Society for Creative Anachronism

College of Arms

1731A 10th St

Hampton, VA 23665

+1-757-848-5813

laurel@heraldry.sca.org

For the July 2008 meetings, printed November 24, 2008

To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Olwynn Laurel, Istvan Wreath, Aryanhwy Pelican, and Jeanne Marie Wreath Emeritus, 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 July Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, July 5, 2008 and the Wreath meetings held on Saturday, July 12, 2008 and Sunday, July 13, 2008. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Caid (01 Mar, 2008), Laurel LoPaD (19 Mar, 2008), Albion (20 Mar, 2008), Atenveldt (20 Mar, 2008), Drachenwald (21 Mar, 2008), Gleann Abhann (25 Mar, 2008), Lochac (25 Mar, 2008), Calontir (26 Mar, 2008), Æthelmearc (28 Mar, 2008), An Tir (30 Mar, 2008), Ansteorra (30 Mar, 2008), Atlantia (30 Mar, 2008), Meridies (30 Mar, 2008), Artemisia (31 Mar, 2008), and Outlands (31 Mar, 2008). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Monday, June 30, 2008.

The August Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held Sunday, August 17, 2008 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, August 3, 2008 and the Pennsic roadshow. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Northshield (02 Apr, 2008), East (05 Apr, 2008), Gleann Abhann (09 Apr, 2008), Middle (12 Apr, 2008), Ealdormere (15 Apr, 2008), Laurel LoPaD (15 Apr, 2008), Lochac (17 Apr, 2008), An Tir (20 Apr, 2008), Batonvert LoItP (20 Apr, 2008), Atenveldt (21 Apr, 2008), Drachenwald (21 Apr, 2008), Atlantia (28 Apr, 2008), Calontir (29 Apr, 2008), Ansteorra (30 Apr, 2008), Meridies (30 Apr, 2008), Northshield (30 Apr, 2008), Outlands (30 Apr, 2008), Trimaris (30 Apr, 2008), and West (30 Apr, 2008). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Thursday, July 31, 2008.

The September Laurel decisions were made at the KWHSS roadshow on Sunday, September 7, 2008, the Pelican meeting held Saturday September 13, 2008, and the Wreath meeting held Saturday, September 13, 2008. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Gleann Abhann (20 May, 2008), Drachenwald (21 May, 2008), East (21 May, 2008), Lochac (21 May, 2008), Outlands (21 May, 2008), An Tir (25 May, 2008), Atenveldt (25 May, 2008), Laurel LoPaD (26 May, 2008), Northshield (27 May, 2008), Ansteorra (30 May, 2008), Atlantia (30 May, 2008), Laurel (30 May, 2008), West (30 May, 2008), Æthelmearc (31 May, 2008), Calontir (31 May, 2008), and Meridies (31 May, 2008). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Sunday, August 31, 2008.

The October Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held Saturday, October 11, 2008 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, October 4, 2008 and at the roadshow at Great Western War on Saturday, October 11, 2008. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Artemisia (31 May, 2008) (pushed from September due to lack of payment), Middle (05 Jun, 2008), Æthelmearc (15 Jun, 2008), Ealdormere (22 Jun, 2008), Lochac (24 Jun, 2008), Atenveldt (25 Jun, 2008), Caid (27 Jun, 2008), Atlantia (29 Jun, 2008), Drachenwald (29 Jun, 2008), East (29 Jun, 2008), An Tir (30 Jun, 2008), Ansteorra (30 Jun, 2008), Calontir (30 Jun, 2008), Laurel (30 Jun, 2008), Meridies (30 Jun, 2008), Outlands (30 Jun, 2008), and Trimaris (30 Jun, 2008). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Tuesday, September 30, 2008.

