Taigh Moran Chat
RR 2, Northside Road
Wading River, NY 11792
9 October, 1986
Unto the members of the College of Arms and such others who may read this letter,
Greetings from Alisoun MacCoul of Elphane, Laurel Queen of Arms!
Enclosed herein is the letter of acceptances and returns for the Laurel meeting held on 27 September. Six letters were processed at this meeting: Atenveldt (6/1), Atenveldt (6/7), East (6/7), West (6/11), Caid (6/15) and An Tir (6/24). Of 186 submission elements processed, 144 were accepted, 41 were returned and 1 was pended for an acceptance rate of 77%.
This first Laurel meeting was a rather more hasty affair than I had hoped: the forms were received from Master Baldwin around the seventeenth of September, the preparatory paperwork done on the twentieth of September and the meeting itself was hastily scheduled for 27 September. I would like especially to thank Yosef Alaric of the Baliset for taking time off from the Arts and Sciences and coming all the way down from Massachusetts on very short notice to do Laurel Office scutwork.
The October meeting is scheduled for 26 October and at that meeting will be considered the following letters: Atenveldt (7/1), Atlantia (7/9), Caid (7/15), West (7/22), East (7/24).
The November meeting will be held on 23 November and at that time will be considered Atenveldt (8/1), Caid (8/12), West (8/17), An Tir (8/24) and Atlantia (8/29) as well as the letters from Meridies (7/1) and the Middle (7/25) if the paperwork has arrived in time for that meeting.
Still on hold for procedural reasons are all letters from Ansteorra from the letter of 4/28 on. I would ask commenting members of the College to send me any comments they may have on Ansteorran submissions, even though these letters have not been scheduled for processing, since I hope to issue a special letter of acceptance and returns for the backlogged Ansteorran devices as soon as the difficulties have been resolved (soon, I hope!).
A series of "administrative letters" to clarify some of the issues raised with me concerning mundane administrative issues (e.g., how to put together a Laurel packet) as well as policy issues (e.g., what effect will the recent Board rulings on heraldry have on the running of the College) is forthcoming. I had hoped to send the first of these out with this letter, but pecuniary limitations intervened. (The bulk of the College of Arms bank account is still on the West Coast!)
Immediate action on a couple of administrative issues seems necessary, however. As it is my firm conviction that communication in all forms is a Good Thing and equally that knowledge, energy &nd access to resources as a matter of fact is not equally distributed throughout the twelve Kingdoms, effective immediately the limit of two commentors per Kingdom is lifted. Functionally, this should have little effect on the membership of the College which has remained reasonably constant for some years.
At the same time, there will be a return to stricter enforcement of the requirement that commenting heralds comment. I expect that all commenting heralds will send reasonably complete comments for a majority of Laurel meetings. Failure to comment for three Laurel meetings running (without valid explanation) will result in automatic elimination from the commenting roster. Those who send scanty comments one month out of three can expect to get involved in discussions with me about their commitment to commenting. However, noone will be removed from the roster without due warning.
Master Baldwin recently found himself compelled, because of budget factors, to eliminate regional heralds from the mailing list for letters of acceptance and return. This concerned me mightily since I believe that more communication of the policies of the College and feedback on discussions In the College is the key to improved relations with the populace and better education of the heralds in all Kingdoms. Fortunately, thanks to the generosity of the Pale Herald of the Middle Kingdom, Vasili iz Naitemneshoi Dollina, who has offered to print the Laurel letters at cost, It is possible for me to reverse that policy and, effective immediately, restore regional heralds to the mailing list. I have already received current addresses from Dragon and Brigantia as part of their rosters. I would ask any other Principal Heralds who wish their regional or Principality Heralds to receive the letters of acceptance and return and other College mailings to notify me as soon as possible of their names and addresses. (At this time I do not yet have the administrative files and so may not have a completely current roster for your Kingdom.)
A final brief note: As most of you know me (all too well!) from my commentary in the College for two years as Elmet and another three as Brigantia, I have not "introduced" myself. However, it may be necessary to underline to those of you who have not dealt personally with me in the past that I like getting phone calls and/or letters or Email. I hate answering machines, but have acquired one for the convenience of those who would try to reach me at odd hours. (I do call back.) My Compuserve number is 72435,1420 and I am more than willing to receive latebreaking comments by modem, either via Compuserve or directly. If you have a problem or question (or just want to bounce ideas off of me), please do not hesitate to get in touch with me. Also, if you do not like something (everything) I am doing, bitch to me first: I appreciate constructive criticism and, if you don't tell me what bugs you, I won't know enough to correct the situation. Lord knows I harassed Master Wilhelm and Master Baldwin enough and expect them to return the favour: I hope everyone In the College will keep me honest!
Your servant,
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