An Tir Internal Letter of Intent
Free to all persons willing to comment on a regular basis
Commentary due on this letter November 7th for the Crown Council November 9th 1997 meeting
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15 September AS XXXIII (1997 CE)
Greetings to Black Lion and the An Tir College of Heralds, and to all others who read these words, from Ciaran Cluana Ferta, GdS, Lion's Blood Herald. I pray that you are all well, and those of your households prosper.
As you will have noticed, there was no Internal Letter last month. There were only four submissions (which are included here) and besides, my Lady and I were in the threes of moving into our new home (after she had lived in the same place for 16 years), and I couldn't make my way through the stacks of boxes to get to this scribing box.
Please advise submitters, again, that PHOTOCOPYING is the preferred method of documentation. Long, rambling letters without references to page numbers, publishers, titles and authors doesn't help them or us. You are the bent line people of the College, and the Kingdom staff (and especially this office) really do rely on you to help with getting them what they want, and educating them as to what is feasible.
Commentary on this letter is due by Friday, November 7th to be used at the meeting on Sunday November 9th (at 11am at the Crown Council to be held in the Barony of 3 Mountains (at the Shriners Temple in Wilsonville, OR).
Old Submissions
SENT TO LAUREL:
These submissions have been sent to Laurel, Pelican and the College of Arms following the meeting at July Coronation:
An Tir, Kingdom of, for the Honor of the Lion's Sword (Name)
An Tir, Kingdom of, for the Ordo Hastae Leonis (Name)
Thanks to Talan Gwynek (former Pelican King of Arms) for his assistance in getting the declension correct.
Elgar of Stonehaven (Device)
Sable, chaussÈ ployÈ lozengy argent and gules, a Thor's hammer Or.
The chaussÈ portion of this device is the lozengy part, so we have reblazoned it. Remember that the central portion of the field must be blazoned first, then the periphery of the field, then the charges.
Frederich von Innsbruck (Name & Device)
Argent, on a bend sinister between six triquetrae gules a spear argent.
Submitted as Frederick this name was changed to put it all into the German form. There is no substantial difference in the pronunciation. Also the blazon was corrected.
Rupert of Runnymede (Name)
Wyewood Canton of (Badge)
(Fieldless) A bat winged hamster rampant contourny Or winged and collared sable.
The following were sent to Laurel as a result of the August Lion's Blood meeting:
Caversgate, Shire of (Name & Device)
Sable, a gate within and conjoined to a stone archway all within a laurel wreath Or.
Caversgate, Shire of (Badge)
Sable, a gate within and conjoined to a stone archway Or.
Delia Rose of Thorncastel (Device)
Per pale gules and purpure, on a heart sable fimbriated a rose Or.
Delia Rose of Thorncastel (Badge)
Sable, a rose within an orle Or.
Jean-Phillipe Lours (Name & Device)
Argent, a cross vert between four bears statant sable.
Mikill ²l·fr Bjarnarson (Name)
Rachel du Bois le Basque (Device)
Azure, two unicorns' heads erased respectant, the dexter argent, the sinister Or.
While unusual, the use of the two different metals for the heads should (at most) be considered the only "weirdness" here.
Robert MacKay of Dingwall (Name)
Submitted as Robert MacDhai of Dingwall, this was changed at Kingdom to put it all into one language.
The Summits, Principality of (for the Consort of the Sovereign) (Device)
Azure, a griffin passant on a mountain issuant from base argent a goblet azure environed by two barberry sprays vert fructed azure.
Sven Gunnarson (Name)
We believe this name to be an acceptable "Englishing" of Old Norse forms.
RETURNED:
The following have been returned for further work:
Hlutwig Ster (Alternate Name)
Commenters were unable to document the use of M”dlevisler from the references given by the submitter. PLEASE remember that not all books are "Quote-only". The page given by the submitter contained entries from Flaig to Fleiner. While this name may be documentable, we couldn't find it, and so we must return it.