The November Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held Saturday, November 1, 2008 and at the University roadshow on Saturday, November 8, 2008 and at the Wreath meeting held Sunday, November 9, 2008. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: West (23 Jun, 2008) (pushed from October due to lack of payment and packet), Laurel LoPaD (05 Jul, 2008), East (15 Jul, 2008), Middle (15 Jul, 2008), Northshield (15 Jul, 2008), Calontir (19 Jul, 2008), Gleann Abhann (22 Jul, 2008), Atlantia (23 Jul, 2008), Drachenwald (26 Jul, 2008), Artemisia (30 Jul, 2008)], Atenveldt (30 Jul, 2008), Ansteorra (31 Jul, 2008), An Tir (31 Jul, 2008), Outlands (31 Jul, 2008), and Siren LoItP (31 Jul, 2008). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Friday, October 31, 2008.

The December Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held Saturday, December 6, 2008 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, December 27, 2008. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Caid (31 Jul, 2008) (pushed from November due to lack of packet), Siren LoItP (13 Aug, 2008), Æthelmearc (26 Aug, 2008), Northshield (26 Aug, 2008), Atlantia (27 Aug, 2008), Meridies (27 Aug, 2008), Trimaris (29 Aug, 2008), Ansteorra (30 Aug, 2008), Drachenwald (30 Aug, 2008), Atenveldt (31 Aug, 2008), Calontir (31 Aug, 2008), East (31 Aug, 2008), Laurel LoPaD (31 Aug, 2008), Lochac (31 Aug, 2008), and Middle (31 Aug, 2008). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Sunday, November 30, 2008.

The January Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, January 10, 2009 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, January 17, 2009. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: [An Tir (29 Aug, 2008)] (pushed due to lost packet), Ansteorra (22 Sep, 2008), East (22 Sep, 2008), Atenveldt (25 Sep, 2008), Drachenwald (28 Sep, 2008), Middle (28 Sep, 2008), [An Tir (29 Sep, 2008)], Atlantia (29 Sep, 2008), Trimaris (29 Sep, 2008), [Artemisia (30 Sep, 2008)], Caid (30 Sep, 2008), Calontir (30 Sep, 2008), Gleann Abhann (30 Sep, 2008), Lochac (30 Sep, 2008), Meridies (30 Sep, 2008), Northshield (30 Sep, 2008), and Outlands (30 Sep, 2008). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Wednesday, December 31, 2008.

The February Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held in February 2009. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: [West (2008-10-06)], Laurel LoPaD (2008-10-07), [An Tir (2008-10-20)], Ansteorra (2008-10-20), [Atenveldt (2008-10-20)], [Northshield (2008-10-20)], [Meridies (2008-10-30)], Outlands (2008-10-30), [Atlantia (2008-10-31)], [Caid (2008-10-31)], Calontir (2008-10-31), [East (2008-10-31)], Lochac (2008-10-31), [Middle (2008-10-31)], Siren LoItP (2008-10-31), and Trimaris (2008-10-31). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Saturday, January 31, 2009.

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: July Decisions

As we mentioned last month, we are listing decision responsibilities for the month here, as we are producing a single combined letter.

The July name decisions were made by Aryanhwy Pelican. The July armory decisions for Æthelmearc, Ansteorra, Artemisia, Atenveldt, and the LoPaD were made by Jeanne Marie Wreath Emeritus; the armory decisions for An Tir, Atlantia, Caid, Calontir, Drachenwald, Gleann Abhann, Lochac, and Meridies were made by Istvan Wreath.

From Pelican: Changes to the Alternate Titles List

The following titles are added to the French section of the alternate titles list: Conte ("Count", early period); Contesse ("Countess", early period); Maistre ("Master", late period); Mestre ("Master", early period); Maistresse ("Mistress", late period); and Mestresse ("Mistress", early period).

The following titles are removed from the French section of the alternate titles list: Maître ("Master"), Maîtresse ("Mistress"). The January 2006 cover letter notes that

[W]e must conclude that modern French spellings that use the circumflex are not representative of period French forms. While words that can be found with this mark in original period texts may be registered using this mark, French words that use the circumflex are not otherwise registerable.

It only makes sense to apply the same standards to the alternate titles list that we do to the registration of names. We welcome research into the use of the spellings maître and maîtresse with the circumflex accent in our period; provided with such evidence we'd be happy to restore these forms to the alternate titles list.

