Society for Creative Anachronism College of Arms 2212 S. 64th Plaza, #418 Omaha, NE, 68106 +1 952 412 4112 laurel@heraldry.sca.org For the March 2013 meetings, printed Thursday, May 2, 2013 To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Gabriel Laurel, Juliana Pelican, and Emma Wreath, 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 Wreath meeting held on Saturday, March 9, 2013 and at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, March 10, 2013. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Atenveldt (30 Nov, 2012) (pushed due to lack of packet), Laurel LoPaD (04 Dec, 2012), Trimaris (08 Dec, 2012), Caid (09 Dec, 2012), Middle (13 Dec, 2012), Palimpsest Rules Letter (15 Dec, 2012), Northshield (17 Dec, 2012), East (21 Dec, 2012), Laurel (21 Dec, 2012), Lochac (27 Dec, 2012), Ansteorra (29 Dec, 2012), {AE}thelmearc (31 Dec, 2012), An Tir (31 Dec, 2012), Artemisia (31 Dec, 2012), Atlantia (31 Dec, 2012), Ealdormere (31 Dec, 2012), Laurel LoPaD (31 Dec, 2012), Outlands (31 Dec, 2012), and West (31 Dec, 2012). *All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Thursday, February 28, 2013.* The April Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, April 7, 2013 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, April 13, 2013. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Meridies (30 Dec, 2012) (pushed due to lack of packet upload), East (17 Jan, 2013), Calontir (20 Jan, 2013), Palimpsest Rules Letter (20 Jan, 2013), Atenveldt (25 Jan, 2013), Palimpsest Rules Letter (25 Jan, 2013), Lochac (28 Jan, 2013), Outlands (29 Jan, 2013), {AE}thelmearc (31 Jan, 2013), An Tir (31 Jan, 2013), Ansteorra (31 Jan, 2013), Atlantia (31 Jan, 2013), Caid (31 Jan, 2013), Drachenwald (31 Jan, 2013), Meridies (31 Jan, 2013), and Middle (31 Jan, 2013). *All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Sunday, March 31, 2013.* The May Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, May 5, 2013 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, May 11, 2013. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Ealdormere (31 Jan, 2013) (pushed due to lack of scans), Northshield (03 Feb, 2013), An Tir (05 Feb, 2013), Gleann Abhann (06 Feb, 2013), Laurel LoPaD (09 Feb, 2013), Middle (11 Feb, 2013), {AE}thelmearc (20 Feb, 2013), East (21 Feb, 2013), Calontir (24 Feb, 2013), Atenveldt (25 Feb, 2013), Ealdormere (25 Feb, 2013), Lochac (25 Feb, 2013), Atenveldt (26 Feb, 2013), An Tir (28 Feb, 2013), An Tir (28 Feb, 2013), Ansteorra (28 Feb, 2013), Artemisia (28 Feb, 2013), Atlantia (28 Feb, 2013), Meridies (28 Feb, 2013), Outlands (28 Feb, 2013), Palimpsest Rules Letter (28 Feb, 2013), and Trimaris (28 Feb, 2013). *All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Tuesday, April 30, 2013.* The June Laurel decisions will be at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, June 2, 2013 and the Wreath meeting held on Saturday, June 22, 2013. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: West (28 Feb, 2013) (pushed due to lack of scans and packet), West (28 Feb, 2013) (pushed due to lack of scans and packet), Laurel LoPaD (03 Mar, 2013), Northshield (04 Mar, 2013), Middle (11 Mar, 2013), [Drachenwald (21 Mar, 2013)], Ealdormere (22 Mar, 2013), Calontir (25 Mar, 2013), Gleann Abhann (25 Mar, 2013), Atenveldt (26 Mar, 2013), Outlands (26 Mar, 2013), [Atlantia (30 Mar, 2013)], [Caid (30 Mar, 2013)], East (30 Mar, 2013), An Tir (31 Mar, 2013), Ansteorra (31 Mar, 2013), Lochac (31 Mar, 2013), and Meridies (31 Mar, 2013). *All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Friday, May 31, 2013.* _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. **** From Laurel: April Showers Bring a New May Exchequer **** With the end of April and the beginning of May, the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the College of Arms is changing hands. Thanks goes to Rory for three and a half years of service as the College's Exchequer. He now gets to concentrate on being a Principal Herald for his Kingdom. Please welcome back Omar Mohammud Mirzazadeh who, having experienced the delights of being a Principal Herald, will now take on the role of Exchequer for the College. As of May 1, 2013, please send all checks or money orders for submissions to Omar. His address is now listed under "Send What to Whom". **** From Palimpsest: Clarifying Section IV.C.4 of the Admin Handbook: Proof of Entitlement for Reserved Elements and Submission Types **** The Administrative Handbook, section IV.C.4. "Proof of Entitlement" currently reads, in