Submitted as Aíbell Shuluaine, the documentation shows the first part of the byname as Shúl and the second part of the byname as úaine. In Gaelic names, accents must be used or dropped consistently. Since her registered given name, Áíbell, contains an accent, we have changed the byname to Shúlúaine.
The submitter had originally noted that she desired a name meaning "green-eyed". The submitter should be aware that the categorization of colors used by modern Americans is different than those used by medieval Irish Gaels. When referring to eye color in Old and Middle Irish, Shúlúaine would most likely have had the meaning "grey-eyed" while Shúlglas would have meant "green-eyed".
Her old name, Aíbell Shúlglas, is released.
Nice 13th C English name!
Nice armory.
Her previous device, Azure, a chevron embattled ermine between two crescents and a lion passant, a bordure argent, is released.
Submitted as Eilonwydd verch Llewelyn Sutor Gwynedd, the submitter requested an authentic 13th C Welsh name. The name Eilonwydd is problematic; it is a constructed Welsh name using the attested protheme Eil- with an unattested deuterotheme -onwydd. Harpy explains:
One issue is that the element "-onwy" appears to be a unitary deuterotheme, not a compound itself of "on + wy", and so there is no implied support for a compound "on + wydd". Note also that no actual evidence for the suffix "-wydd" as a compounding name element has been supplied. This element would be linguistically distinct from the attested "-wedd" and "-wyd".
Barring documentation for the deuterotheme, -onwydd, in Welsh names, names constructed using this theme are not registerable. The documentation for the given name notes the name Eiliwedd from the given names list in Heather Rose Jones, Compleat Anachronist #66: A Welsh Miscellany. Names from this list are not universally registerable; some are legendary names and many are standard modern forms of names that were only actually used early in period. In this case, Eiliwedd is the name of a 5th C saint. While, as Harpy notes, there is not a pattern in Welsh of naming children for minor saints, we do allow a general practice of saint's names (even minor saints) in cultures that adopted saints names at all. While we have no evidence that the name represented by Eiliwedd remained in use to the 13th C or later, because it is a saint's name, it is registerable in its various forms. Harpy notes :
Setting aside the plausibility of the use of the name, we do have some evidence of how ca. 13th century people would have written the name of the saint from the early 13th c. ms. of a somewhat earlier composition of De Situ Brecheniauc using "Eiliueth" and the 15th c. copy of a probably 13th c. ms. of Cognacio Brychan which has "Elyuet".
Given this, Eiliwedd is registerable as a saint's name, and Eiliueth is the closest 13th C spelling of this name to the originally submitted Elionwydd.
The occupational and locative byname also need some tweaking to make them appropriate for the 13th C. Harpy explains:
This would more closely resemble the 13th c. name data I've seen if it used the Latin preposition "de" before the placename, particularly given the presence of a Latin occupational term in the name. The stacking of multiple bynames is an uncommon pattern, and in all the cases in my database where you get an occupation (and it's always a Latin occupation) followed by a simple placename with no preposition, the two actually represent a "title of place". Examples from the 13th c. data include:
Kedy prepositus Culkudin (Abergavenny court records)
David prepositus Lankadduc (ibid)
whereas in contexts where the two are clearly independent, the Latin preposition "de" is always used (and is also commonly used in the previous situation):
Ith' sutor de Ruthin (Ruthin court rolls)
Philippo le Tyalere de sancto Michaele (Abergavenny court rolls)
So, while there might not technically be anything fatally wrong with the format on the LoI, it strikes my ear as odd, while "... Llewellyn Sutor de Gwynedd" is decidedly less odd.
We have changed the name to Eiliueth verch Llewelyn Sutor de Gwynedd in order to register it and to partially comply with the submitter's authenticity request. We note that the name cannot be made fully authentic, as we know of no Welsh name found in the 13th C that closely resembles the submitted Eilonwydd.
The submitter is a court baroness and is thus entitled to display a coronet.
The blazon here parallels that of her device, Or, a maunch azure, on a chief sable two cubit arms fesswise, hands clasped argent, registered in August 1993.
The submitter requested an authentic Irish name. While the name is a fully Early Modern Irish form, the name Fionnait is a normalized Early Modern Irish form of Finnat. Finnat is a saint's name, and therefore, registerable in its Early Modern Irish form, but there is no evidence that the name continued in use until a time appropriate for Early Modern Irish.
Nice 15th C Low German name!
Nice armory.
Submitted as Henryk Bogusz herbu Zag{l/}oba, the herb name is presumptuous, as it is a claim to arms that the submitter does not own:
In addition, no documentation was provided for the form of the second byname, and it makes a claim to bear arms that the submitter does not own. Nebuly explains:
"'The second byname means "of the arms of Ko{s'}ciesza". This name phrase has two obvious problems. (1) The construction is undocumented, and I can find no support for it. (2) The construction is presumptuous for explicitly claiming to bear the arms: Gules, a rogacina fourchy crossed argent (Szyma{n'}ski, p161), which are not registered to the submitter (RfS VI.1).'"
[Orzel Go{l/}aszewski herbu Ko{s'}cie{s'}z{a,}, October 2006]
While the submitter has documented names of the style herbu + [name], the presumptuous claim still exists, as the name herbu Zag{l/}oba is a period herb name. We have changed the name to Henryk Bogusz in order to register it.
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.
Her previous device, Per bend sinister vert and azure, a dragon segreant maintaining in saltire a rapier and an arrow inverted, a chief indented Or, is released.
Rhiannon is the name of a Welsh goddess; there is no evidence that this name was ever used by humans in period. However, it has been declared SCA-compatible, and so is registerable.
His old name, William FitzGeorge of Gloucester, is released.
There was some question whether Mondragon, which was documented as a modern French surname, was found in France in period. No documentation was found to show that the spelling Mondragon was used in France prior to modern times. The name is still registerable, though: Juliana de Luna's "Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/isabella/) lists a Lope Mondragon. Therefore, this name mixes Italian and Spanish (instead of Italian and French); names mixing Italian and Spanish are one step from period practice. There is an example of the spelling Mondrague in the 15th C L'Armorial Le Breton, Emmanuel de Boos, p 53. The name Bianca Mondrague is registerable as an Italian/French combination; such combinations are a step from period practice.
If the submitter is interested in a fully Spanish form of this name, we suggest Blanca Mondragon. Blanca is a Spanish form of the name found in Italian as Bianca; the article cited above lists two examples of Blanca: Blanca de Rocamartín and Blanca Manrrique.
Many 19th and early 20th century heraldic texts (e.g., Fox-Davies' Complete Guide to Heraldry, p. 180) describe the phoenix as a demi-eagle issuant from flames. Examples of phoenixes in period heraldry, however, show that, while the phoenix and eagle both have head crests, that was about their only similarity. The phoenix in the crest of the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers, 1486 (Bedingfeld & Gwynn-Jones' Heraldry, p. 91) has a pheasant-like crest; the phoenix in the 15th Century impresa medallion of Talpas (Eve's Heraldry as Art, p. 93) has a peacock-like crest, as drawn in this submission.
When registered in January 2003 with the blazon Vert, a needle and a brush in saltire within a sea-serpent in annulo head to chief and vorant of its own tail argent, the fact that this is an artist's brush was omitted from the blazon.
Since a mullet of six points has six-fold radial symmetry, it's very difficult to discern any changes in its orientation from the default (point to chief). We thus grant no difference for its orientation. And when a mullet of six points is a tertiary charge on a bend, as here, its orientation isn't even considered a blazonable detail.
Originally submitted as Nikolai Vladislav, the name was changed at kingdom to Nikolai Vladislavov because unmarked Russian patronymics were unregisterable. However, as of the September 2007 cover letter, unmarked Russian patronymics were determined to follow an extremely rare but occasionally found naming pattern. We note that the form that appeared on the LoI (a given name followed by a marked patronymic) follows a well-attested common Russian naming pattern and is to be encouraged. However, as the name was registerable as submitted, we have changed the name back to that form.
Please advise the submitter to add a few more ermine spots to the owl.
Please advise the submitter to draw the lozenges larger.
There was some question whether the surname Prazan was a plausible period Czech byname. A document dated 11 April 1611 (http://fenrir.psp.cz/cgi-bin/eng/eknih/snemy/v15b/1611/t007900.htm) mentions a Samuel Straka z Prazan. While we have no examples of this name in our period without the preposition, we are willing to give the submitter the benefit of the doubt on that point.
