An Tir Internal Letter of Intent
Free to all persons willing to comment on a regular basis
Commentary due on this letter by November 13th 1998
This letter is also available by subscription for $12.00 U.S./year
Email: pwallace@linknet.kitsap.lib.wa.us
September 16, 1998
Greetings unto the An Tir College of Heralds from Maryn Lion's Blood!
Sorry for the lateness of this letter. Most of you probably know I suffered a computer death this month, which if I were better about backups, and if I had started this letter much sooner, wouldn't have been quite so devastating. Again, I'm really sorry, folks. The computer is not exactly back up, but another one with several recovered files is operational.
Commentary on this letter will be due by November 13th for inclusion in decisions made at the November Lion's Blood meeting, time and place yet to be determined (but usually about the second weekend of the month).
The October meeting to discuss the August Internal Letter of Intent will be held on October 11th at Elizabeth Braidwood's home, at 1 o'clock. Please email her at donna@kwantlen.bc.ca or telephone her for directions to her house.
Volunteers to host the November and December meetings are being eagerly sought! C'mon, people, I know you don't want to drive to Bremerton! On that note, the September meeting was attended by myself, Stalwart and Alrikr of Stjarnaheim. Due to the crash (and my own foolishness in storing my commentary in a file, not printing it at once when received) I had one letter to work from. However, replacement letters have since been gratefully received!
Catch-up work is proceeding apace. Stalwart is transferring information onto the new forms, and the most excellent Sterling is Acting Lion's Blood Secretary, organizing and mailing that stack of back-letters of notification that Aestel and Electrum were good enough to write. We are still missing quite a few addresses, but when we get everything sent that we can, I will post lists of the letters that we have left (the ones without addresses). Hopefully that won't be so many by then; the branch heralds are sending me addresses as we go along. Thank You!
Those who wrote letters of comment for the August meeting were (in no particular order): Fionn Ban MacAoidh, Beatrice Domenici della Campana, Zenobia Naphtali, David of Moffat, Tegan Conwy, Elisabeth de Roissignol, and Frederick Badger (very nice letter!).
Old Submissions
The following have been sent to Laurel:
1. Aloise du Pont du FossÈ Name and Device New
(Vulcanfeldt)
Per chevron inverted sable and argent, a swan naiant contourny argent and three flax flowers two and one azure
At Kingdom we changed <de> to <du>, and used Morlet's Les noms de personne sur le territoire de l'ancienne Gaule de VI au XII Siecle, Vol. 1, page 28, to document the name <Aloise>. This shows the name "Alois" as a feminine name dated to the 11th century. Since in the passage of time the final '-s' in French often became silent unless followed by an '-e', <Aloise> seemed to us a viable variant of the attested "Alois".
Examples of surnames using "pont" occur on pages 541-542 of Dauzat et Rostaing Dictionnaire etymologique de noms de lieux en France. Some of these names refer to the terrain surrounding the bridge, such as Pont-du-Navoy (bridge on the land planted with turnips) - not being keen on turnips myself, I find the idea of permanent fields of them as a geographical feature somewhat interesting! - , Pont-la-Ville (bridge of the town), and Pont-les-Moulins (bridge of the mills). Therefore, the College considers the name "Bridge of the ditch" plausible enough to send up.
The swan was a little oversized for the space (and compared to the flax flowers) but not enough even to be a 'weirdness'.
2. Arontius of Bikeleswade, for Justin Case Alternate Persona Name New
(Dragon's Laire)
No changes, and no, umm, significant, remarks; we sent it to Laurel for her consideration.
3. Bj–rn Kolbj–rnsson Name and Device New
(An Tir)
Vert, a bear statant erect affronty dexter forepaw raised and sinister forepaw Or resting on a double-bitted axe between in chief two pairs of arrows inverted in saltire argent
The word 'erect' was added to the blazon, and Lind and Geirr Bassi were brought in to help document the name. The form of the surname, 'Kolbj–rnsson' rather than 'Kolbjarnarson', is a somewhat later period formation, but should be perfectly registerable.