At this time we are not adopting the proposals of Albion to add Damoiselle as a French alternate title for "lady" and to remove Madame as the French alternate title for the same. Concerning the first, Loyall has provided evidence that Damoiselle and its variants were used as titles for wives and sisters of men whose rank described as domicellus, armigerus, scutiferus, or by the French escuier, according to Theodore Evergates, Feudal Society in the Bailliage of Troyes under the Counts of Champagne, 1152-1284. The last is a cognate with English "squire", which is not a rank recognized by the College of Arms. Therefore Damoiselle should not be restricted to use by those who have Awards of Arms. The argument for removing Madame from the list was that it was a form of address, and not a title. Loyall has also provided examples of Madame apparently used as a title at the end of our period, including Madame de Ancre 1617, from the Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. madame. Given this information we will keep Madame on the list of French alternate titles.

From Wreath Emeritus: Concerning the Heads of Dogs, Wolves, and Similar Beasts

In commentary on the submission of Clarissima della Chiesa (Ansteorra LoI of July 2007), the issue was raised on the difference to be granted between the heads of heraldic canines: wolves, foxes, and the various breeds of dogs. It tied in as well to the difference granted for the full-bodied beasts, but Clarrisima's submission required only a ruling on their heads.

Generally speaking, when comparing two charges, our criterion has been whether the charges were distinguished by period heralds... or, perhaps more accurately, whether there's evidence that they weren't distinguished by period heralds. Lacking such evidence, if the charges being compared are both period charges, in their period postures, then we tend to grant at least a CD between them. (See the discussion on ravens vs. falcons, on the LoAR Cover Letter of February 2006; and the discussion on crabs vs. lobsters vs. scorpions, on the LoAR of February 2007.)

Most of the dogs, foxes and wolves in period armory were chosen for cants: the badge of Talbot will always be blazoned a talbot, regardless of how it's drawn. Once canting is discounted, there is still evidence that canine heads were drawn interchangeably, with the same arms sometimes depicted with hounds' heads and other times with wolves' heads. While this is strong evidence, it is not conclusive: we don't know whether the blazon evolved along with the depiction.

If Society armory limited itself to the very few breeds of dogs found in period armory -- the talbot or kennet, the greyhound, the alaunt, the mastiff, and perhaps a couple of others -- then we might see granting difference between those breeds and wolves or foxes. However, the Society permits a far greater variety of dog breeds -- any breed, so long as it was known in period -- and the confusion with wolves and foxes is thus increased many-fold. Given the documented examples of confusion between hound's heads, wolf's heads, and fox's heads in period, the added confusion with all these breeds makes it impossible to grant difference.

Therefore, we here affirm the Society's policy of granting no difference for type of canine head: dog's heads (of whatever breed), wolf's heads, and fox's heads are treated as negligibly different. This was the specific issue with Clarissima's submission, which has now been addressed. We look forward to further arguments, based on period evidence, regarding whether difference should be granted for type of full-bodied canine (as opposed to merely their heads).

From Wreath Emeritus: Thanks and Good-Bye

This is the last letter where I have made decisions so I'd like to take a brief moment to thank some of those who made this job possible: Davin Mac Alister of Drake's Height, Elspeth Charissa aus Reinwald, Eiríkr Mj{o,}ksiglandi Sigurðarson, Hrorek Halfdane of Faulconwood, Tanczos Istvan, Zenobia Naphtali, Daniel de Lincoln, and Shauna of Carrick Point. A special thanks to Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme who, when real life came crashing down (especially as my mother's health rapidly failed), was there to help pick up the pieces. He was always willing to write draft decisions, do additional research, make time for additional proof-reading, and just make time to listen about heraldry and non-heraldry issues. Without the behind-the-scenes work and support of these people, this job wouldn't have been nearly as easy, and interesting, as it was.

I'll echo Margaret Pelican Emeritus's statement "administration and proofing is also a huge responsibility"; without the support of the proof-readers, of Daniel (who compiled the commentary monthly and prepared the XML), of Shauna (who was always willing to pull an emblazon - or many - on no notice), and Istvan ("You want OSCAR to do what? Sure, no problem"), getting an LoAR out just wouldn't have been possible.

Thanks and good-bye!

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,

Olwynn ni Chinnedigh

Laurel Principal Queen of Arms