An Tir Internal Letter of Intent
Free to all persons willing to comment on a regular basis
Commentary due on this letter Friday, March 13th 1998 for the March 14th decision meeting in River's Bend
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Contact Lionsblood@juno.com
January 11th 1998
Greetings to the College of Heralds of the Kingdom of An Tir, and all who read these words, from Ciaran Cluana Ferta, Lion's Blood. For those who have not heard, Master Guerin de Bourgogne, OL, was invested as Black Lion at Twelfth Night. His address is:
Paul Lalonde 1547 West 64th Ave Vancouver, B.C. V6P 2N8 CanadaMargerie nic Kenneth mac Kenneth was also invested as Vox Leonis at that time. And I am happy to report that my successor has been named. Maryn Grey (formerly Golden Dragon) will begin receiving submissions March 1st. Of course, any submissions that arrive here after that date will be forwarded to her. Her address is:
Paula Wallace 1324 Naval Ave Bremerton, WA 98337 pwallace@linknet.kitsap.lib.wa.usI will be following up on all submissions that come in before that time, and expect to hand her the title sometime about May 1st. Please treat her with the same care you have shown me.
Remember, the decisions made by me and my predecessors were guided by commentary, and she will be continuing that same policy.
Comments upon the new submissions contained herein should be received by me on or before Friday, March 14th, in order to be of influence at the meeting to be held in River's Bend, that weekend. For directions and time contact Eglantyne Merryweather at (360) 425-4570.
Comments on the December letter are due Friday, February 6th for inclusion in the decisions made at the meeting to be held at the Briar Oak Birl on the 7th. As you know, these meetings are moved about to give local heralds a chance to see how the decisions are made. For directions to this site contact Fingal McKettrick, the Summits Principality Herald at (541)485-1415.
Old Submissions
These Submissions have been sent to Laurel:
Submitted as thelfrith se Hlude, this was changed to better represent the intended meaning of the surname. Hlud is the adjectival fonn of the weld, and Hlude the adverbial form.
Vert, a bezant within a bordure argent.
An Tir, Kingdom of (Populace Badge) Badge only
(Fieldless) A lion's head erased contourny sable.
An Tir, Kingdom of (Ensign) Badge only
Checky Or and argent, a dexter tierce sable.
This is designed to be easier sew and use for most purposes than the current populace badge (Checky Or and argent, a lion's head caboshed sable). It is, however NOT a replacement, and we do not intend to release the current badge upon registration of this submission.
Barbara de Bayard de Montchesne change/Device
Argent, two bars vert overall two piles in point inverted gules.
Vert, a hurst of three trees blasted and eradicated argent and a bordure argent seme of ivy leaves vert.
We believe the fiddly-bits on the bordure (between the leaves) to be artistic detail, and worth no difference or blazon, but likely to recur on any rendering of the device from the submitter.
Eleanor of Leycestershyre Name only
(see RETURNS for Device & Badge)
Elen Blade Name & Device
Per fess urdy azure and argent, a sea-dragon naiant contourny argent, in base a rose purpure.
Elizabeth Stafford Name & Device
Purpure, a seal sejant and on a chief Or three harps purpure.
Per bend sinister wavy sable and argent, a bend sinister wavy between a decrescent and a chalice all counterchanged.
Guinevere Morton Name & Device
Per pale azure and vert, a thistle within a bordure embattled argent.
Purpure a stag springing and on a chief Or three awls inverted purpure.
We had some question as to whether this looked more like a stag, a reindeer or an antelope, but think this is a call for Laurel to make, and so have submitted the originally proposed blazon.
Lescelyn of Kailzie Badge only
(Fieldless) A round buckle tongue fesswise argent.
This should be clear of David MacColin (Sable, an open penannular brooch pin to base argent) with one CD for the visually prominent change in pin orientation, and another for fieldlessness.
Lisette Cantalamesse Name & Device
Azure, on a bend sinister between two crosses clechy Or three musical notes sable.
The surname was originally submitted as Draca. While the name is shown in Reaney & Wilson's Dictionary of English Surnames, sub Drake, it appears to be conjecture (or at least undated) and Drache (dated to 1066) retains the meaning, which is his stated desire, and keeps roughly the same sound.
Per pale gules and sable, a horse's head erased and a swan naiant contourny wings elevated and addorsed and on a chief Or three escallops inverted sable.
Recent precedent implies that the charged chief is sufficient to avoid the appearance of impaled arms.
Or, a horse rampant within a bordure embattled sable.
This was close, but clear of the logo for Ferrari motorcars, with a CD for the difference of peripherals (bordure embattled vs. chief) and another from the change of tincture of the secondary (sable vs. gules, Or and Vert). We will advise the submitter to draw the bordure wider.
Per fess argent and gules, a rose between in fess a scimitar inverted and a scimitar sable in chief a goutte de sang.
St. Bunstable, College of Badge only
(Fieldless) A chalice purpure enflamed Or.
William Geoffrey the Rogue Name & Device
Ermine, a wingless griffin segreant contourny within a bordure sable.
The following were returned for further work:
Eleanor of Leycestershyre Device only
Or, a phoenix purpure rising from flames proper on a chief purpure three suns in splendor Or.
This is being returned for the use of proper flames (alternating red and yellow) on an Or field. This makes half of the flames disappear, thereby rendering the phoenix less recognizable. Proper coloration does not allow violation of the Rule of Tincture. Several commenters felt that this would be better if the flames issued from the base.
Eleanor of Leycestershyre Badge only
Or, a phoenix purpure rising from flames proper.