There were some interesting remarks about the device. It was determined that the word 'Or' was, in fact, in the right place in the blazon, since if it were, say, after 'affronty' the forepaws would be argent (since charges are the tincture that follows them; so bear and forepaws Or, axe and arrows argent). It is not slot-machine, since it consists of one primary charge, the bear, with a maintained charge that counts for nothing, the axe, and two secondary charges, the pairs of arrows. And you're right; it isn't very good style, but it makes the submitter happy and is (as far as we could tell, anyway) not illegal. As you all know by now, this office is operating on the theory that, while we'd prefer to talk submitters into using the best possible period style, we'll try to get them what they want - however gruesome that occasionally turns out to be - if it's not actually illegal…
4. Conchobar Mac Muirchertaig Name New; see Returns for Device
(Three Mountains)
We made no changes to the documentation of the name, and sent it up to Laurel.
5. Enoch Sutherland Name and Device Resubmission to Kingdom
(Saint Giles)
Argent, two bendlets cotissed azure, between two martlets gules
Under 'Enoch' in Reaney and Wilson's 3rd Edition, p. 156, is the entry Enoc 1148. <Sutherland> can be found in Reaney and Wilson's 2nd Edition on page 339, and in Black, pages 756-757.
We found the multiple bendlets cotissed unusual, but are viewing them as nothing worse than a weirdness. The martlets are not much like the "stylized swallows" mentioned by the PicDic, but they clearly have the most distinguishing characteristic for a martlet, a lack of feet.
6. Šrennach ingen Cormaic Name New; see Returns for Device
(Three Mountains)
We added an accent mark to the initial 'E' in <Šrennach> and changed <Chormeicc> to <Cormaic> in Kingdom, following the information available in Choosing an Irish Name by Dame Cateline de la Mor la souriete at URL http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/irishnam.html. Although the name was submitted as 'Chormeicc', we could not find it as spelled (with or without lenition) and assumed that 'Cormac' was the sound sought for here; 'Cormac' was occasionally found as 'Cormacc', though apparently the last '-c' is lost when the genitive is formed. We did not add an '-h' because in the period when 'ingen' was used the aspiration of the initial '-c' was not yet reflected in the spelling.
7. False Isle, Incipient Shire of Branch Name New
(False Isle)
The only change that we made to the documentation from the June Internal Letter was to change, as requested, the incipient group's designator from 'Canton' to 'Shire'.
8. Fjorleif in Haga Badge New
(Glymm Mere)
(Fieldless) An acorn inverted, slipped and leaved, argent
Per the PicDic, the mundane and SCA defaults are reversed. Therefore we can count this clear of Tearlach na Drochaide, (Fieldless) An acorn argent, with CD's for fieldlessness and for position of the acorn.
9. Isabel Dancere Badge Resubmission to Kingdom
(Glymm Mere)
Sable, vÍtu ployÈ a bowen knot crosswise Or
A letter asking for correction has been sent to Laurel, for a correction to Isabel's name, mistakenly registered as <Isable> Dancere. Since you asked: vÍtu, per the PicDic, is "..a Continental partition of the field, formed by two lines from center chief and two lines from the base point, connecting at the sides of the shield. The partition thus strongly resembles a lozenge throughout; and it will conflict with a lozenge, all other things being the same. But vÍtu differs from this in one respect: In normal usage, only the central part of the field is charged; the vested portions of the field remain uncharged…"
So it's like a per pale or a per fess division, sort of. Also, because vÍtu, chausse, and chape do not evenly divide the field (unlike per chevron, per pale, etc), the tinctures used in the vÍtu portion must have good contrast with the primary portion of the field.
Regarding the conflict with Eilis O'Boirne; Eilis' badge, being tinctureless, can only get one CD from the addition of tincture to another badge, or for adding a field. The second CD must come from something not involving tincture. Since vÍtu is merely a field division, and not a addition of a charge group, the vÍtu does not permit a CD. Since a bowen knot crosswise and a quatrefoil knot are visually identical, the normal existing differences between them do not permit a CD in this case. Finally, since there are no other charges in Isabel's device, Isabel and Eilis conflict, which conflict was eliminated by Eilis' letter of permission to conflict.
10. Ivarr Ulfvarinsson Device New
(Coeur du Val)
Potenty sable and argent a stag salient to sinister Or
No conflicts, no changes!
11. Kyre Êt HrