An Tir Internal Letter of Intent

Free to all persons willing to comment on a regular basis

Commentary due on this letter by October 1999

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August 25, 1999 A.S. XXXIV


Greetings unto the An Tir College of Heralds from Maryn ex-Lion's Blood.

Well, my dears, my poppets, my pigsnies - this is my last letter. Lady Rafaella will prove a most excellent Lion's Blood; there is no shadow of doubt in my mind. I'm sorry to have let you all down by pooping out early, and my apologies to anyone whose 'stuff' I may have messed up. Thank you all for letting me be your Lion's Blood for (gosh, is it really that long?) a little over a year, now; it has been a MOST interesting trip. And I want all of you, especially 'my' commenters, to be full of virtue, and send the new LB good and useful commentary - trust me, it is needed from every one of you for anybody to do the job.

And from here on, it is:

Lion's Blood Herald
Senhora Rafaella d'Allemtejo
c/o F. Valentine
9975 SW Walnut St. #2
Tigard, OR 97223

The September Lion's Blood meeting will be in Lion's Gate, Sunday September 12th, 11:30am, hosted by Sable Loat Pursuivant, Tighearn DamhÌn Û Ruaidh at his home at 4771 199A St., Langley, BC. Directions:

From the south: take I5 to the border and cross at the truck crossing. After the border, continue along that road (called 176 St., Hwy 15 and the Pacific Hwy) until you reach 32 Ave. Turn right and continue to 200th St. Turn left onto 200th and continue until 48th Ave. Turn left and then take the first left onto 199A. There are 5 houses on this dead-end. Look for number 4771. A banner will be flying.

If you miss the truck crossing and take the Peace Arch, continue on Hwy 99, and take the first exit to 8th Ave. and travel east (right) on it until you reach 176/Hwy 15 where you take a left and follow it to 32nd Ave. Then continue as above.

From Canada Hwy 1: Take the 200th St. exit and travel south on 200th to 48th Ave. Turn right on 48th and then take the first left onto 199A. There are 5 houses on this dead-end. look for number 4771. The same banner will be flying as for our American friends :)

Since there was no May Internal Letter, there was no July meeting. Therefore, on this letter we will just cut straight to the chase!


Old Submissions

No old submissions this time.


New Submissions:

1. Alanus of Bunghea Device Change

Per chevron azure and Or, a flame (Aquaterra)

His name was registered in 1997. His previous device, Per chevron azure and Or, two leatherworker's knives blades to center Or and a flame gules, is to be released should this device change be registered. The flame is tinctured gules, all gules, and nothing but gules, even though the line drawing may suggest otherwise.

2. Andras the Truemark Name and Device Resub/Laurel

Or, a pall inverted sable between swords and arrows crossed in saltire, gules. (Aquaterra)

Submitter will not accept major changes and wishes a masculine name. He previously submitted <Andras Truemark> in 1993 which was returned by Laurel for the construction of the byname. The return letter stated that the submitted construction could only have derived from trÍowe-mearc meaning "faithful [archery] target" and suggesting that instead of the submitter always hitting the target, the submitter would always be the target. His documentation for <Andras> is copies from Hanks & Hodges A Dictionary of First Names listing "Andras (m.) Welsh form of Andrew". No documentation is supplied for <Truemark>.

3. Aonghas Cu Device New

Or, on a pale azure, a fir tree argent. (Shittimwoode)

Submitter's name was registered on the LoAR of June of 1996 via the East.

4. Brennan LÚchrann Name and Device New

Azure, two herons in their vigilance, addorsed, argent (Stromgard)

The submitter will not accept changes of any sort and wishes a masculine name. He cares about the meaning of the name. <Brennan> is his mundane first name. "LÚchrann" is meant to mean "torch/lamp/light" as per McBain's An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language.

5. David Visdelu le Wrothe Device Resubmission to Kingdom

(Valley Wold)

Argent, a wolf's head cabossed sable issuant flames from the ears and mouth within an orle vert

His name registration appeared on the LoAR of October 1998. This is a valiant submitter, and I'm proud of him. He has had a long row with this device. His previous versions, Argent, a wolf head affronty sable, issuant from ears and mouth flames vert; Argent, a wolf head affronty sable issuant of flames from ears and mouth vert within an orle argent on a bordure gyronny sable and vert; Argent a wolf's head cabossed sable issuant flames from the ears and mouth vert, on a bordure per saltire sable and vert an orle argent, were returned for conflicts or rules violations (not necessarily very obvious ones, either). This is a very clean piece of work; is it clear, folks?