This is being returned for conflict with Ruedeger Guenther Marenholtz ([Fieldless] A phoenix purpure nimbed Or rising from flames proper). While there is one CD for the field the addition of the halo to the head of Ruedeger's phoenix isn't enough for another CD.
Per pale azure and gules, a wyvern erect within a bordure argent.
This is being returned for a re-draw. When coloring in the forms, be sure to leave argent portions white. DO NOT COLOR them with silver or pencil. Laurel would have returned these because of the penciled-in coloration (in differing shades) of the wyvern and bordure, and I am not in the habit of redrawing or re-coloring forms.
New Submissions:
(Dragon's Mist) new/Badge
(Fieldless) A quatrefoil Knot per pale sable and argent.
Her name was registered in October 1995.
2) Damian Thorne (Couer du Val) new/Name & Device
[REBLAZONED]: Argent, a phoenix rising From names gules on a chief azure three bezants.
Damian is shown from Withycombe (3rd ed.) sub Damian where it is dated in England to 1205. Thorne is cited from Reaney DES sub Thorn where it is shown in various spellings from the 13th century (but not this one): Thorn (1206); de Thornes (1275); del orn (1277) etc., all meaning "dweller by the thorn-bush(es)... or from Thorne (Som, WR Yorks)" which would make it a place-name from Somerset or the West Riding of Yorkshire (but this last spelling is undated).
3) Dolcia Ragno (Dragon's Laire) new/Name & Device
Argent, pendant from dexter chief corner a spiderweb sable a candle sable named gules.
Dolcia is found in deFelice's Dizionario dei Cognomi Italiani sub Dolci. The French-derived cognate (Dowse or Douce) dates to the 13th century according to Withycombe, and Reaney lists a Dulcia Vidua dated to 1275. Ragno can be found in de Felice sub Ragni, and modernly means spider (likely carrying the same allusion in period).
4) Fionnruadhachain O'Faolain (Blatha an Oir) new/Name & Device
[REBLAZONED] Azure a wolf rampant argent maintaining a Celtic harp Or in chief a mullet of four greater and four lesser points all within a bordure embattled argent.
The name is intended to be Irish for "fair little red one of the wolf clan". Fionn is shown from Ronan Coghlan's Irish Names sub Finn to mean fair, white clear transparent. Ruadhachin can be found in MacLysaght's The Surnames of Ireland sub O'Rohan in the form O'Ruadhachin as a name in Ulster. O'Faolin is shown from this last source sub (O)Phelan where it is the Irish form. The surname was in use as a sept name before the Norman invasion.
5) >Iain Ruadh ManFhionnghain, for na Laoich an Oir (Blatha an Oir) new/Household name
This is intended to be Scots Gaelic meaning warriors of gold. na Laoich is shown from R. W. Renton & J. A. MacDonald's Scottish Gaelic-English/English-Scottish Gaelic Dictionary, (Hippocrene Books, New York, 1994) p. 40 sub laoch where it is said to be the nominative plural (meaning the warriors). an Oir is shown from the same source p. 53 sub r (gold) and appears to be the nominative plural form.
6) Rhys ap Gwylim (Blatha an Oir) new/Device
Vert, a fess wavy in chief three griffins segreant argent a base wavy barry wavy argent and gules.
His name is pending on the January 1998 LoI.
7) Robyrt of Watersyde (Aquaterra) new/Name & Device
Per fess wavy azure and barry wavy argent and azure a compass star of eight points and an increscent Or.
Robyrt is asserted to be a spelling variant of Robert. Although no examples of this variant are shown several examples of the E->Y shift are cited from Withycombe, including Ellyn (sub Ellen), Petyr (sub Peter), and Jamys (sub James). The surname is a constructed locative meaning "dweller by the water", although the documentation includes a map showing several locations in Ayrshire (Scotland) named Waterside. The "y" in Watersyde is intentional, and several more examples from Withycombe are shown of the I->Y shift, the most promising of which is Elias and Elyas (sub Elijah) and Emelyne (sub Emmeline).
8) Rosamund FitzGilbert (Wastekeep) new/Name & Device
Quarterly gules and sable, a chevron Or and in dexter chief a mullet argent.
Rosamund is shown from Withycombe (? ed.)p. 258 sub Rosamund where it is dated in England to 1176. FitzGilbert is undocumented.
9) Rose Scarlett Slade (Shittemwoode) new/Device
Per pall argent, gules and sable, in chief a rose proper insinister a sword inverted proper.
Her name was registered in April 1992.
10) Sunn Hrafnsdttir (False Isle) new/Name
Sunn is cited from Magnus Magnusson & Henmann Plsson's translation of Njal's Saga (Penguin Books, London, 1960) where she is identified as the foster-mother of Bergthora (and who died in the Burning, which she prophesied). Bjarnar Saga Hitdlakappa (which can be found on the Internet at: http://www.snerpa.is/net/isl/bjarnar.htm) mentions one "Sunnar, dttur Skalla-Grims". Pllson & Paul Edwards' translation of Egil's Saga (Penguin Books, London, 1976) in a translator's note on p. 64 talks about the office of Lgsgumr (Law-Speaker), the president of the Althing, the first of which was Hrafn Hngsson (who was in office 930-949.)
Well that's it for this month. Remember, the joy is in the doing. I remain,
Yours, In Service to Crown and Heraldry,
Ciaran, Lion's Blood
[See the GIF file for the Emblazons - Etienne]
An Tir College of Heralds - Internal Letter - January 1998