This name mixes Scots and Gaelic; this is one step from period practice.
Registered in April 1999, this was reblazoned in April 2007 as Gules, two peacocks pavonated to base respectant and a pomegranate Or. In both cases, the slipping and leaving was omitted from the blazon. While pomegranates are frequently found slipped and leaved, that is not their default
Registered in May 1995 with the blazon (Fieldless) On a pomegranate gules a natural seahorse Or, the slipping and leaving was omitted from the blazon. While pomegranates are frequently found slipped and leaved, that is not their default.
Nice 15th C Spanish name and matching Spanish device.
Nice badge.
The byname O'Duncan is grandfathered to her; it is the registered byname of her husband, Shannan O'Duncan (registered August 2006).
Nice 15th C Spanish name!
Please advise the submitter to draw the crossbow larger.
Registered in April 2001 with the blazon A talon erect sable maintaining an orb argent overall in saltire two swords inverted proper, the primary charge is not merely a talon (i.e., a claw) but an entire foot; and the maintained charge is not an orb, which is a defined heraldic charge, but a roundel. We've amended the blazon, following the current blazon for the Barony's badge for their Order of the Talon d'Or, A dragon's jamb inverted couped Or maintaining in its talons a roundel, overall in saltire two rapiers inverted azure.
This was registered in October 1988 with the blazon Argent, a bend sinister embattled vert between an eagle displayed and in saltire a battleaxe and a carpenter's hammer sable. No documentation for the charge was presented at the time, and the term has proven ambiguous and unnecessary. Since the charge is a heraldic mallet under another name, we have amended the blazon as an aid to future conflict checkers.
Argyll is the submitter's legal given name.
His old name, Archibald MacPherson of Argyll, is released.
Chevron Herald has found several period examples of arms with a charge between the horns of a crescent. In particular, the Lindsay Armorial, 1542, shows the coats of "Cathkart lord of Cathkart", Azure, three crosses crosslet fitchy issuant from as many crescents argent, and of "Monypeny Lord Monypeny", Gules, three crosses crosslet fitchy issuant from as many crescents argent. The crosses occupy the same relation to their crescents as this slipped rose does here. There is also the civic coat of Monheim, 1605, Argent, in pale a mullet of six points between the horns of a crescent moon gules [Siebmacher 224]. We found no examples of a crescent completely encircling a charge - but having a charge between a crescent's horns, even extending outward as here, seems well within period heraldic style.
While the device has a complexity count of nine - three charges (rose, crescent, and bordure) in six tinctures (argent, gules, vert, Or, azure, and sable) - the documentation for the motif cited above, and the simple symmetric design, allow us to waive the rule of thumb outlined in RfS VIII.1.a here.
When registered in January 1981 with the blazon Per chevron vert and Or, a winged bull statant, tail sufflexed, argent, and a pomegranate proper, the slipping and leaving was omitted from the blazon. While pomegranates are frequently found slipped and leaved, that is not their default. We have also reblazoned the pomegranate's tinctures to make them more readily accessible.
When registered in June 1973 with the blazon Per pale Or and gules, a swan counterchanged, the posture of the swan was omitted from the blazon. When a posture is not specified, a swan is rousant, not naiant.
When registered in August 1991 with the blazon Argent, two lizards in fess purpure, the lizards' tergiant posture was omitted from the blazon.
Deletha is the submitter's legal given name.
The submitter asked if there was a more typical Scots spelling of the word of. Effric Neyn Ken3ocht Mcherrald notes:
Both <of> and <off> are perfectly normal Scots spellings for the 13th and 14th centuries. The DSL-DOST (<http://www.dsl.ac.uk/>), s.v. of <<http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/getent4.php?plen=86167&startset=42774965&query=Of&fhit=off&dregion=form&dtext=dost> >, says "The most common spelling at all dates (and in nearly all texts) is of. The spelling off occurs also throughout the period in most or all senses and is rather common in certain early texts."
Her old name, Catlin of Anandyrdale, is released.
Submitted as Felicie de Montbard, the submitter requested a name authentic for 12th C Burgundy/France. The spelling Felicie is documented from the "ARAGON" section of the "Foundation for Medieval Genealogy" page (http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ARAGON%20&%20CATALONIA.htm). While this site does examine primary sources to determine relationships, and even quotes a large amount of original material, the header forms are almost always standard modern forms appropriate to the bearer's country of origin. The same page provides this Latin passage about the woman listed as Felicie: "Sancius rex Aragonensium...cum filio meo Petro et uxore mea regina...Felicia" (Sancho, king of Aragon, with my son Pedro and my wife and queen Felicia). Felicia is the expected Latin form for this name. For the surname, Dauzat and Rostaing, Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Lieux de la France s.n. Mons, p. 466, column 2, dates the spelling Montbar (a form of Montbard) to 1096. We have changed the name to Felicia de Montbar, a form of the name appropriate for a Latin document from France in the 12th C, to fulfill the submitter's authenticity request.
We note that the OSCAR emblazon had the flamingo of a lighter pink than the form sent to Laurel. The submission form has the bird in a dark "flamingo pink", which has been ruled a color (v. Marion Baggeputz, February 2007), so it's acceptable. At this time we are not returning items for tincture mismatch between the form and the OSCAR emblazon; however, we remind submissions heralds that the OSCAR emblazon should accurately reflect the submitted armory.
The use of a pawprint is a step from period practice.
Submitted under the name Joan Doe.
Nice 13th C Latinized English name.
When registered in November 1993 with the blazon Per pale azure and vert, two peacocks in their pride, heads respectant, in base a pomegranate Or, the slipping was omitted from the blazon. While pomegranates are frequently found slipped and leaved, that is not their default.
His old name, Malkolm Tay, is released.
Registered in June 1973 with the blazon Vert, a wolf rampant argent, grasping in its erect sinister forepaw a bow gules, held fesswise, and in its dexter forepaw a sheaf of three clothyard shafts Or, armed and flighted argent, the blazon did not make clear the sustained and maintained nature of the "held" charges. We've corrected this, as well as regularized the blazon of the arrows.
The irises of the eyes touch the outer edges at two points only; for the purposes of contrast, they may be considered argent with red spots. The eyes thus have good contrast with the vert lozenges. [That's what we said: the eyes have it.]
Please instruct the submitter that the crosses should be strewn approximately evenly over the field. He should be aware that many artists will place one or more of the crosses over the line of division.
When registered in October 2002 with the blazon Purpure, two dolphins haurient respectant argent and on a chief embattled Or three pomegranates vert seeded gules, the slipping and leaving was omitted from the blazon. While pomegranates are frequently found slipped and leaved, that is not their default.
This is not a conflict with Vexillarius House, registered to Conrad Gyr Mirand in August 1990. Vexillarius (standard-bearer) and Vexillum (standard) are sufficiently different in sound and appearance to be clear of each other.
Submitted under the name Clare of Ironwood.
Nice armory.
His previous device, Argent, a hawk's hood facing to dexter azure, is released.
When the augmentation was registered in November 1997 with the blazon Sable, a fury rampant affronty, sinister hand lowered, vested argent, winged Or, maintaining in her dexter hand a torch bendwise sinister proper, as an augmentation maintaining in her sinister hand a round shield Or charged with a unicornate natural sea horse azure, the blazon of the base device did not match the blazon of her registered device: it omitted both the fact that the fury is proper and the torch is enflamed.
This was pended from the March 2007 LoAR. The badge was submitted with the household name Clockmakers Guild, which was returned on the same LoAR; we'd originally confirmed that it could be associated with the badge as a generic identifier. However, precedent states: "Generic names may only be registered to SCA branches, for common branch functions" [1/93, CL]. They may not be registered to individuals. We apologize for the confusion.
Registered in February 1988 with the blazon Azure, on a pile inverted throughout wavy between two pomegranates argent, a pomegranate azure, the slipping and leaving of the pomegranates was omitted from the blazon. Additionally, the three pomegranates are all the same size; that, and their placement two and one, strongly reinforces the impression of three primary charges on a per chevron field. We have amended the blazon accordingly.