Ingvar the Restless (Device)
Azure, mulletty a horned owl close affronty argent
This was returned due to conflict with already registered arms of Merric of Stormgate (Azure mullety a legless owl and in chief a candle fesswise argent enflamed at both ends proper). While there is on Clear Visual Difference (CD) for the additional candle in Metric's device, Laurel has ruled (in the Letter of Acceptances and Returns of August 1992) that there can be no difference given between owls affronty and owls in profile (which is the usual and default position) used in Metric's device.
Katla der Kenntnisreich (Name & Device)
Although she documented kenntnisreich as a word, no documentation could be found to support the formation of it as a surname. Geirr Bassi's The Old Norse Name (p. 12) Does show the use of Katla as a forename, and several commenting heralds suggested alternative surnames:
All of which can be documented from Geirr Bassi.
The device (Or, a dog rampant sable maintaining in dexter forepaw a lightning flash all within a bordure azure) because of the use of a "lightning flash" known to many SCA heralds as a "shazam". Laurel has banned (in August 1983) the use of this charge. The period form of the lightning bolt is best represented by "embattled lines of even thickness with large barbs at both ends".
Mikill ²l·fr Bjarnarson (Device)
This was returned for conflict with Lachlan Bradoc (Per pale gules and vert, a bear rampant guardent argent). There is one CD for the changes to the field, but there is none available for the posture of the bear (the only difference being the position of one foot, and Laurel ruled [in June 1992] that no heraldic difference could be awarded), nor for the addition of the dagger (because it is considered a small, held charge meriting no heraldic difference).
Robert MacKay of Dingwall (Device)
Checky azure and Or, a claymore surmounted by a heart argent.
This conflicts with Benson of Stannington (Per pale argent and azure a sword proper embrued) there is one CD for the changes to the field, but there is none other available. As the heart is of the same tincture as the sword and is rather small, it is treated as a small, maintained charge (and not given consideration for heraldic difference). The embruing is also given no difference.
Rupert of Runnymede (Device)
Gyronny sable and gules, a cross formy gyronny Or and argent.
The field AND charge in this device are both divided into eight parts each. RfS VII.2.b.iv requires elements divided into more than four parts to have good contrast between the parts. One suggestion for reblazon was: Gyronny gules and argent, a cross formy counterchanged Or and sable.
Sile Kellyn MacCionaodha (Name & Device)
This name is being returned for non-period style. Period Gaelic names did not use two given names, and it has been ruled that names may not mix spellings from English and Gaelic in the same name. In addition, the proper patronymic for period Gaelic use must indicate the gender of the person being referred to (therefore "nic" should be used in place of "mac").
As for the device, commenters were unable to properly describe the submission, and could not find any examples of chevronels couped, or other ordinaries used in the manner depicted in this submission.
Sven Gunnarson (Device)
This conflicts with Esteban de Asturias (Barry of 12 per pale azure and argent, a leopard salient to sinister coward Or), there is one CD for the changes to the field. It is unclear from Esteban's blazon whether his is a natural leopard or an "heraldic" leopard (which is a lion with the head turn to face out [like the lions on the device of England), but this is immaterial. No difference is given the change of posture from rampant to salient (the change is only to one foot). Similarly, no difference is given for position of the tail.
In addition, against the arms of Leonus de Rotund (Azure, a lion salient to sinister queue-forchee piercing an annulet Or), the annulet is considered a small, held object not worth heraldic difference, and again, there is only one CD available.
The Summits, Principality of, (for the Principality Defender) (Badge)
Azure, a griffin passant maintaining a sword argent.
We have returned this submission for multiple conflicts. Against Serena Lascelles ([Fieldless] A griffin passant argent), there is one CD to be realized for fieldlessness, but the sword is not large enough to be considered heraldically different. While this resubmission has enlarged the sword substantially, in order to be given heraldic significance the sword must be of equal visual "weight" with the griffin. In addition, the other conflicts cited by Dame Zenobia (in her letter of return in January of this year) still remain.
