Society for Creative Anachronism
College of Arms
For the March 2010 meetings, printed June 21, 2010
To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Olwyn Laurel, Istvan Wreath, and Mari 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 March Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, March 6, 2919, the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Noisemakers Roadshow on Saturday, March 6, 2010, and at the Gulf Wars Roadshow on Wednesday, March 17, 2010. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Middle (29 Sep, 2009) (pushed due to lack of payment) , Middle (30 Oct, 2009) (pushed due to lack of payment) , Lochac (31 Oct, 2009) (pushed due to lack of packet) , Calontir (05 Nov, 2009), Ęthelmearc (14 Nov, 2009), Atenveldt (15 Nov, 2009), Drachenwald (16 Nov, 2009), An Tir (25 Nov, 2009), Gleann Abhann (27 Nov, 2009), Laurel LoPaD (27 Nov, 2009), Meridies (28 Nov, 2009), Ansteorra (30 Nov, 2009), Artemisia (30 Nov, 2009), Atlantia (30 Nov, 2009), Lochac (30 Nov, 2009), Middle (30 Nov, 2009), Outlands (30 Nov, 2009), Palimpsest (30 Nov, 2009), Trimaris (30 Nov, 2009). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Sunday, February 28, 2010.
The April Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held on Saturday, April 10, 2010 and the Rowany Festival Roadshow held on Sunday, April 4, 2010. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: West (30 Nov, 2009) (pushed due to lack of packet) , East (13 Dec, 2009), Atenveldt (20 Dec, 2009), Drachenwald (21 Dec, 2009), Drachenwald (27 Dec, 2009), Gleann Abhann (27 Dec, 2009), An Tir (29 Dec, 2009), Atlantia (29 Dec, 2009), Ansteorra (30 Dec, 2009), Outlands (31 Dec, 2009), Ęthelmearc (02 Jan, 2010), Atenveldt (20 Jan, 2010), Ansteorra (27 Jan, 2010), Meridies (29 Jan, 2010), Gleann Abhann (30 Jan, 2010), Middle (30 Jan, 2010), Atlantia (31 Jan, 2010), East (31 Jan, 2010), Gleann Abhann (31 Jan, 2010), Outlands (31 Jan, 2010), Trimaris (31 Jan, 2010). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Wednesday, March 31, 2010.
The May Laurel decisions were made at the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, May 8, 2010 and the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, May 22, 2010. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Caid (31 Dec, 2009) (pushed due to lack of packet) , An Tir (27 Jan, 2010) (pushed due to lack of payment) , Caid (31 Jan, 2010) (pushed due to lack of packet) , Ealdormere (31 Jan, 2010) (pushed due to lack of packet) , Calontir (07 Feb, 2010), Laurel LoPaD (14 Feb, 2010), Calontir (15 Feb, 2010), Ęthelmearc (23 Feb, 2010), Atenveldt (23 Feb, 2010), Atlantia (25 Feb, 2010), Ansteorra (26 Feb, 2010), Meridies (26 Feb, 2010), Drachenwald (27 Feb, 2010), An Tir (28 Feb, 2010), Lochac (28 Feb, 2010), Outlands (28 Feb, 2010), Palimpsest Rules Letter (28 Feb, 2010). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Friday, April 30, 2010.
The June Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, June 26, 2010, the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, June 6, 2010, and at the KWHSS Roadshow on Sunday, June 13, 2010. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: West (31 Jan, 2010) (pushed due to lack of payment and packet) , Laurel (05 Mar, 2010), Artemisia (15 Mar, 2010), Atenveldt (15 Mar, 2010), East (20 Mar, 2010), An Tir (22 Mar, 2010), Drachenwald (29 Mar, 2010), Gleann Abhann (29 Mar, 2010), Caid (30 Mar, 2010), Trimaris (30 Mar, 2010), Ansteorra (31 Mar, 2010), Atlantia (31 Mar, 2010), Lochac (31 Mar, 2010), Middle (31 Mar, 2010), and Outlands (31 Mar, 2010). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Monday, May 31, 2010.
