Society for Creative Anachronism
College of Arms
253 Tranquility Mtn
Buda, TX 78610
+1 512 942 7005
laurel@heraldry.sca.org
For the January 2016 meetings, printed March 26, 2016
To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Andrewe Laurel, Lillia Pelican, and Brunissende 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 January Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, January 10, 2016 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, January 24, 2016. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Atenveldt (20 Oct, 2015), Northshield (21 Oct, 2015), Middle (25 Oct, 2015), Outlands (27 Oct, 2015), Æthelmearc (28 Oct, 2015), Meridies (28 Oct, 2015), Middle (28 Oct, 2015), Atenveldt (30 Oct, 2015), Drachenwald (30 Oct, 2015), Lochac (30 Oct, 2015), An Tir (31 Oct, 2015), Atlantia (31 Oct, 2015), Avacal (31 Oct, 2015), Caid (31 Oct, 2015), Calontir (31 Oct, 2015), Ealdormere (31 Oct, 2015), East (31 Oct, 2015), and the Laurel LoPaD (31 Oct, 2015).  All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Thursday, December 31, 2015.
The February Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, February 14, 2016 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, February 21, 2016. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Ansteorra (05 Oct, 2015) (pushed due to lack of packet), Ansteorra (31 Oct, 2015) (pushed due to lack of packet), Ansteorra (03 Nov, 2015), Artemisia (03 Nov, 2015), Atenveldt (20 Nov, 2015), West (21 Nov, 2015), Northshield (26 Nov, 2015), Middle (27 Nov, 2015), Outlands (27 Nov, 2015), Ealdormere (28 Nov, 2015), Lochac (28 Nov, 2015), Calontir (29 Nov, 2015), Meridies (29 Nov, 2015), An Tir (30 Nov, 2015), Ansteorra (30 Nov, 2015), Artemisia (30 Nov, 2015), Atlantia (30 Nov, 2015), Avacal (30 Nov, 2015), Caid (30 Nov, 2015), and East (30 Nov, 2015).  All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Sunday, January 31, 2016.
The March Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, March 13, 2016 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, March 20, 2016. These meetings considered the following letters of intent: Trimaris (07 Dec, 2015), Laurel LoPaD (18 Dec, 2015), Atenveldt (20 Dec, 2015), Outlands (20 Dec, 2015), West (25 Dec, 2015), Ealdormere (26 Dec, 2015), Middle (26 Dec, 2015), Atlantia (28 Dec, 2015), Caid (29 Dec, 2015), Artemisia (30 Dec, 2015), Calontir (30 Dec, 2015), An Tir (31 Dec, 2015), Ansteorra (31 Dec, 2015), Avacal (31 Dec, 2015), East (31 Dec, 2015), Lochac (31 Dec, 2015), Meridies (31 Dec, 2015), and Northshield (31 Dec, 2015).  All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should have been entered into OSCAR by Monday, February 29, 2016.
The April Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, April 3, 2016 and the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, April 24, 2016. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: Æthelmearc (04 Jan, 2016), Atenveldt (20 Jan, 2016), Laurel LoPaD (20 Jan, 2016), Æthelmearc (22 Jan, 2016), Gleann Abhann (23 Jan, 2016), Middle (23 Jan, 2016), West (24 Jan, 2016), Ealdormere (27 Jan, 2016), Lochac (30 Jan, 2016), An Tir (31 Jan, 2016), Atlantia (31 Jan, 2016), Avacal (31 Jan, 2016), Calontir (31 Jan, 2016), East (31 Jan, 2016), Meridies (31 Jan, 2016), Northshield (31 Jan, 2016), Outlands (31 Jan, 2016), and Trimaris (31 Jan, 2016).  All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by Thursday, March 31, 2016.
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: Applications for Pelican Sovereign of Arms
Dame Lillia, Pelican Queen of Arms, is nearing the end of her tenure, which officially ends January 1, 2017. We are beginning the process of seeking a successor for her office. If you are interested, please see the job description below and send a letter of interest and your resumé to bids@heraldry.sca.org by Saturday, June 30, 2016. If you have questions about the job, please contact Lillia at pelican@heraldry.sca.org or myself at laurel@heraldry.sca.org. Dame Lillia will be available at KWHSS 2016 for questions about the job.
Pelican Sovereign of Arms
The Pelican Sovereign of Arms is an educational deputy of the Laurel Principal Sovereign of Arms, responsible for the consideration of and decisions concerning names submitted for registration by the College of Arms.
Pelican is an unpaid position, currently requiring approximately 20 hours a week. The position requires considerable tact and patience, onomastic knowledge, research and reasoning ability, a clear understanding of the Standards for Evaluation and past Laurel rulings, the ability to write clearly and succinctly, the ability to work within tight deadlines and coordinate closely with Wreath, Laurel and other staff to produce a Laurel Letter of Acceptance and Return monthly, computer literacy and word processing skills, reliable e-mail and telephone access, and time and ability to travel. Access to a good research library is desirable but not required. Given the current structure of the office, a high-speed internet connection is useful but it is not required.