There was some discussion in the commentary about whether this should be blazoned as a per chevron field, or whether it would be more accurately blazoned as Argent, on a pile inverted throughout azure between two sheaves of arrows sable, a stag at gaze argent. Most of the discussion centered on the width of the per chevron angle. We note that earlier period heraldry tended to draw the per chevron field more narrowly than later in period: the angle of the point more acute, and extending further to chief. (It could be considered to trisect, not bisect, the field.) Thus, for example, the arms of von Ortenburg, c. 1413 (Conzilium zu Constenz, folio clxiiii), showed a per chevron field very similar to the one in this submission. Moreover, the presence of three charges two and one on either side of the division strongly reinforces the impression of a per chevron field - and would do so, regardless of the angle of the point. A lone pile inverted was rare enough in heraldry, and when it appeared, tended to be uncharged; in other words, the lower portion of the shield would be uncharged. A chapé field division would never have the upper portions of the field charged. When the upper and lower portions are charged, then, this must (absent of other clues such as cotising) be a per chevron field.
Please instruct the submitter to draw the charges larger, particularly the arrows.
In Society usage, drakkars don't quite follow the same default for sails as the classic lymphad/galley: virtually all of our drakkars are under full sail. We have elected to explicitly blazon this fact to ensure that the emblazon can be recreated from the blazon.
When registered in December 1986 with the blazon Purpure, on a pile indented argent, a pomegranate purpure, seeded argent, the slipping and leaving was omitted from the blazon. While pomegranates are frequently found slipped and leaved, that is not their default.
Registered in July 1982 with the blazon Vert, a raccoon rampant proper [Procyon lotor], Procyon lotor seems to be largely grey while Thorvald's raccoon is shades of brown. In accord with current practice, we've removed the Linnaean genus and species from the blazon.
This is the defining instance of a cylinder sundial in Society armory. The submitter's documentation showed it was also called a pillar (sun)dial or a shepherd's dial; we've chosen to blazon it as a cylinder sundial to avoid confusion with a plain pillar. The submitter had requested that this be blazoned simply as a sundial; however, most people associate that term with the horizontal sundial found in many modern gardens. We thus decline to use the unmodified term sundial to describe the charge.
A cylinder sundial has a place to attach a cord at the top and a gnomon (i.e., the rod which casts the shadow that marks the hour) extending outward. In use, the dial is suspended by its cord, so it's vertical, and the gnomon turned to face the sun; the hour is then read from the graduated marks on the cylinder. The marks on the cylinder, while required for a proper cylinder sundial, are heraldically artistic license. A cord may be present (it isn't in this case); the presence of such a cord will not count towards difference.
There is a CD between a column or a tower and a cylinder sundial. Thus this does not conflict with the Barony of the Bridge's badge for the Order of the Pillar, Barry wavy azure and Or, a Doric column argent, with the device for Anne of White Tower, Sable, a tower argent, with the device for Dugall Ailean mac-`ic Lathurna, Paly Or and azure, in dexter chief a tower argent, nor with the device for Stanford of Sheffield, Per fess and per pale dovetailed argent and azure, in sinister chief a tower argent. In each case there is a CD for fieldlessness and another for the difference in the primary charges. Nor does the submitted badge conflict with the arms of the House of Colonna (important non-SCA arms), Gules, a column argent crowned and its capital and base Or. Again, there are CDs for fieldlessness and the difference between a column and a cylinder sundial; there is no difference for removing the crown or for the tincture of the column's capital and base.
His previous badge, (Fieldless) A black-haired demi-maiden proper, vested per pale and chevronelly argent and azure, maintaining above her head a strung bow Or, is released.
Submitted as Geneviève la Douce, the given name was documented as a modern spelling and as a spelling found in Colm Dubh, "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris" (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html). Accents found in this work reflect modern editorial additions in the 1837 compilation from which these names were taken; they do not appear in the original census document. Given this, we have changed the name to Genevieve la Douce.
When registered in November 1998 with the blazon Per bend sinister gules and vert, a pomegranate Or and a cross bottony argent, the slipping and leaving was omitted from the blazon. While pomegranates are frequently found slipped and leaved, that is not their default.
When registered in November 1998 with the blazon (Fieldless) Three pomegranates stems conjoined in pall Or, the slipping and leaving was omitted from the blazon. While pomegranates are frequently found slipped and leaved, that is not their default.
This was originally registered in July 1999 and reblazoned in February 2007 as Per bend vert and gules, in cross a spoon and a spoon fesswise reversed argent and a pomegranate Or. In both cases the slipping and leaving was omitted from the blazon. While pomegranates are frequently found slipped and leaved, that is not their default.
Please advise the submitter to draw fewer, deeper embattlements.
Nice armory.
There was some call to return this badge for using only a single abstract charge. As stated in precedent:
The Norse sun cross is also the symbol for Earth, and by precedent symbols cannot be registered as the sole charge. This ruling was applied to Norse sun crosses in April 1994 (pg. 15, s.n. Barony of Bonwicke). [Briget MacLeod, 09/2000, R-West]
However, in the registration of Æduin's device in March 2001, Laurel ruled:
Norse sun crosses are allowed, if not encouraged, because by their alternate blazon, a cross within and conjoined to an annulet, they fit a pattern of combined charges that we have registered for many years, and are at most one step from period practice.
It has long been our standard that you while you cannot blazon your way out of conflict, you can blazon your way out of style problems. If blazoned as a cross within and conjoined to an annulet instead of a Norse sun cross, this would obviously not be a single abstract charge. Therefore it is registerable even as the only charge (or charge combination) on the armory.
Registered in January 1980 with the blazon Azure, a European owl [Bubo bubo] displayed, wingtips inverted proper, grasping in its talons a lightning bolt bendwise sinister Or, the held charge is a modern lightning flash, not a period lightning bolt; and it's a maintained charge worth no difference, which wasn't clear from the original blazon. In accord with current practice, we've removed the Latin genus and species from the blazon.
The submitted forms called the bird a European eagle owl, and that is the common name for Bubo bubo. We realize that, given the tendency to create monsters by composition, some may consider this a bird that is part eagle and part owl. However, European eagle owl is still the best description for this owl as it cannot simply be blazoned a brown owl proper. The emblazon shows an owl with "horns" (i.e. feather tufts over the eyes); tail, head and body white (or light grey); wings sort of barry of three light brown, dark brown and red brown; and there are bits of brown on the face and tail.
His old name, Jahan Isfahani, is retained as an alternate name.
We note that the OSCAR emblazon had the ounce langued gules; the copy sent to Laurel had the ounce langued sable. At this time we are not returning items for tincture mismatch between the form and the OSCAR emblazon; however, we remind submissions heralds that the OSCAR emblazon should accurately reflect the submitted armory. As languing is a non-blazonable, artistic detail, this need not be pended for further conflict changes.
There were some calls to return this for the use of an escutcheon of pretense. The submitter did not blazon this as an inescutcheon; the fact that it even resembles an inescutcheon of pretense is an artifact of the submission form. We must ask ourselves: If this had been submitted as a badge, would the issue of pretense have even been raised? No, because then the orle would have been shaped as a square, not an inescutcheon. If we would register this as a badge (square form), should we penalize the submitter for submitting it as a device (escutcheon form)? We do not believe so. This is in keeping with past precedent:
[Argent, on a roundel azure a wolf sejant ululant argent] Because this was submitted on the required badge form, some thought that it should be reblazoned as Azure, a wolf sejant and a bordure argent. Elsbeth Laurel ruled:
[Azure, a sun within an orle argent] The device is clear of ... Azure, an estoile of eight rays within an annulet and a bordure all argent. Even though an orle looks like an annulet on a round field, they are nonetheless separate charges: if this were drawn on the standard shield shape the difference would be given automatically and it is unfair to penalize the drawing when it is forced to be circular by administrative requirements. [Taliesin de Morlet, 03/01, R-Caid]
In the same manner Argent, a roundel azure and Azure, a bordure argent are not interchangeable, though they give that appearance when displayed on a round field. We decline to penalize the submitter for using the circular shape specified by our administrative requirements. [Rotheric Kynith, 07/05, A-Caid]
We decline to penalize the submitter for submitting a device rather than a badge and are registering the submitted device.
Nice design. We note that the OSCAR emblazon had the ounce langued gules; the copy sent to Laurel had the ounce langued Or. At this time we are not returning items for tincture mismatch between the form and the OSCAR emblazon; however, we remind submissions heralds that the OSCAR emblazon should accurately reflect the submitted armory. As languing is a non-blazonable, artistic detail this need not be pended for further conflict changes.
Please advise the submitter to draw the merlons and the embattlements the same width.