NEW SUBMISSIONS:
1) Bridget the Bloodthirsty (Pendale) new/Name & Device
Per chevron sable and gules, a seal sejant argent.
Bridget is shown from Withycombe (3rd ed., p. 54) to be the English form of the Old Irish Brigit (or the later Brigid), and dated to 1480 as the name of the youngest daughter of Edward IV. C.M. Matthews' English Surnames (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York [no date]) p. 21 states: "The point to bear in mind is that the Anglo-Saxons... ...did not call their children after people, but after ideas." She would like to keep the general sound.
2) Conall Riabhach (Aquaterra) new/Name & Device
Vert, a sea-dog maintaining in its' mouth a salmon argent on a chief indented Or an arrow fesswise sable.
The name is intended to mean Conall the Grey. Conal(l) is shown from Withycombe (3rd ed., p. 71 q.v.) where it is said to be a common Irish name. Coghlan, Grehan and Joyce's Book of Irish Names (Sterling Publishing, New York [no date]) p. 127 shows Riabhach to mean grey. He wishes to retain the meaning.
3) Damietta di Carnivalle (Three Mountains) new/Name
Damietta is asserted to be an Italian variant of the French name Damia, which is shown as a female dialectical variant of Damien from southern and southwestern France in Dauzat's Dictionnaire Ètymologique des noms de famille et prenoms de France, p. 172 sub Damien. De Felice's Dizionari dei nomi italiani is quoted to show examples of the formation of Italian feminine names ending -etta from names ending -ia, such as Giorgietta from Giorgia (p. 191), Livietta from Livia (p. 235) and Marietta from Maria (p. 251).
Carnivale is dated to 1133 8t 1270 in Naples (in the forms Carnevali, Carnevale, Carnovali, and Carnovale) from De Felice's Dizionario dei cognomi italiani, p. 94 sub Carnevali. She wants to retain the general sound.
4) Enoch Mac Ian Sutherland (St. Giles) new/Name & Device
Per saltire azure and argent, a saltire counterchanged overall an escutcheon argent charged with a martlet gules.
The name is intended to be English . Enoch is shown from Dunkling & Gosling's The Facts on File Dictionary of First Names (J.M. Dent & Sons, London, 1984) p. 85 sub Enoch, where it states that the name was rarely used but moreso in the north of England than the south. It is shown as the name of Methuselah's father, in the Biblical book of Genesis. Sutherland is quoted from Reaney's A Dictionary of British Surnames (2nd ed. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1976) p.339 (q.v.). He accepts unspecified changes.
5) Esperanza Razzolini d'Asolo (Valley Wold) resub-K/Badge
(Fieldless) On a fireball Or flamed a fleur-de-lys florency sable.
Her name was registered in April 1994.
6) Fionualla Sisile nÌ C·b· (Glymm Mere) new/Name
Intended to be Irish for Florence Cecilia MacCabe. Fionnuala is shown from Coghlan, Grehan and Joyce's The Book of lrish Names (First, Family and Place Names) (Sterling Publishing, New York [no date]) p. 20 sub Finola, where it is stated "It was `translated' as Flora or Penelope.
Sisile is shown from the same source p. 14 sub Cecily where it is said to be a later form of Sile (itself the Gaelic feminine form of Cecil, which was introduced into Ireland by the Normans). P. 60 of this same source is cited for the name Mac C·ba (anglicized as MacCabe) who are said to be descended from gallowglasses who served the O'Reillys and O'Rourkes of Leitrim and Cavan. MacLysaght's Irish Families, Their Names, Arms & Origins (Crown Publishers, New York, 1972) pp. 69-70 sub MacCabe says the family came to Ireland about 1350, and settled near Breffny. She accepts no changes.
7) Gideon de Noirville (Aquaterra) new/Name & Device
Argent, a bend sinister vert overall a griffin dismembered contourny sable.