Resumés must be sent in both hard copy to Laurel at the address at the top of this Cover Letter and electronically to bids@heraldry.sca.org. The electronic applications will be posted on OSCAR with addresses and other contact information stripped from them. Resumés must be received by June 30, 2016 with an expected start date following Pennsic 2016.
From Palimpsest: Successor Sought
Palimpsest Herald is Laurel's Rules Deputy; that is, Palimpsest is the herald who helps manage the process of changing the rules and handbooks for heralds at the Society level. It's a position that requires attention to detail, fluency with words, strong familiarity with the current rules and handbooks, ready access to email and OSCAR, and general word processing skills. Also useful are the ability to edit HTML and familiarity with older versions of the rules and handbooks and the history of the CoA.
Palimpsest is responsible for: maintaining and managing changes to the Administrative Handbook and the Standards for Evaluation of Names and Armory and their Appendices, the Glossary of Terms, Alternate Titles List, and other documents as directed; advising Laurel and Laurel deputies on other Handbook-type documents, such as the Silent Heralds Handbook, and questions relating to the rules, handbooks, etc.; answering inquiries regarding processes, rules, etc. from other heralds and the general populace.
Please contact Marie (rules@heraldry.sca.org) and Laurel (laurel@heraldry.sca.org) if you have questions about this position and/or are interested in taking on this office.
From Wreath: A Tudor Rose by Any Other Name...
This month a submission brought up a discussion about presumption upon the Tudor rose. Per the Cover Letter of December 2010, the number of forms of half argent half gules roses that were restricted was reduced to six forms rather than "in some other manner which creates a half-white, half-red rose". The currently protected forms are:
A double rose gules and argent or argent and gules.
A rose quarterly either in argent and gules or gules and argent.
A rose per pale either in argent and gules or gules and argent. [Cover Letter, Dec 2010]
The current submission interpreted the wording on the December 2010 Cover Letter "We are, therefore, removing the restriction on using half-white and half-red roses as part of a larger armorial design. We are registering those six badges to the Tudors, as they are important period badges, but we will no longer restrict their use entirely" as meaning that these six forms are not restricted anymore. This is not the case. What is not restricted is any other form of a half-white, half-red rose.
From Wreath: Releasing the Armory of the Dukes of Teck
Recently a Letter of Pends and Discussion raised the question of whether the armory of the Dukes of Teck reached our criteria of protection. Commentary indicated that it did not. Thus, at this time we are releasing the armory of the Dukes of Teck, Lozengy bendwise sable and Or and Lozengy bendwise sinister sable and Or.
From Wreath: a Short Note about Unity of Orientation 
Some ambiguity exists in the interpretation of SENA A3D2c due to the fact that it mentions Unity of Posture and Orientation together. Posture and orientation are different and independent parameters and we have returned inanimate, as well as animate, charges in cases where the orientation was the differing criteria. However, the default orientation (and thus the inverted version thereof) of an inanimate charge is an artifact of our Society-defined defaults. It does not seem fair to submitters to penalize them when considering two or more non-identical inanimate charges where one charge needs to be blazoned as inverted and the other does not solely because of our defined default orientations. In consequence, armorial designs that use such a combination will not be returned for that reason alone. Note that a difference in axis is a different issue, and will still be a violation of unity of orientation, barring period evidence to the contrary, as will a difference of orientation for identical charges.
Society Pages
On February 6, at the East Kingdom's Arts and Sciences Champions Tourney, Charitye Dale, Diademe Herald, was made a Baroness of the Court with a Grant of Arms.
On February 20, Their Majesties Creppin and Toryn of Ansteorra elevated Brian o'Uhilliam, former Sable Crane Pursuivant, to the Order of the Laurel, in part for his heraldic research.
On March 5 at East Kingdom King's and Queen's Bardic Champions Tourney in the Shire of Owlsherst, Jamila of Bhakail (known as Jamilia al-Suba al-Hadid min Bhakail), Troubadour Herald, was elevated to the Order of the Pelican.
At the same event, Joscelin le esqurel, former Blue Tyger Herald, was awarded the Order of the Silver Wheel, the East's new AoA-level service award, mainly for his heraldic work.
And finally, at Gulf Wars, Nesscia inghean Chearnaigh, the Sign Herald Deputy, was placed on vigil to contemplate joining the Order of the Pelican by Their Majesties Matsu and Elena of Calontir.
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. All submission forms plus documentation, including petitions, must be posted to the OSCAR online system. While black-and-white emblazons must be included in the Letter of Intent, only colored armory forms need to be posted in the forms area.
Cheques or money orders for submissions, payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms" are to be sent to Stephanie Ray-Solum, Blue Bug Bookkeeping, 2144 Westlake Ave. North Suite F Seattle, WA 98109.
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,
Andrewe Bawldwyn
Laurel Principal King of Arms