Nice 13th C Latinized English name
This is clear of the device of Thorvald Gundaarsson, Vert, a brown raccoon rampant proper, reblazoned elsewhere on this letter. There is a CD for the difference between a badger and a raccoon, and a second CD for changing the beast's tincture.
There was a great deal of commentary regarding the badger's identifiability. We note that a badger is most readily identified by its black markings, especially on the face around the eyes. The submission does show the badger's distinctive markings, but not very boldly drawn. Please instruct the submitter to draw her badger to emphasize the facial markings, to enhance recognizability.
When registered in December 2005 with the blazon Per bend sinister wavy azure and argent, in annulo a lizard argent and a lizard azure all within an annulet counterchanged, the lizards' tergiant posture was omitted from the blazon.
When registered in March 1995 with the blazon Azure, a bull rampant contourny guardant and a base argent, the fact that the bull was atop the base was omitted from the blazon.
Nice 13th C English name!
We note that period popinjays were usually drawn with tails coming to a point. However, the bird as drawn here has the popinjay's distinctive beak, and is readily recognizable as a popinjay.
The name Bronwen is an SCA compatible Welsh name.
When registered in June 2000 with the blazon Per bend purpure and argent, a bend between two pomegranates counterchanged, the slipping and leaving was omitted from the blazon. While pomegranates are frequently found slipped and leaved, that is not their default.
When registered in September 2004 with the blazon Azure, on a round clockface argent numbered sable a lizard bendwise vert, all within a bordure argent ermined azure, the lizard's tergiant posture was omitted from the blazon.
When registered in May 1997 with the blazon Or, in bend two bobbins bendwise sinister vert, the fact that these were lace bobbins was omitted from the blazon.
Amber is the submitter's legal given name.
This device does not conflict with the device of Robert Strongbow, Vert, a wolf rampant argent maintaining in its dexter forepaw a sheaf of three arrows Or, barbed and flighted argent, and sustaining in its sinister forepaw in chief a bow fesswise gules, reblazoned elsewhere on this letter. There is a CD for the strewn charges, and another CD for the large sustained charge in chief.
Nice 16th C English name!
Registered as Heylawive von Misen in September 2006, the submitter had originally submitted Heylawive von Meißen. The name was changed because the submitted documentation showed the name as two steps from period practice: one for mixing Old Dutch and High German, and one for a more than 300 year gap between the dates for the given name and the byname. We have reexamined the original documentation and located some new documentation that suggests that the original name, while highly unlikely, is registerable. The given name spelling Heylawive was documented from Kees Nieuwenhuijsen, "Names in the Low Lands before 1150" (http://www.keesn.nl/names), where it is dated to 1100. However, a re-examination of the document shows another occurrance of Heylawive in a patronymic dated to 1120. The earliest example of a spelling supporting Meißen we have been able to locate is Meißin, 1408 (Ernst Eichler, Hans Walther, Städtenamenbuch der DDR p 186). This work gives several dated spellings for this placename:
...das 11.Jh. 1046 Missene, 1064 Misine, das 12. Jh. Misena, Misne, Misna; 1296 erscheint Missen, 1350 Myszne, Mysna, Myszen, 1378 Mizsen, Mißen, 1408 Meißin, 1428 Meissen.
Gustav Hey, Die slavischen Siedelungen im Königreich Sachsenmit Erflärung ihrer Namen, p 266, lists several forms from the Chronicon of Thietmar of Germany including Meissin and Meyssin in 1408. Given this, Heylawive von Meißen is registerable, but it is not authentic. If the submitter is interested in a temporally compatible form of this name, we suggest Helyawive de Missene.
Her old name, Heylawive von Misen, is released.
Blazoned on the LoI as a crane in its vigilance, the crane is rising, not close, and therefore is not in its vigilance.
Submitted as Kato Tatsuko, the family name is properly transcribed with a macron over the o. This is typically shown as either Katou or Kat{o-}. When possible, the College of Arms prefers to use transliterations that use Roman characters. We have changed the name to Katou Tatsuko in order to register it.
While the name is registerable, it may not be an authentic Japanese name. Solveig Throndardottir explains:
The basic problem is that Katou is a family name and Tatsuko is a pre-Muromachi name. According to Mass, women prior to at least the middle Kamakura period tended to continue using Uji names in preference to family names. That is, they were late adopters of family names.
This name was pended on the March 2007 LoAR to allow discussion of substantial contact between German speakers and Occitan speakers. We have found evidence that German merchants had substantial contact with trade fairs and towns in the Occitan region, particularly in Lyons. William Clarence Webster, A General History of Commerce, p 81 notes "Montpelier was one of the chief centers for trade between East and West;...her markets were frequented by...German merchants." For Lyons, we found these mentions: Arts and Sciences: Or, Fourth Division of "The English Encyclopedia", p 616, "In 1245, the German merchants in England ordered that no German vessel should sail to Lyon and the order being disobeyed by Rostock and some other Westphalian ports, the merchants from these places were expelled from the body...", Alfred Woltmann, Holbein and His Times, pp 233-4, "Lyons stood in lively intercourse with foreign countries, especially with Germany and Switzerland, ... Numerous German merchants had settled here and had received special privileges from the French kings...Since the year 1472 printing presses had been working in Lyons...Most of the printers were German."; Jonathan Dewald, Europe 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World, p 12, "Constance, Zurich, Bern, Lausanne, and Geneva to arrive at the great fairs of Lyon, a center for German merchants trading with colleagues in France"; and James Wadsworth, Lyons, 1473-1503: The Beginnings of Cosmopolitanism, p 22, "At the same time we must not lose sight of the predominance of the German printers who, in increasing numbers, bring their art and ideas to Lyon -- their guild chapel is founded in 1492." These statements make substantial contact between German and Occitan speakers, at least in Lyons and Nabonne, highly likely. Therefore, names mixing German and Occitan are registerable, but a step from period practice.
This name was originally pended on the March 2007 LoAR.
When registered in May 2005 with the blazon (Fieldless) In pale a pomegranate vert seeded gules issuant from a tankard azure, the slipping and leaving was omitted from the blazon. While pomegranates are frequently found slipped and leaved, that is not their default.
This badge is clear of the badge of Kragon of Land's End, (Fieldless) A sun per bend sinister bevilled fesswise gules and Or. There is a CD for fieldlessness and another for the change in the line of division.
When registered in December 1993 with the blazon (Fieldless) Three pomegranate fruits argent, seeded gules, conjoined in pall with three leaves conjoined in pall inverted sable, the slipping was omitted from the blazon. While pomegranates are frequently found slipped and leaved, that is not their default.
Registered in August 1979 with the blazon Per fess argent and sable, a pale per fess wavy gules and rayonee Or, that blazon would have made the pale's division per fess wavy. Instead, it's counterchanged over the plain per fess division of the field - but the top half is wavy, and the bottom half rayonny. We have amended the blazon.
Originally registered in May 1997 with the blazon Argent, a peacock contourny azure, pavonated to base vert, atop a claymore fesswise sable, the peacock is in its default posture and need not be specified as pavonated to base. We have amended the blazon accordingly. The term atop makes clear that the claymore is not a maintained charge, but is worth difference.
Originally registered in October 1988, the blazon was corrected in June 2001 to Per fess argent and vert, in chief three bobbins in fess sable and in base a plate charged with a drop spindle threaded sable. In both cases, the fact that these are lace bobbins was omitted from the blazon.
When registered in April 1996 with the blazon Or, three pomegranate fruits gules conjoined in pall with three leaves conjoined in pall inverted vert, the slipping was omitted from the blazon. While pomegranates are frequently found slipped and leaved, that is not their default.
Nice 14th C English name!
Submitted as Adelheid Hohenstein, the submitter requested an authentic German name. The given name Adelheid was documented as a 12th to mid-13th C name. There was some question whether the spelling Hohenstein was consistent with a given name from this period. A search through documents from the 12th and 13th C in the Austrian archives from MOnestariuM (http://www.monasterium.net/en/index.html) shows the forms Hohenstein in 1283, recognizable from a scan of an original document (http://www.mom.findbuch.net/php/view.php?ar_id=3263&be_id=187&ve_id=325077&count=0), line 8, word 5. The submitter cited Saint Gabriel letter 3221 as documentation for the name; this letter notes:
There are three types of bynames based on place names which are appropriate for a woman of your period. The first is to use <von> plus the place name, e.g. <von Howenstein>. Specifically feminine forms don't use the preposition <von>, but add a feminine ending. These are <Howensteinin> and <Howensteinerin>.
