Society for Creative Anachronism

College of Arms

1731A 10th St

Hampton, VA 23665

+1-757-848-5813

laurel@heraldry.sca.org

For the December 2008 meetings, printed February 27, 2009

To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Olwynn Laurel, Istvan Wreath, and Aryanhwy Pelican, greetings.

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

The December Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held Saturday, December 6, 2008 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, December 27, 2008. These meetings considered 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 have been entered into OSCAR by Sunday, November 30, 2008.

The January Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, January 10, 2009 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, January 17, 2009. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: 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), 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 have been entered into OSCAR by Wednesday, December 31, 2008.

The February Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held Saturday, February 7, 2009, the Meridies Heraldic Symposium Roadshow held Saturday, February 14, 2009, and the Noisemakers Schola Roadshow held Saturday, February 14, 2009. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: An Tir (29 Aug, 2008) (pushed from December due to lost packet), Laurel LoPaD (07 Oct, 2008), An Tir (20 Oct, 2008), Ansteorra (20 Oct, 2008), Atenveldt (20 Oct, 2008), Northshield (20 Oct, 2008), Meridies (30 Oct, 2008), Outlands (30 Oct, 2008), Atlantia (31 Oct, 2008), Calontir (31 Oct, 2008), East (31 Oct, 2008), Lochac (31 Oct, 2008), Middle (31 Oct, 2008), Siren LoItP (31 Oct, 2008), and Trimaris (31 Oct, 2008). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Saturday, January 31, 2009.

The March Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held on Saturday, March 7, 2009 and at the Gulf Wars Roadshow on Thursday, March 19, 2009. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Artemisia (30 Sep, 2008) (pushed from January due to late receipt of packet), West (06 Oct, 2008) (pushed from February due to late receipt of packet), Caid (31 Oct, 2008) (pushed from February due to late receipt of packet), Ansteorra (18 Nov, 2008), Drachenwald (20 Nov, 2008), Laurel LoPaD (20 Nov, 2008), Laurel LoPaD (24 Nov, 2008), Meridies (28 Nov, 2008), Outlands (28 Nov, 2008), Atlantia (29 Nov, 2008), Siren LoItP (29 Nov, 2008), Æthelmearc (30 Nov, 2008), Atenveldt (30 Nov, 2008), Lochac (30 Nov, 2008), and West (30 Nov, 2008). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Saturday, February 28, 2009.

The April Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held on Saturday, April 4, 2009, and at the Outlands Heralds and Scribes Roadshow on Saturday, April 25, 2009. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Northshield (09 Nov, 2008) (pushed from March due to late receipt of packet), [An Tir (26 Nov, 2008)] (pushed from March due to late receipt of packet), Artemisia (30 Nov, 2008) (pushed from March due to late receipt of packet), Trimaris (30 Nov, 2008) (pushed from March due to late receipt of packet), Laurel LoPaD (11 Dec, 2008), [Ansteorra (17 Dec, 2008)], East (22 Dec, 2008), Calontir (24 Dec, 2008), Atlantia (29 Dec, 2008), [Atenveldt (30 Dec, 2008)], Lochac (30 Dec, 2008), Outlands (30 Dec, 2008), Laurel LoPaD (31 Dec, 2008), and Meridies (31 Dec, 2008). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Tuesday, March 31, 2009.

The May Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held in May 2009. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: [Ealdormere (23 Nov, 2008)] (pushed from March due to late receipt of packet), [Middle (30 Nov, 2008)] (pushed from March due to late receipt of packet), [Caid (31 Dec, 2008)] (pushed from April due to late receipt of packet), Gleann Abhann (06 Jan, 2009), Laurel LoPaD (09 Jan, 2009), [Ansteorra (22 Jan, 2009)], Northshield (24 Jan, 2009), [Atenveldt (25 Jan, 2009)], Atlantia (26 Jan, 2009), Laurel LoPaD (28 Jan, 2009), Drachenwald (29 Jan, 2009), Meridies (29 Jan, 2009), Siren LoItP (29 Jan, 2009), [An Tir (30 Jan, 2009)], [Artemisia (30 Jan, 2009)], [Trimaris (30 Jan, 2009)], [Calontir (31 Jan, 2009)], [Outlands (31 Jan, 2009)], and [West (31 Jan, 2009)]. All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Thursday, April 30, 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: KWHSS 2010 Bids Requested

For those considering bidding on the 2010 Known World Heraldic and Scribal Symposium, the deadline to have your bid entered into OSCAR is May 31, 2009. This will give the College of Arms time for consideration so that we can announce the bid's award at this year's KWHSS in Calontir, as is our preferred practice.

Please remember that bids posted to OSCAR are publicly readable. Because of this, all personal information, such as legal names, addresses, phone numbers, and email, should not be included in these bids without signed, written permission. Such information as is necessary should be posted as a comment after the bid is finalized, so that only the College of Arms can read it.

Codex has asked us to announce that there is a KWHSS domain and web hosting space available on the SCA's servers, so you need not register your own.

Please see http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/kwhs/ or contact me if you have any questions.

From Pelican: On Summarizing Documentation

A perennial problem that afflicts many LoIs is improper summarization of the supporting evidence for name submissions. The Administrative Handbook, in section V.B.2.d says that

A summary of all supporting evidence provided for the submission must be included on the letter of intent. Such evidence includes documentation, permissions to conflict, proofs for entitlement, statements of support for transferred items, and evidence for support in the case of branch submissions.

It is the documentation which is most often either not summarized or summarized improperly. To help submissions heralds who are having difficulty adequately summarizing the documentation, here is a checklist that can be followed to ensure that the documentation is adequately summarized. For each different source being cited, the following information should be provided:

-	Author's name.

-	Book/article title.

-	Header name or page number (or both); if you give only the page number of a source that has multiple editions, you must also include the edition.

-	If the source is a webpage, give the full URL (beginning with http://). Before finalizing the LoI it's a good idea to check that all of the URLs are still current.

-	A brief quote or comment indicating what the source says about the name element.

-	If the source is in a language other than English, a translation or summary of the information.

Some books are cited so frequently by members of the College of Arms that shorthand labels for these references have been developed. These references are listed in Appendix H of the Administrative Handbook, and if you use one of these labels, it is not required that you also list the author and title. In all other cases, it is a professional courtesy to the authors to include their names when citing their sources.

If you would like more information on proper summarization of documentation, and why it is so crucial that the documentation be properly summarized, please see the September 2003 Cover Letter ("From Laurel: Time is a Precious Resource"), the December 2002 LoAR Cover Letter ("From Pelican: Inadequate Summarization of Submissions"), and the November 2001 LoAR Cover Letter ("From Laurel Clerk: Things Missing from LoIs").

If the documentation for a name is not adequately summarized on the LoI, then the name may be returned for administrative reasons, regardless of any commentary on the name.

From Pelican: Thank You, Meridies

In February I had the pleasure of traveling to Meridies to attend their Kingdom Heraldic Symposium at the invitation of Master Alexander Ravenscroft, Beacon Principle Herald. I would like to thank Alexander for his invitation and all the members of the Barony of Thor's Mountain who hosted me so kindly and put on such a wonderful event. It was a great pleasure to see, and in some cases finally meet, old friends and to make new ones. I look forward to my next visit to Meridies.

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