Intended to mean Gideon of the Black Village. Gideon is asserted to be a jewish name and traceable to the New Testament. the submission includes a copy fo p. 10 of Atlas Historique de Normandie, vol. I, Cartes des communautÈs d'habitants GÈnÈralitÈs de Rouen, Caen et AlenÁon 1636-1789 (Caen 1967) by Pierre Gouhier, Anne Vallez and Jean Marie Vallez, which shows (circled) Noirpalu, Darqueville, mesnil Villeman and Villedieu, which are all south of the Foret de Gavray. Also included are two name searches from the online version of the SCA Armorial containing the previously registered name Bohemond de Noirville and Barak de Noirville. He accepts no changes.
8) Gorandookht Mamigonian (Glymm Mere) change/Device
Gules, two lions statant guardant respectant gorged and conjoined by a rope and a pomegranate slipped and leaved Or.
Her name was registered in January 1995. Her previous device (Gules, a natural seahorse and on a chief Or three pomegranates gules slipped and leaved purpure) was registered to her (under a previous name [Keran of Ayas]) in January 1987 or earlier. She wishes to retain her old device for use as a badge.
9) Hrolf the Silent (Three Mountains) resub-K/Device
Sable, on a sun Or a drakkar affronty proper sailed vert between in chief two estoiles Or and in base one estoile Or.
His name was registered in November 1986. His previous device submission (Sable, on a sun Or a drakkar affronty proper sailed vert and a base wavy barry wavy Or and vert) was returned for conflict in January 1987.
10) Jacobus Mapos Catomagli (Seagirt) new/Name & Device
Argent on a chief azure three triskeles argent a winged seahorse sable.
The name is intended to be Latin/Brythonic for Jacobus son of Catomaglos. Jacobus is cited from Withycombe (2nd ed. pp. 161-2, sub Jacob) where it is said to be the Latin form of the name. Kenneth Jackson's Language and History in Early Britain (Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, MA, 1953); p. 463 in the discussion of vocalization of g before l, r and n dates an inscription numbered 425 (although we have no source for the inscription, Ciaran's note) which says CATOMAG(LI) to the early or mid sixth century. Changes to retain the meaning are accepted.
11) John Bowslayer (Aquaterra) new/Name & Device
Or, gules per chevron a wyvern displayed wings inverted (4) bolts in chief sable. (PROPOSED REBLAZON: Per chevron Or and gules, a wyvern displayed and in chief four crossbow bolts per pale inverted in fess sable.)
The name is intended to mean John who slays (breaks) bows. He accepts no changes.
12) Liesl von Katzenheim (Aquaterra) new/Name & Device
Argent, a cat couchant to sinister sable on a chief indented azure three pairs of arrows crossed argent.
Liesl is said to be found in Withycombe (3rd ed., p. 100). Collins' German-English English German Dictionary (Berkeley Books, New York, 1982) p. 89 sub Katze, defines katze as cat. The same source p. 79 defines helm as home. She accepts changes to retain the meaning.
13) Malcolm Radcliffe (Dragon's Laire) new/Device
Or, a bear rampant sable between two arrows inverted vert.
His name was registered in May 1996.
14) Muirinn nic Se·in (Stromgard) new/Name
Intended to be Irish for the long-haired daughter of Sean. Patrick Woulfe's Irish Names and Surnames (Special Ed.)(Irish Genealogical Foundation, Kansas City, MO, 1992) p. 214 sub Muireann, Muirinn says this is an ancient Irish name meaning 'of the long hair'. p. 404 of this same source shows the patronymic name MacSe·in (sub MacSeagh·in), giving the meaning of 'son of Jean (the Norman-French form of John)". She wishes to retain the meaning of the name.
15) Myfanwy Golwynwraig Penmynydd (Ambergard) new/Name & Device
Argent, a three peaked mountain vert in chief a triquetra azure.