part: 4. Proof of Entitlement - If a submission involves an item reserved by Society convention to those of certain rank or occupation (e.g., a coronet) or an augmentation, evidence of the submitter's right to use the reserved charge or augmentation must be provided. Where a registered item involving a reserved charge or augmentation is transferred, evidence must be provided of the recipient's entitlement to use of the charge or augmentation. Normally a statement by the kingdom submissions herald giving the date of earning that rank or augmentation is sufficient. However, armory and augmentations are no longer the only registerable elements or types of submissions that may need proof of entitlement when registered; under SENA, some name elements may need such proof and under the current Administrative Handbook, heraldic titles for individuals also need such proof. To clarify this, we are changing IV.C.4, effective immediately, to read: 4. Proof of Entitlement - Submissions which involve elements or types of submissions which Society convention reserves to those with certain rank or bestowed privilege must include proof that the submitter is entitled to register that reserved element or type of submission. Reserved elements include coronets, name elements such as "Chevalier", elements listed in Table 1 of the Glossary of Terms, etc. Submissions of augmentations are reserved to entities that have been bestowed an augmentation of arms. Submissions of heraldic titles for individuals are reserved to individuals who have been granted the right to a heraldic title according to their kingdom's customs or by Laurel. This applies equally to transfers and to new submissions. Normally, a statement by the kingdom submissions herald giving the date of earning that entitlement is sufficient. **** From Pelican: Da'ud Notation **** In this Letter of Acceptances and Returns, we are using two new characters in Da'ud notation, both extensions of existing patterns: {au} is an a marked with a breve (a short mark), which matches the Unicode character U+0103 "LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH BREVE" and {uo} is u with a ring over it, which matches the unicode character U+016F "LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH RING ABOVE". **** From Pelican: Some Name Resources (An Ongoing Series) **** English household names are often derived from personal names. As with other household patterns in English, the pattern is _X('s) House_ or _House of X_, not _House X_. Household names derived from people's names in English take a couple of forms. The most common household name uses the individual's full name, like _{th}e hous of Julyane huxster_ or _sir Henry Percy house_ (both period examples from Sharon Krossa's "A Brief, Incomplete, and Rather Stopgap Article about European Household and Other Group Names Before 1600" (http://medievalscotland.org/names/eurohouseholds/). The same pattern is found using _household_ as the designator. Examples that use only given names, only surnames, or only titles are used in limited contexts. Examples of _X's House_ with given names are found only for saint's names and legendary names, like King Arthur. For surnames, _X's House_ or _X House_ are mostly found in references to actual buildings rather than to people, though they may sometimes be used to refer to the people living in such a building. _House of X_ seems to have been used largely to refer to noble dynasties (like the _House of Lancaster_ and _House of York_. All of these patterns are registerable. **** From Wreath: The Shape of Things -- Gouttes **** Commenters were recently asked to find period depictions of gouttes, to better determine whether teardrop-shaped gouttes are acceptable or not. Gouttes are fairly rare in period heraldry. The vast majority were drawn with quite distinct wavy tails. There were two counter examples found: * Virgil Raber, Wappenbuch der Arlberg-Bruderschaft 1548, on page 861 (found at http://bilderserver.at/wappenbuecher/VirgilRaberEXAv2_52z2/). These are clearly teardrop-shaped elongated gouttes. * Afonzo V of Portugal's emblem of a spinning paddle wheel spraying droplets as seen in the late 15th Century Flemish Pastrana Tapestries (image at http://www.nga.gov/press/event/3344_event.shtm). Most of the gouttes here are wavy-tailed, but some are simply embowed, as being flung from the paddles. The gouttes in Afonzo V's emblem cannot be described as discrete charges, while the ones in the Virgil Raber Wappenbuch can be. We are less concerned with the