We have changed the name to Adelheid von Hohenstein to fulfill the submitter's request for authenticity.
Of the colors, gules and sable have the highest contrast - enough so that German heraldry sometimes places gules charges on sable fields and vice versa. That said, we still recommend that the chevron be colored so that most of the checks along the edge are argent rather than gules. A metal and a color have much better contrast that two colors.
In the case of Deanna della Penna (February 2007), it was ruled that paly and three pallets are interchangeable blazons, and no difference is granted between them. This was based on period examples of the same arms (e.g. Aragon) depicted both ways. However, we have no period examples of any armory with two pallets being also depicted as paly; that distinction is still made in blazon, and is still worth difference. This submission, therefore, cannot be legitimately reblazoned as Per fess azure and paly gules and Or, in chief a dragon couchant Or; and it therefore does not conflict with such armories as Dragano da Monte, Per chevron azure and gules, in base a dragon couchant Or.
Please advise the submitter to draw the bordure wider.
Blazoned on the LoI as Ermine, an oak tree eradicated proper between two dragons combatant wings close vert, most commenters indicated that they conflict checked this as three co-primary charges (rather than a primary and two secondary charges), thus this need not be pended for further conflict checking.
Please advise the submitter to draw fewer ermine spots.
His previous device, Per pale gules and vert, a horse passant and a bordure embattled argent, is retained as a badge.
Branwen is an SCA-compatible Welsh name.
The raven's tail is distorted somewhat, due to the need to draw the charge as large as will fit in the available space; this was not uncommon for animate charges in heraldic art. Still, the bird has a raven's characteristic pointy beak, and the hairy feathers found in some German emblazons; it is certainly identifiable as a raven.
Listed on the LoI as Cáelán mac Domhniall, the name was changed on the form to Cáelán mac Domhnaill. We have fixed the typo and registered this name as Cáelán mac Domhnaill.
This name mixes Middle Gaelic and Early Modern Irish; this is one step from period practice. If the submitter is interested in a fully Middle Gaelic (900-1200) form of this name, we suggest Cáelán mac Domnaill. Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index to Names in Irish Annals", (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex), gives Domnaill as the normalized Middle Irish form of this name. Because we do not have evidence that the name Cáelán continued in use into the Early Modern Irish period, we are not recommending a fully Early Modern Irish form.
Commentary raised the question of whether the cowbell was documented as a period charge or artifact. As it turns out, the cowbell is found, not just on cows, but as a musical instrument: Virdung's Musica Getutscht, 1511, shows the cowbell as one of a set of rustic (i.e. folk) instruments (Jeremy Montagu, "The World of Medieval and Renaissance Musical Instruments", p. 91).
Nice 16th C Spanish name!
The handsaw was accepted for Society use with the registration of Tomas y Saer, on the LoAR of July 2007.
Please advise the submitter to draw the chief more typically embattled, that is, starting and ending the embattlements both up or both down.
There was some question whether the byname in the form der Fuchs falls afoul of RfS IV.1, which states "Pornographic or scatological terms will not be registered." We believe that in this form it does not. The article makes it clear that the word is used as a noun and not as a verb or gerund for a sexual act.
Please advise the submitter to draw the charges larger to fill the available space.
The submitter notes that she is the wife of Roch Wölflin. She may wish to know that, in period, she would indicate this by using his surname in either the genitive form or the feminine form. The expected form of her name with this meaning is either Joye Wölflins or Joye Wölflinin.
Nice 12th C French Jewish name!
There was some question whether the spelling Cherbourg were found in period. La chronique d'Enguerran de Montselat, written in the second half of the 15th C, has several spellings for this placename, including Chierbourcq (Volume 6, p 216), Chierbourg (Volume 6, p 131), Cherebourg (Volume 2, p 318), and the submitted spelling Cherbourg (Volume 2, p 333).
Please instruct the submitter to draw the chevron inverted a bit wider, and more centered on the field, as befits a primary charge.
Submitted as Law MacKervey, the byname was documented from MacLysaght, Irish Names and Surnames. This work deals strictly with modern Irish surnames, and is not reliable as sole documentation for an Irish name. Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames does not show this spelling nor does he have an entry for Mac or Ó Cearrbhaigh, the modern Gaelic form given by MacLysaght. Black, The Surnames of Scotland, s.n. MACORVIE, dates M'Kervey to 1713. This strongly suggests a modern form; without evidence that MacKervey is a period Anglicization of an Irish name, it is not registerable. Woulfe, s.n. Ó Ciarmhaic, lists O Kervy as a later 16th C/early 17th C Anglicization; this is the closest to the submitted form we have been able to locate. We have changed the name to Law O Kervy in order to register it.
It had been previously ruled (Richard of Wyvernwood, April 2002) that the use of an Oriental dragon in a particularly convoluted posture is a step from period practice. We hereby take this to its logical conclusion, and rule that the use of an Oriental dragon in any posture is a step from period practice. It is, however, the only anomaly in this submission: Albion has documented several period coats with a chief charged with an A between two B's.
Please advise the submitter to ensure that both dragons are horizontal.
Blazoned on the LoI as Per pale argent and gules, three dragons passant counterchanged, the corrected blazon was posted on July 19th. As a color emblazon was included in OSCAR, it is assumed that all commenters (not just the two who mentioned it) checked for conflict under the correct tinctures. Thus, this need not be pended for further conflict checking.
Listed on the LoI as Magnús hoggvandi, both the forms and the documentation show Magnús h{o,}ggvandi. The notation {o,} represents an o-ogonek, which look like an o with a comma tail. We have changed the name back to the originally submitted form.
There was some question whether Mars was found as a French given name in period. The submitted documentation showed it only as a byname. Dauzat, Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France, s.n. Mars, notes that it is derived from a placename, but that it is also "ou le nom d'un enfant trouvé en mars" (the name of a child born in March).
Nice 15th C Spanish name!
Nonnie is the submitter's legal given name.
Blazoned on the LoI as segreant, the wyvern is actually erect. Two-legged creatures cannot, in general, be segreant or rampant.
Submitted under the name Alastríona de Breannóc.
Our rule of thumb for overall charges in fieldless badges is that, if the underlying charges are long and skinny - as with the lightning bolts here - then identifiability is generally preserved.
The use of a bird displayed, other than an eagle, is a step from period practice.
Submitted as Tessa da Mòdica, the byname was documented from de Felice, Dizionario Dei Cognomi Italiani. Accent marks in this work are editorial additions to indicate pronunciation; they are not part of the spelling of the names themselves. We have changed the name to Tessa da Modica to reflect the actual spelling.
This is clear of Faoiltighearna inghean mhic Ghuaire's device, Quarterly azure and vert, a wolf's head argent jessant-de-lys Or, and badge, (Fieldless) A wolf's head argent, jessant-de-lys Or. In each case there is a CD for changes to the field. There is a second CD for the difference between a cat's head jessant-de-lys and a wolf's head jessant-de-lys.
Submitted under the name Uffa Cynewulf.
Please advise the submitter to draw the chevron wider.
Submitted as Zelia Fiorèlla, the byname was documented from de Felice, Dizionario Dei Cognomi Italioni. In this work, accent marks are a modern editorial edition. Given this, we have changed the name to Zelia Fiorella.
This Italian name consists of a given name and an unmarked metronymic. Precedent states:
Oriana di Octavia Volpe da Venezia. There was some question whether matronymics were used in Italian names. Talan Gwynek, "15th Century Italian Men's Names", includes a Giacomo de Argentina The third real paragraph of this article says: "If the final a can be trusted, de Argentina is probably metronymic." This is sufficient to give the submitter the benefit of the doubt that names of this form are registerable. [August 2006]
However, since that time, we have reconsidered the evidence and decided that a single ambiguous example is not sufficient to allow metronymics in Italian. As the precedent notes, the only evidence we have for metronymics in Italian is a single ambiguous example from Talan Gwynek's "15 C Italian Men's Names" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/docs/italian15m.html). This is hardly a ringing endorsement for a naming pattern, and a single example is not enough to establish a general pattern. Therefore, barring clear examples of metronymics, either marked or unmarked in Italian, Italian names using metronymics are not registerable. [Violetta Belladonna, February 2007]
Siren has provided additional examples of metronymics in Italian:
There are several clear metronymics in the Catasto (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ferrante/catasto/pater.txt) [Ferante LaVolpe, "Italian Renaissance Men's Names"]:
IPOLITA
ROSA
SPERANZA
Others are possibly ambiguous. There are many more in the Catasto database; in my Condado article, which is ready to go online as soon as I can find someone to get it htmlized, I say "[Matronyms] are still quite uncommon; there are 55 examples listed below, out of 26,367 patronyms (i.e., 0.2% of names are matronyms)."