6. Hrollaug Nj·lson Name and Device New

Argent scaly azure a serpent nowed gules (Blatha an Oir)

Submitter will accept unspecified changes and wishes to have a masculine name authentic for language and/or culture which he did not specify on the form (but can be assumed to be Norse). He is interested in retaining the sound of the name. <Hrollaug> is cited from "pg 3 Egils Saga. <Njal> is cited to be from "pg 13 Geirr Bassi, patronymically made into son of...".

7. Isabeau du Lis Noire Badge New

(Fieldless) Three fleur de lis sable conjoined at base. (Blatha an Oir)

Submitter's name was registered in January 1995.

8. Maryn Grey Badge New

(Fieldless) A pantheon rampant sable mullety argent (Wyewood)

The name was registered in June 1996.

9. Mevanuy verch Kenan Name and Device New

Azure, fretty engrailed ermine (Three Mountains)

The submitter will accept unspecified changes and wishes to have a feminine name appropriate for 12th century Wales. Her documentation consists of a letter from Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn which states that "'Mevanou' can be cited from the article A Simple Guide to Constructing 13th Century Welsh Names which is available on the web from the sca.org heraldry pages. 'Myvanuy' is simply my reconstruction of the most likely Welsh form ca. 1200. For that, people will have to take my authority. [...] 'verch Kenan' can be found in genealogies in the mid-13 c. 'History of Gruffudd ap Cynan' (see Bartrum's Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts' p.36f."

10. Perrin del Bosc Name and Device New

Argent, a fess bendy sinister gules and sable between three fir trees sable (Wyewood)

He is willing to accept unspecified changes, and is interested in authenticity for 12-13th century Tolosa. <Perrin> is documented from French/Occitan Names from the XIII Century (M,N,O,P,Q) - the web address is not readable - also, from Languedoc Names circa 1300 by Arval Benicoeur, web address not readable. Included is a copy of an email conversation in which Arval d'Espas Nord suggests the form <del bosc> as the appropriate ProvenÁal form of the locational surname 'de Bosco' or 'du bois'. Arval states:

"Our best guess at the ProvenÁal form of <de Bosco> is <del bosc>. <Bosc> and <Bosq> are modern southern French variants of the surname <Bois>, so we're comfortable guessing that <lo bosc> was one southern form of <le bois>. <de lo> contracts to <del> in ProvenÁal, so the result <del Bosc> seems likely. "

11. Ramon de la Vega Name and Device New

Per saltire vert and sable, a lunel argent. (Madrone)

Submitter will not accept major changes and wants a masculine name appropriate for 16th c Spanish. He checked boxes for caring most about meaning, sound, and language/culture. He includes two letters from the Academy of Saint Gabriel regarding <Ramon> which claims the name as "...a Catalan form of 'Raimundo'. The name was far more common in the eastern parts of the Iberian peninsula than in Castillian Spain; however, we have found one instance of `Ramon' recorded in either Castile or Leon as early as 1226. In the period of 1477-1504, the name is recorded in a Castilian context as `Ramon,' `Ramiro,' `Ramonet,' `Remero,' and `Remon." The other Academy report states that <de la Vega> means "of the meadow" and citing many examples in that exact form dated 1477-1504, 1511, and 1535-1538.

12. Ravensweir, Shire of Branch Device New

(Ravensweir)

Argent, above a base wavy azure and argent, a bridge embattled and masoned proper, in chief a raven's head erased sable within a laurel wreath

Their name was registered in December of 1998. Let's see: the bridge is black with white masoning marks, the laurel wreath is green. No petition was enclosed, but the group has been apprised by email that a petition is necessary before the device can leave Kingdom.

13. Stiven le Brewere Name New

(Dragons Laire)

Submitter will not accept major changes, and wishes a masculine name appropriate for the "12th-14th century" with no country specified. He wants to retain the sound of <Stiven> and the meaning of <le Brewere> for "the brewer" specifically of beer. <Stiven> is cited from Reaney & Wilson p. 426 and <le Brewere> from the same source on p. 63.

14. Sunnifa Amundsdottir Name New

(Blatha an Oir)

Submitter will accept unspecified changes and wishes a feminine name appropriate for language and/or culture (unspecified but presumably Norse). Documentation reads, "Both names are found in Geir Bassi's The Old Norse Name."

