally had no way to determine the correct tinctures. With the advent of OSCAR, LoIs (for the most part) include color emblazons. If a color emblazon is present, and there is a mismatch in tinctures, the presumption is that commenters used the correct tinctures - those from the emblazon - in conflict checking. However, commenters are asked to note such cases in their commentary so that Wreath is aware that they really did note the correct tinctures. (This can be done simply by suggesting a corrected blazon in the commentary.) In general, submissions will not be pended for tincture mismatches when color emblazons are included in OSCAR. Exceptions may be made when there is reason to believe that commenters could not determine the correct tincture (e.g., azure/purpure mismatches that may have been unclear in the scan, or the scanned emblazon not matching the submitted paper emblazon).

From Wreath: Charged Sails

Please note the following discussion which appears under Æthelmearc for the registration of Marianna Molin di Salerno's device, Azure goutty d'Or, six lymphads sailing to sinister Or, each sail charged with a martlet volant to sinister gules, a base Or:

As noted on the LoI, a charged sail is not an inescutcheon of pretense under RfS XI.4; but as a display of armory, it must still be checked for conflict. In this case, Or, a martlet volant to sinister gules is clear of conflict. An anomaly of our rules is that, under these circumstances, conflict is not reciprocal. Thus the registration of Azure goutty d'Or, six lymphads sailing to sinister Or, each sail charged with a martlet volant to sinister gules, a base Or does not protect Or, a marlet volant to sinister gules. A charged sail must be clear of conflict at the time it is registered, but a different person could later register armory that conflicts with that sail.

From Wreath: An Errant Reblazon

In the acceptance of Marsha of Ealdormere's badge (March 2007) it was stated:

This badge does not conflict with the device for Ismay Ponde, Argent, a peacock contourny azure, pavonated to base vert, atop a claymore fesswise sable, reblazoned elsewhere in this letter. There is a CD for fieldlessness. An examination of the emblazon shows that the claymore is a sustained charge, not a maintained charge. Thus there is another CD for changing the number of primary charges.

That reblazon did not appear on the March 2007 LoAR. We apologize for the confusion; Ismay's reblazon (which was needed for the peacock's posture, not the claymore) may be found in this month's LoAR. The text of the acceptance should have read:

This badge does not conflict with the device for Ismay Ponde, reblazoned as Argent, a peacock contourny azure, tailed vert, atop a claymore fesswise sable. There is a CD for fieldlessness. As expected from the blazon, an examination of the emblazon shows that the claymore is a sustained charge, not a maintained charge. Thus there is another CD for adding the sustained charge.

Send What to Whom

Letters of Intent, Comment, Response, Correction, et cetera are to be posted to the OSCAR online system. No paper copies need be sent.

Submission packets (one copy of each name form plus documentation, including petitions; two colored copies of each armory form plus two copies of any associated documentation, including petitions) to the SCA College of Arms, PO Box 31755, Billings, MT 59107-1755.

Cheques or money orders for submissions, payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms" are to: Laurel Chancellor of Exchequer, 4N400 Church Rd, Bensenville, IL 60106-2928.

Send roster changes and corrections to Laurel. College of Arms members may also request a copy of the current roster from Laurel.

For a paper copy of a LoAR, please contact Laurel, at the address above. The cost for one LoAR is $3. Please make all checks or money orders payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms". For subscriptions to the electronic copy of the LoAR, please contact Laurel at herald@sca.org. The electronic copy is available free of charge.

For all administrative matters, please contact Laurel.

Pray know that I remain,

In service,

Elisabeth de Rossignol

Laurel Principal Queen of Arms