Given this, we are overturning the February 2007 precedent and declaring metronymics in Italian rare, but registerable.
Zelia is the submitter's legal given name.
Please advise the submitter that flaunches should start in the corners of the chief, not slightly in as drawn here.
Nice 16th C French name!
The kettle helm is also known in German as an eisenhut, and in French as a chapel de fer; under the latter term, it's been registered once in the SCA, in the device of Wilhelm von dem Bajwarishen Berg, August 1985. It's also a period charge: Batonvert notes that it's "found in the arms of Sowys, c.1460 [Randal Holme's Roll] and in the arms of Spiegel, 1605 [Siebmacher 179]."
Nice 15th C Danish name!
Registered in November 1999 with the blazon Azure, a pair of shears and on a chief Or three bobbins sable, the fact that these are lace bobbins was omitted from the blazon.
When registered in October 2002 with the blazon Argent, in pale a reremouse inverted gules and a pomegranate azure seeded argent, the slipping and leaving was omitted from the blazon. While pomegranates are frequently found slipped and leaved, that is not their default.
Please inform the submitter that the name Ameke is a masculine name.
The submitter notes that she is the wife of Günther Tode. In period German, a women could indicate she was married by using her husband's surname in the genitive case. In this case, she could use the surname Todes.
Registered in August 1982 with the blazon Vert, a garb of five stalks between a bar nowy and a bar counter-nowy Or, that blazon showed a misunderstanding of the term nowy. It means literally "knotted", but not in this case referring to braiding or tying; rather, a knot as in a knot of wood, a bulge or swelling. A fess nowy would be equivalent to a fess surmounted by a roundel; we have no evidence of fesses nowy in period, but in this case it's grandfathered to the submitter.
His old name, Yamazaki Yoshikazu, is retained as an alternate name.
Submitted as Charmayne d'Aix-la-Chapelle, there was some question whether Aix-la-Chapelle was known by that name in period. We found three mentions of Aix la Chapelle in a 1838 edition of Chronologie novenaire contenant l'histoire de la guerre sous le règne du très-chrestien roy de France et de Navarre Henry IV, et les choses les plus mémorables advenues par tout le monde, depuis le commencement de son règne, l'an 1589, jusques à la paix faixte à Vervins en 1598, entre Sa Majesté trè?s-chrestienne et le roy catholique des Espagnes Philippe II by Pierre Victor Palma Cayet (p.p. 201, 211, and 334). We do not know whether this source modernized the names, but Jean du Tillet, Recueil des rois de France, leur couronne et maison : ensemble, le rengs des grands de France (written sometime before 1571) does not appear to do so. The city name also appears in that work as Aix la Chapelle on p. 44: ""Mourut d'vne pleuresic à Aix la Chapelle." While this quote refers to an event in the time of Charlemagne, the form is identical to the name of the same city in the 16th C chronicle. We have changed the name to Charmayne d'Aix la Chapelle, to match the available period examples.
Charmayne is the submitter's legal middle name; it is a given name by type and so registerable as a given name under the legal name allowance.
This name uses a double given name as part of a Latin/Byzantine name. By precedent, set in June 2003, double-given names in Byzantine names were unregisterable. However, Loyall provides the following evidence for this practice:
[M]ultiple given names are possibly more authentic for the submitter's desired period than bynames per se (especially if one of those names was <Flavius> or <Flavia>-- I don't know what the significance of this name is). Volume III of the Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire lists a number of people with more than one given name. Here is a random selection:
<Fl. Marianus Iacobus Marcellus Aninas Addaeus>, a member of the Senate under Justinian. <Aelia Anastasia> was the official name of a sixth-century empress. <Melminius Andreas> was a sixth-century defensor of Ravenna. <Flavius Strategius Apion Strategius Apion> was a consul in 539; his father was also named <Strategius>, so the string of names here might have a patronymic sense. <Fl. Triadius Marianus Michaelius Gabrielius Constantinus Theodorus Martyrius Iulianus Athanasius> was another sixth-century consul. <Ioannes Aurus> appears in a sixth-century document. One <Aurelia Maria> was a widow in Antinoe in the sixth century.
Given this evidence for multiple given names in the late Roman empire, this name is registerable.
Please advise the submitter to draw the chevron deeper, that is, with a more acute angle at the point.
The byname Aldwin was documented from the Domesday book; at that time, unmarked patronymics were not used in English names. However, Reaney and Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames, s.n. Alwin, have the name William Aldwen in 1327, which is late enough for a true unmarked patronymic. Given the name Alwyne in 1297 in the same entry, Aldwin would not be unexpected.
The name mixes English and Gaelic; this is one step from period practice.
His old name Griffin O'Swerde, is released.
Please advise the submitter to draw the decrescent larger. Also, please inform him that all four corners of the bordure should be drawn the same.
Nice armory.
There was some question whether the patronymic Desislavich was correctly formed. According to Paul Goldschmidt, "Paul Goldschmidt's Dictionary of Russian Names - Grammar" (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/zgrammar.html), it is. Goldschmidt notes in the "Masculine Patronymics" section that "The basic rule is that an 'o' occured after a hard consonant, while an 'e' occured after a soft consonant or in place of a vowel (i.e., with the vowel dropping out)", and gives the example "Sviatoslav fathers Sviatoslavov ." The parallel for the submitted name would be Desislav fathers Desislavov. Later in this section, Goldschmidt notes the grammar for patronymic constructions using the suffix -vich: "The grammatical construction is really quite simple (assuming your eyes have not glazed over by now!). Simply add an '-ich' to the basic patronymic construction (case #1) in most cases, with the exception of given names that end in '-av' (in which case, the 'ov' used in construction #1 drops out to ease pronunciation)". The example in this case is "Sviatoslavov becomes Sviatoslavich (note the missing "ov"!) ." The parallel with the submitted name is, therefore, Desislavov becomes Desislavich, which is the submitted byname.
This device is clear of the device of Eoin MacGriogair, Argent, a chess knight sable crined gules. The default, double-headed, chess knight has a CD from a horse's head; a single-headed chess knight does not have a CD from a horse's head. Eoin's chess knight is indeed the standard, double-headed chess knight. Thus there is a CD for changing the type of half the primary charges (chess knight versus horse's head) and a second CD for changing the number of primary charges.
Submitted as Lecie de Beauchamp, the given name Lecie is a genitive form of the Latin name whose nominative form is Lecia. We only register Latin nominative forms as given names. The submitter indicated that if the name had to be changed, she was cared most about the sound, which she indicates is "Lacy". Withycombe, The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, s.n. Lettice, notes the form Lece in 1273 (and its diminutive Lecelina in 1220). Lece is closer in pronunciation to "Lacy" than Lecia; given this, we have changed the name to Lece de Beauchamp in order to register it.
The vines were blazoned on the LoI as inverted, with the couped portion to chief and the leaves' tips pointing to base. There's no difference for inverting a vine, and very little visual difference: the inversion of the charges is well-nigh invisible. We are blazoning these simply as vines palewise, leaving the exact orientation of the foliage to the artist.
Originally submitted as Nikolaus Hildebrand, the name was changed at kingdom to Nikolaus Hildebrant to match the available documentation. However, Albion notes a document from August 26, 1492, in Hamburg that references Gesken Hildebrandes dochter (http://www1.uni-hamburg.de/hamburgisches_ub/quellen/3frame.html?/hamburgisches_ub/quellen/mn/mn13.htm). This supports the nominative Hildebrand. Given this, we have changed the name back to the originally submitted form.
Batonvert noted: "Regarding the form of the primary charge, it's a common motif in Continental armory, being a badge of the Visconti -- and drawn in just about this exact form in the arms of von Brandis, c.1370 (Gelre f.97). Parker, in his discussions under staff (p.551) and torch (p.576) suggests that fire-brand would indeed be an appropriate and concise term for this motif." As a period charge, the firebrand is an acceptable charge in the Society. It should be drawn as a ragged staff with the top end enflamed. When proper, the ragged staff is brown.