Hester Chapman's The Thistle and The Rose (Coward, McCann & McGeoghegan, New York, 1971) p. 13 mentions one Myfanwy, the wife of Goronw ap Tudor Fychan (d.1382), whose grandson was Owen Tudor (father of Henry VII of England). Goronw and his wife Myfanwy are buried in the church of St Gredifael in the village of Penmynydd (on the Isle of Anglesey) according to the same page of the above mentioned source. E-mail correspondence from Harpy Herald (Tangwystl ferch Morgant Glasvryn) quotes the "Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru" Univ. of Wales Press, Cardiff) lists the form 'colwynwraig' in the 16th century meaning midwife. Harpy asserts this would mutate to 'golwynwraig' when used as a woman's byname.
16) Philip Langfelley (Dragon's Laire) new/Name & Device
Azure, on a bend between a mailed dexter fist and a lymphad argent three mullets of the first all within a bordure potenty argent.
Philip is cited from Reaney's Dictionary of English Surnames p. 349. Langfelley is cited from the same source, p. 288.
17) Seth Foxley (Corvaria) resub-K/Device
Azure, a fox Salient argent and on a chief embattled Or a sword proper.
His name was registered in May of this year. His previous device submission (Azure a fox salient argent and a chief embattled Or) was returned in May for conflicts. These have been addressed by the addition of the tertiary charge.
18) Seumas Camshronach an Lochabair (Valley Wold) resub-K/badge
Argent, a plate on a pentaskelion of wyvern's heads sable.
His last submission (Sable, four dragon wings in saltire conjoined at the shoulders those in bend Or and those in bend sinister argent) was returned in January of this year for stylistic reasons. This is a complete redesign. The blazoning of the heads is said to be a reference to his device.
19) Žna inghen uÌ GairbhÌne (Madrone) change/Name & new/Badge
(Fieldless) A feather vert.
Her currently registered name Killian nc Iain VcFarland) was registered in June 1992. The name is intended to be medieval Irish for "Una (the female descendant) of the Garvins. Correspondence with Harpy (via Former Black Lion, Drogo the Forgetful) points out the use of inghen uÌ as the period form for "female descendant of'. Reference (but no citation)is made to MacLysaght's Surnames of Ireland sub (O) Garvin, (O) Gairbhin "Frequently anglicized Garvan. The name of a sept of the Southern UÌ NÈill which migrated to Mayo. Sometimes changed to Garvey. See Garvan." Changes to retain the meaning are accepted. Your assistance in documentation would be appreciated.
20) Vilem the Alan (Aquaterra?) new/Name
The name is intended to mean "Resolute protector from the Sarmation tribe". The submitter claims that Vilem is a slavicized form of the Old High German "Wilhelm", but provides only a web-site address (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/va.html) to show the use: "the Alan" he references Bernard Bachrach's A History of the Alans in the West ([no publisher or city] 1973) for justification of identifying the Alans with the Sarmations. No photodocumentation is submitted. Your assistance is appreciated. Changes to retain meaning are allowed.
21) Walram von Laufenberg (Glymm Mere) resub…K/badge
(Fieldless) Between a pair of wings argent a sword proper blade enflamed gules.
His name was registered in ????? His previous badge submission was returned in May of this year for a problem in blazoning the emblazon. This resubmission addresses the problem encountered by the commenters at that time.
22) William von Bonn (Ambergard) new/Name & Device
Per bend sinister gules and sable a dragon rampant argent, three swords inverted argent.
William is shown from Withycombe (3rd ed. p. 293 sub William). Bonn is shown from a Britannica computer search to be the village surviving the fortress of Castra Bonnensia on the Rhine River approx. 24 km south of Cologne, which became the Frankish town of Bonnburg in the 9th century and later the capital of the Electorate and Archbishopric of Cologne. He accepts no changes.
Well, that's all for this month, folks. Thanks for your comments. I remain,
Yours in Service,
Ciaran
An Tir College of Heralds - Internal Letter - September 1997
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ack | Emblazon