The July Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held in August 2010. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Northshield (26 Mar, 2010) (pushed due to lack of packet) , Ealdormere (31 Mar, 2010) (pushed due to lack of packet), West (31 Mar, 2010) (pushed due to lack of packet), Ęthelmearc (06 Apr, 2010), Ansteorra (12 Apr, 2010), Atenveldt (15 Apr, 2010), Laurel LoPaD (19 Apr, 2010), Calontir (20 Apr, 2010), [An Tir (29 Apr, 2010)], Atlantia (29 Apr, 2010), [Caid (30 Apr, 2010)], East (30 Apr, 2010), Gleann Abhann (30 Apr, 2010), Lochac (30 Apr, 2010), Meridies (30 Apr, 2010), and Outlands (30 Apr, 2010). All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Wednesday, June 30, 2010.
Not all letters of intent may be considered when they are originally scheduled on this cover letter. The date of posting 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.
A question was raised in commentary regarding the registerability of Ordo as a household designator. While Ordo was used to refer to a company in the Roman military, the term Ordo was also used as the Latin translation for Order in the names of medieval knightly order names. In the SCA, we use the term Ordo as a translation for Order in SCA order names. Therefore, to use the term Ordo for a household, even one based on a Roman military company, would violate RfS VI.1 Names Claiming Rank. As a result, Ordo may not be used as a designator in household names.
It was pointed out that Legio 'Legion' had been used as a designator in both order names and household names. That point is correct. There are five registrations containing Legion or the Latin form Legio:
Legion of the Black Fist is registered to the East (July 1974), but there is no indication in the O & A if it was registered as an order name or a household name. As the East Kingdom OP does not list it as an order, it is almost certainly a household name.
Legion of Athene's Sword was registered as a household name to Rosemounde of Mercia (August 1979)
Legion of Courtesy was registered as an order name to Caid (April 1981).
Legion of Gallantry of the Outlands was registered as an order name to the Outlands (November 1993).
Legio Ursi was registered as an order name to Meridies (October 2001).
RfS III.2.b. Non-Personal Names states: "Branch names, names of orders and awards, heraldic titles, and household names must consist of a designator that identifies the type of entity and at least one descriptive element." The use of Legion and Legio for two types of name (order and household) results in a designator that fails to "identif[y] the type of entity". Since the most recent registration of Legio or Legion in an order name is over eight years old, and Ordo is available for use in this style of order name, we are ruling that Legio and Legion will no longer be available for use as a designator in order and award names beginning with the September 2010 decision meeting. It will, however, continue to be available for use in properly formed household names.
Several submissions this month raised questions about documentation for personal names dated to the "Gray Area" (1601-1650).
These types of elements generally fall into two categories based on whether or not there is a specific reason to believe the element only came into use after 1600.
Precedent has held that if there is a specific reason to believe that a particular name element was not or could not have been available in naming pools prior to 1600, then the name element is not registerable. Some examples include: given names created for Shakespeare's plays where the plays were only produced after 1600 and descriptive bynames in English formed from words which are only found after 1600.
However, the vast majority of cases fall into the other category. Most names elements whose first recorded use is in the "Gray Area" (between 1601 and 1650) are also plausible for the late 16th C. If the first time we find given name X listed in English is in a parish register as the name of an infant christened in 1635, we have to ask ourselves whether we can be certain that was really the first time the name was ever used in England. Because so many records have been lost over the years, and because not every person who ever lived was recorded in written documents, we simply cannot know.
This is the point of the "Gray Area": to allow for the incompleteness of our sources and so to provide a level of fairness to the submitters. We will continue to uphold this policy. If there is a specific reason to believe that a particular name element dated to the "Gray Area" would not or could not have been used prior to 1600, it will not be registerable. Otherwise, name elements dated to the "Gray Area" will be acceptable for use in SCA names.
A copy of Hitching, F. K. and S. References to English Surnames in 1601 and 1602 (Clearfield Company, Inc., 1998) was acquired for the Pelican library some time ago and accidently not included in the Administrative Handbook under Appendix H - Sources That Do Not Require Photocopies to Laurel. We are correcting that omission at this time. The entry we are adding to the "No Photocopy" list is:
[Hitching & Hitching] Hitching, F. K. and S. References to English Surnames in 1601 and 1602
From this point forward, photocopies from this source are not required for submissions.
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 be sent to David Duggar, Attn: Laurel Chancellor of Exchequer, 1705 Holiday Pl, Bossier City, LA 71112-3706.
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". The electronic copy of the LoAR is available free of charge. To subscribe to the mailings of the electronic copy, please see the bottom of http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/lists.html#lists for more instructions.
For all administrative matters, please contact Laurel.
Pray know that I remain,
In service,
Olwynn ni Chinnedigh
Laurel Principal Queen of Arms
Created at 2010-06-21T22:23:24