The use of the element Keep in a branch name is SCA-compatible. However, the submitters may want to know that the Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. keep, gives 1586 as the first dated example of the word used as "the innermost and strongest structure or central tower of a mediæval castle, serving as a last defence; a tower; a stronghold, donjon." The "Middle English Dictionary" (http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/med/) gives no definitions of the word that are related to placenames other than to note that it occasionally occurs as a surname. Reaney and Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames, s.n. Keep, conjecture that the name atte Kep may refer to a jailer.
Submitted as Seóan MacGarrow, the submitter indicated that he preferred the spelling Sean if it was registerable. Mari neyn Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals" (http://www.medievalscotland.org/kmo/AnnalsIndex/) shows Sean as an Early Modern Irish spelling; this spelling is found in an Annals entry from 1487. We have changed the name to Sean MacGarrow in deference to the submitter's wishes.
There was some question whether the spelling MacGarrow is registerable. It was documented as a header form in Black, The Surnames of Scotland, but the header spelling is not consistent with period forms shown in that entry. Fischer, Fischer, and Kirkpatrick, The Scots in Sweden: Being a Contribution Towards the History of Scots Abroad, p 222 lists a Brian Macgarrow as a member of Jacob Ramsay's regiment in 1631. While the names in this list may be modernized, there is no reason to believe that this is the case. Given this, we will give the submitter the benefit of the doubt that the form MacGarrow is found in the gray area, and is, therefore, registerable.
The primary charges were blazoned on the LoI simply as pipes, with no qualifiers. In medieval blazonry, the unmodified term pipes referred to bagpipes, such as those being played by the hares of Fitz-Ercald, c.1525 (Chesshyre & Woodcock, Dictionary of British Arms, I:294); but while bagpipes are certainly the most common form of pipes in Society heraldry, they're also explicitly blazoned as such. The type of pipe used to inhale the fumes of burning herbs, though a period artifact, hasn't been found in period armory; the same form as in this submission has been variously blazoned as smoking pipe, Saracenic smoking-pipe, or clay pipe, so we have chosen the most common of those terms to use here.
We hereby rule that no type of pipe is default in Society heraldry: the type must, in every case, be specified in the blazon. Currently, the Society has examples of bagpipes, panpipes, organ pipes, and smoking (or clay) pipes; the one example of an unmodified pipe is being addressed in this LoAR.
Listed on the LoI as Sorcha ingan Chaillene, a correction was issued to change the name to Sorcha inghean Chaillin. We have made this correction.
There was some question whether the name Caillin was registerable in an Early Modern Irish form; the documentation for the name did not provide dated forms that late, and no documentation was provided to show whether Caillin was verated as a saint. We found Caillene as a saint's name in The Tribes and Customs of Hy-Many, commonly called O'Kelly's Country, edited by John O'Donovan. As a saint's name, then, this name is registerable in both its Old/Middle Irish and Early Modern Irish form. The Annals of the Four Masters in an entry for 1478 notes a "Roibeard comhorba Caillin d'écc." (Robert, the successor of Caillin, died).
This was registered in May 1983 with the blazon Sable, on a cross quadrate double-fitched at all four Or four hearts conjoined in cross, points outward, azure. While there are period examples of the term cross double-fitched or double-fitchy, they don't match the cross in this device. We've amended the blazon to better reflect the shape of the cross used here.
Submitted under the name Brient Brekeboge.
Nice armory.
Registered in April 1999 with the blazon Per pale vert and gules, a cubit arm Or maintaining a quill pen and brush in saltire argent, a bordure embattled Or, the fact that this is an artist's brush was omitted from the blazon.
Originally submitted as Jane the Tall of Carlisle, the name was changed to Janne the High of Carlell(e) at kingdom. No reason for the change is given, but it is apparently based on comments concerning an authentic form of this name provided by Fause Losenge.
First, the summarization appears to misunderstand the meaning of a letter appearing in parenthesis within a name. In this case, it means that the name is found both with and without the letter in parenthesis, so Carlell or Carlelle, but not Carlell(e). While either Janne the High of Carlell or Janne the High of Carlelle is a lovely form of this name, the name was registerable as submitted. Given that the submitter did not request an authentic name, we are puzzled why it was changed. Talle is an attested surname; the Middle English Dictionary, s.v. Tal, shows a John Talle in 1265. In addition, tall is a well-attested ordinary descriptive English adjective applied to humans in period. John Gower, Confessio amantis, book 5, lines 2401-2500 contains the passage "Som on, for sche is long and smal, / Som on, for sche is lyte and tall" (some [men], that she is long and small, some [men], that she is light and tall). A 1554 edition of Caxton, The right plesaunt and goodly historie of the foure sonnes of Aymon, chapter XXVIII, has the passage "saw he was a tall man & wel made ." For the spelling Carlisle, the submitted documentation notes:
[Carlell(e)] -- Reaney & Wilson s.n. <Carlisle> have the following forms: <de Carlyle> 1158x1164, <de Karlisle> 1310x1311, <Carlelle> 1363, <Carlille> 1370. Bardsley s.n. <Carlisle> has <de Carliolo> 4 Edward II (i.e., 1310x1311), <de Carlell> 1379, <de Karleyll'> 1379, <de Carlhill> 1379, <Karlyle> 1547, <Carleill> 1586, and <Margaret Carleill> 1598. F.K. & S. Hitching, References to English Surnames in 1601, Chas. A. Bernau, Walton-on-Thames, 1910, p. xxvii, show only the spellings <Carleile>, <Carlile>, and <Carlill>.
The aberrant <Karlisle> seems to be found only in the early 14th century, probably only in London records concerning the Londoner Thomas de Karlisle. (In addition to the London record of 1310x1311 cited by Reaney & Wilson, <<http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=33096> > has another dated 1314. Watts s.n. <Carlisle> says that the spelling is also found in 1318; he gives no source, but another reference to Thomas seems likely.)
The fact that the Karlisle is found in the early 14th C is sufficient to support its registration. However, we have found other examples of the spellings Karlisle and Carlisle as a placename in period. A document at British History Online (http://www.british-history.ac.uk), "Records relating to the Barony of Kendale: volume 3 (1926) " notes an item "Geven att Karlisle [emphasis added] the xiij day of June the viijth yere of the Reign of our Most Naturall Soverayn lord King Henry the viijth." Also, while this is a Scots reference, the "Dictionary of the Scots Language" (http://www.dsl.ac.uk/), s.v. tretis, has "The wordes of the treateis maid be the commissioners that mett at Carlisle", 1563; s.v. repair "And also my repair again to Carlisle" 1547; s.v. Citidiall, "The citie of Carlisle, with ane strong castell and citidaill thairin", 1578, and many others. Given all of this, we have changed the name back to the originally submitted form.
While a chevron rompu is most frequently drawn by "slicing" the chevron palewise and displacing the point to chief, the slicing can also be done at right angles (more or less) to the chevron itself; an example is found in Guillim's Display of Heraldrie, second edition, 1632, p.133.
Please advise the submitter that drawing the center portion of the chevron narrower (i.e., slice the chevron closer to the center) would greatly improve this depiction.
Registered in September 1984 with the blazon Per saltire gules and Or, a domestic cat sejant regardant, sinister forepaw maintaining a quill pen and brush in saltire sable, within a bordure pean, that blazon would have made the pen bendwise and the brush bendwise sinister. A check of the emblazon shows that the brush is bendwise, and the pen bendwise sinister; we've also specified the type of brush.
This was registered to Northshield in May 1998 and transferred to Moraig in April 2003 with the blazon Or, a pomegranate gules, seeded Or between two flaunches sable; the slipping and leaving was omitted from the blazon. While pomegranates are frequently found slipped and leaved, that is not their default.
Registered in August 1972 with the blazon Argent, a base barry-wavy azure and argent, a crozier azure, that blazon omitted the fact that the base is wavy, as well as barry wavy; and it didn't blazon the primary charge first. We've corrected the blazon, and taken the liberty of blazoning the base as a ford to add to the cant.
Please advise the submitter to draw the rose larger.
Submitted as Huldesendis Von Falkenstein, the preposition in German locative bynames is typically written in all lowercase letters. Therefore, we have changed the name to Huldesendis von Falkenstein.
When registered in March 2004 with the blazon Or, on a pall cotised azure a lizard Or, the lizard's tergiant posture was omitted from the blazon.