depiction of essentially maintained charges treated as artistic detailing, such as with the drops of water flung from Afonzo V's paddle wheel, or with drops of blood coming from a couped head. For non-maintained or otherwise artistic charges, however, given the evidence we express a strong preference for the traditional wavy-tailed gouttes. Teardrop shaped gouttes are registerable as long as they are elongated, more than twice as long as they are wide. Any other shape will be returned after the October 2013 decision meetings. **** From Wreath: Pelican Hats **** We asked commenters about further defining the restricted regalia of the Order of the Pelicans. When it was originally listed on the October 1998 Cover Letter as "(Fieldless) A chapeau", it went into the Ordinary and Armorial database as "(Tinctureless) A chapeau". The question arose as to the precise definition of _a chapeau_ -- a cap of maintenance, specifically red or not, or a hat of any kind? It seems quite unfair to the rest of the populace to declare that hats of any kind in any color are restricted to the Order of the Pelican, and we are positive this was not the original intent. While there are some minor variations across the Society, it seems clear from discussion that Parker's definition of a chapeau as "a cap of maintenance...generally of red velvet turned up with ermine" is typically what is meant here. Several kingdoms use _argent goutty de sang_ as a variation on ermine, and while that is an obvious SCA conceit, we are willing to allow it. In order to avoid confusion in the future, we are therefore clarifying that the restricted regalia of the Order of the Pelican is: * "(Fieldless) A cap of maintenance gules trimmed ermine" * "(Fieldless) A cap of maintenance gules trimmed argent goutty de sang" This change also will be updated in the Reserved Charges section of the Glossary of Terms. While there is not usually a DC between types of hats, only an actual cap of maintenance is considered a reserved charge. **** From Wreath: Celtic Crosses **** Lately we have received several submissions with charges blazoned as _a Celtic cross_ which are clearly not. Instead, these charges are typically a cross couped combined with an annulet in some fashion. Precedent says: The so-called "Celtic" cross is not. A Celtic cross is a specific type of cross, which has tapering arms. Adding an annulet to any particular type of cross does not automatically make it a Celtic cross. This "crosshair" depiction of a cross is not acceptable. [Sadb ingen Chonchobair, R-Atlantia, Jan 2010 LoAR] Any Google image search on "Celtic cross" will turn up a number of correct crosses (at least for outline, ignoring the knotwork). Celtic crosses default to Latin, have the annulet clearly conjoined with the limbs of the cross, and have arms that taper towards the center. Whether or not the ends of the arms are potent is considered artistic license. Celtic crosses are not period heraldic charges, but are period artifacts. There is at least one known period depiction of a plain cross with an annulet, specifically a plain cross throughout with an annulet fretted or interlaced in the Italian arms of Moresini in BSB Cod.icon. 273 on f.48r (http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00001420/image_99). **** Society Pages **** On Saturday, April 6, on the occasion of the coronation of their heirs, Edward and Thyra, King and Queen of the East, gave Alys Eastern Crown a King's Cypher. This is a special thank you from the king for helping a great deal during the reign, specifically as Vox Regis, and confers no rank. On Saturday, April 13, at Their Kingdom Arts and Sciences event, Garrick and Yasamine, King and Queen of the Outlands, elevated Omar Mohammud Mirzazadeh to the Order of the Pelican. Omar is a past White Stag Principal Herald of the Outlands, and is now the Laurel Exchequer. Please send information about happenings to major heralds and major happenings to all heralds to Laurel, so that it can be published here. **** 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, 3101 Lee Hwy Ste 18/19 #178, Bristol VA 24202. Checks or money orders for submissions, payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms" are to be sent to John C. Sandstrom, New Mexico State University, PO Box 30006/MSC 3475, Las Cruces, NM 88003. 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, Gabriel Kjotvason Laurel Principal King of Arms =============================================================================== Created at 2013-05-02T22:40:29