15. Sven Raudskegger Inarsson Name and Device New

Azure chief or a jelling beast nowed to sinister in chief an chain sable (Blatha an Oir)

Submitter will accept unspecified changes and wishes a masculine 10th century Swedish name. Documentation is from Geirr Bassi's The Old Norse Name listing <Svanr> and <Sveinn> on p. 15, <rauskegger> (meaning "redbeard") on p. 26, <Einarr> on p. 9, and <Einarsson> on p. 17. Armory documentation includes copies of results of an online Armorial search for registered jelling beasts and nowed serpents, and some pages from Fox-Davies A Complete Guide to Heraldry mentioning shield designs from the Bayeux Tapestry, lion tails, "dragon-like creatures", salamanders, lizards, and snakes. The chief and jelling beast are both Or.

16. Sven Raudskegger Inarsson Badge New

Azure a jelling beast nowed to sinister or (Blatha an Oir)

His name is submitted above.

17. Tanis McFloggen Name New

(Terra Pomeria)

Submitter will not accept major changes to the name nor allow creation of a holding name. He wishes a masculine name authentic for the late 1500's. Attached documentation from the Columbia Encyclopedia, 5th ed. lists <Tanis> as "an ancient city of Egypt." Printouts from a genealogical website Ancestry.com, of a listing for "Walter Manny, Lord" say "A diary, from one of the ship's crew, refers to Lord Walter Manny as 'Floggin'. It is uncertain whether the nickname Floggin was due to Lord Walter's aggressive merchanting skills or his strong arm with a flog." The submitter is trying for a plausible construction of 'Son of Floggin', can we help with some better dox?

18. Tanis McFloggen, for Rogues of Avalon Household Name and Badge New

Perbend vert and sable, a bendlet argent, a sword inverted Or (Terra Pomeria)

Submitter will not accept major changes to the name nor allow creation of a holding name. They are most interested in an authentic name for the late 1500's. Documentation includes dictionary defintions of "rogue" meaning dishonest person, scamp, mischievous, etc. and "Avalon" being the island representing earthly paradise in Celtic mythology, often identified as Glastonbury.

19. Tanwen Glyn Helfarch Name and Device New

Vert, a sagitari and on a chief argent three arrows inverted bendwise sinister sable (Stromgard)

She will accept unspecified changes; she favors the sound of <Tanwen> and the meaning of 'of Hunter's Glen' in Welsh. <Tonwen> with the "o", is documented from A Welsh Miscellany by Heather Rose Jones (Complete Anachronist #66, p. 32). <Glyn> and <Helfarch> are shown from a Welsh language course found on line at http://www.cs.brown.edu/fun/welsh/lexicon ; meaning respectively, 'glen' and 'hunter'.

20. Tanwen Glyn Helfarch Badge New

Per fess purpure and vert, a chess pawn Or (Stromgard)

Her name is submitted above.

21. Teresa la Roja Name and Device New

Gules a zebra salient proper within a bordure rayonney or (Blatha an Oir)

Submitter will accept unspecified changes and wishes a feminine name appropriate for language and culture being 13th c. Flanders. <Teresa> is listed as "p. 276 Withycombe" and <La Roja> as "p. 206 Burt's Spanish English Dictionary".

22. Turpin Deigja Name and Device New

Argent, a chief azure, achlys triphylla to chief proper (Seagirt)

She accepts unspecified changes, and likes the sound of the name as 10th century Norse. She states that she is willing to accept the name in reverse order if necessary. Documentation is appended from Family Names and Their Story by S. Baring-Gould. On p. 14 we have the statement "….Thorfin is Turpin…". <Deigja> is said to be Old Norse for 'dairy woman', p. 120, the same source (no copy). More documentation is requested from the College. The leaf is a vanilla leaf, indigenous to Vancouver Island, and especially significant to the submitter. It is not demonstrated whether or not the leaf was known to Europeans in period.

23. Vernacci Armellini de Alario Name and Device New

Sable, a bar gemelle, in base five roundels in cross, in chief three ermine spots Or (Madrone)

The submitter will accept name changes and wishes to retain the meaning and be authentic for language/culture [which is not listed on the form]. "Armellini" is listed as meaning "ermine". Attached documentation includes copies from the web http://library.byu.edu/~rdh/eurodocs/italia/pisani.html, accessed July 10, 1999. Which is a transcription of the 1228 document "4300 Citizens of Pisa Swear to Maintain the Alliance with Siena, Pistoia, and Poggibonsi" Highlighted are examples of <firstname> <secondname> de <byname> construction. Also highlighted are the name <Vernaccius Orlandini> and <Monacus de Alario>. Highlighted on a photocopies from Fucilla "Our Italian Surnames" p. 140, is "The ermine, Armellini, which is related to the weasel, is generally a symbol of purity."

An Tir College of Heralds - Internal Letter - August 1999


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