Submitted under the name Lars Wolfsblut.
No documentation was submitted and none found to suggest that Carrigart is a period placename, or a period spelling. However, the submitter's mother, whose registered name is Mairgret of Carrigart, has provided a letter attesting that Mary is her daughter. Therefore, the byname of Carrigart is registerable under the grandfather clause.
Submitted as Dearbháil inghean Léod, the patronym Léod is in the nominative case rather than the required genitive case. The genitive form of this name is Léoid. We have changed the name to Dearbháil inghean Léoid to correct the grammar.
The question was raised in commentary as to whether the badge, with two allusions to Santiago or St. James (the escallop was a pilgrim's badge of Santiago de Compostela, and the cross of Santiago of course was the badge of the Order of Santiago) might be excessive when combined with the surname Diaz ("son of Diego" or "son of James"). While the allusion is there, we did not find it so excessive as to warrant return in this case.
Blazoned on the LoI as Per pale azure and sable, a carpenter's hammer and an axe in saltire argent, the term carpenter's hammer is ambiguous. It could as easily have referred to a hammer with claws, which is found in period heraldry, but which isn't the hammer in this submission. There has only been one other registration using the term, in the device of Adelric of Saxony: like here, it's a block of wood on a handle. The more usual blazon for this type of hammer is mallet, and we've used it here for clarity. Adelric's armory has been reblazoned elsewhere on this letter.
When registered in September 1997 with the blazon Azure, three Celtic crosses and on a point pointed argent and a dragon passant contourny azure, the fact that the crosses are one and two was omitted from the blazon.
When registered in October 1998 with the blazon Azure, three Celtic crosses and on a point pointed argent a dragon passant contourny azure, and as an augmentation on a canton vert, in pale a portcullis Or and a crescent argent, a bordure embattled Or, the fact that the crosses are one and two was omitted from the blazon.
Blazoned on the LoI as Per chevron vert and sable, a wolf rampant to sinister argent, in chief three oak leaves Or, the charges are co-primary. The presumption when there are two types of charges, one type on either side of a line of division, is that the charges are co-primary. If one type of charge is much smaller than the other, there is a chance that the armory will be returned for blurring the distinction between a group of co-primary charges and a group of primary charges plus a group of secondary charges. In this case, the oak leaves, while smaller than the wolf, are sufficiently large enough to be considered co-primary charges on this divided field. On an undivided field, this may have been returned for not being clearly a group of co-primary charges or a primary charge with three secondary charges. We recommend that the submitter draw the oak leaves larger in the future. Sufficient commenters indicated they conflict checked as co-primary charges that this doesn't need to be pended for further conflict checking.
There was some question whether the name Dooley was registerable. The surname Dooley was documented as a modern Irish surname from MacLysaght, Irish Surnames. MacLysaght is not suitable for single documentation for Irish names. While we have no examples of this name as an Anglicized Irish name in period, we do have an example from Cheshire in 1620. Cheshire Notes and Queries, "Notes. Stockport Parish Registers" p 203, shows this line in a transcription of a parish register: "Widowe Dooley of Romiley." While this work was published in 1888, the spellings are consistent with the early 17th C and there is no evidence that the names are normalized.
This name mixes Gaelic and English; this is one step from period practice.
When registered in March 2005 with the blazon Vert, on an open scroll argent in saltire a brush and a quill pen sable, a bordure embattled Or, the fact that this is an artist's brush was omitted from the blazon.
This was registered in November 1993 with the blazon Or, two staves crossed in saltire between in fess two quatrefoils, stems to center, vert and on a chief indented azure two pouches Or. The charges on the chief match the emblazon for the same charge in the submitter's previously registered badge where the charge was blazoned as a palmer's scrip. Since the device is being reblazoned, we're also substituting the more specific term four-leaved clovers for the previous quatrefoils.
When registered in March 1993 with the blazon (Fieldless) Two wooden staves proper, surmounted by a palmer's scrip Or, the fact that the staves were in saltire was omitted from the blazon.
Nice 15th C Latinized Swiss name!
Her old name, Lucrezia Landino, is retained as an alternative name.
Registered in September 1996 with the blazon Purpure two mermaids respectant, each playing a pipe argent and in base a lyre Or, the type of pipes was left unspecified. Given the tiny size of the instruments, we've reblazoned them as flageolets, a tiny recorder-like instrument with four finger holes. Also, the original blazon had the mermaids as primary charges with the lyre shoved to base as a secondary; the emblazon shows three primary charges, so we've reblazoned accordingly (and added a comma after the field).
Please advise the submitter to draw the bull's heads larger.
The orientation for a fer-a-loup is determined by its line of symmetry, as with a crescent. This fer-a-loup is therefore bendwise.
The dragon has its head curled around below its body, but separated: it has good contrast against the fess. We blazon the head posture of dormant creatures, permitting it when identifiability is maintained (as it is here), but grant no difference for it.
When registered in December 2003 with the blazon Per bend azure and Or, a lizard bendwise and a crow counterchanged, the lizard's tergiant posture was omitted from the blazon.
When registered in December 1986 with the blazon Azure, a blonde baby sejant erect to sinister, legs crossed proper, the unclothed state of the infant was omitted from the blazon.
Shooting star is a term used in Society blazonry for a comet inverted. It's used here solely for the sake of the cant.
Nice armory.
Submitted as Ceara MacEgan, the byname was documented as a header form in MacLysaght, Irish Surnames. This work provides explicitly modern forms and is no longer acceptable as sole documentation for a name. MacLysaght, s.n. Egan, notes that mac Aodhagháin is the modern Gaelic form of this name. Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames, s.n. mac Aodhagháin, notes the late 16th/early 17th C Anglicization M'Keagan. By precedent, the scribal abbreviation M' is expanded to Mac in first-generation patronymic bynames. We have changed the name to Ceara MacKeagan in order to register it.
This name mixes Early Modern Irish Gaelic and Anglicized Irish. This is one step from period practice.
The sword was tinctured in a light shade of grey. While this isn't recommended for argent charges - for reasons which the color scan on OSCAR made clear - it is currently permitted.
Registered in June 1975 with the blazon Per fess Or and azure, a frog gules orbed argent pupilled sable, on a thimble argent, that blazon would have made the frog a tertiary on the thimble. Instead, the thimble is the primary charge, centered on the field, with the smaller frog perched atop it. The frog's posture was also omitted from the original blazon.
Although this has a complexity count of nine - five types of charge (lion, hammer, anvil, chief, roundel) and four tinctures (argent, sable, gules, Or) - its style is simple enough, and documentable to late period, that the rule of thumb for over complexity in RfS VIII.1.a can be waived in this case.
When registered in September 1971 with the blazon Argent, a man dismembered gules, the fact that the man is nude was omitted from the blazon.
This name mixes Irish Gaelic and Anglicized Scottish Gaelic; this is one step from period practice.
The submitter's previous device, Or, a pair of bat's wings, conjoined and displayed, sable within a bordure countercompony vert and argent, is released.
When registered in February 1998 with the blazon Sable, three pomegranates Or, seeded gules, the slipping and leaving was omitted from the blazon. While pomegranates are frequently found slipped and leaved, that is not their default.
- Explicit littera accipendorum -
This device is returned for blurring the distinction between primary and secondary charges. Had the angel been entirely on the purpure portion of the field - which is what one might expect for three charges on a per chevron field - there would have been no problem. Had the angel completely overlain the line of division, with the tau crosses relegated to secondary status, there would probably have been no problem (as long as identifiability was maintained). As it is, the angel barely crosses the line of division, making it impossible to judge the status of the charges in chief. It needs to be redrawn... preferably with the angel entirely on the purpure, to maximize contrast.
There were some remarks about the forms of the tau crosses used here. We note that these tau crosses are on a par with the example shown in Legh's Accedens of Armorie, 1576, fol. 35, and less florid than the tau cross registered to Wilrich von Hessen, in September 2007, to which no one raised objection.
Upon resubmission, the bordure should be drawn wider, with the embattlements bolder.
This device is returned for several problems. The most severe is the unrecognizability of the arrows: drawn so slender, with their barbs and fletches hardly noticeable, they would be hard to recognize even in their default posture. When fracted and arranged in this manner, they lose all identity: they are seen as a mullet voided, which (while undoubtedly the submitter's intent) makes for poor heraldic design.
The very fact that the arrows are broken and arranged to resemble a mullet voided is likewise a reason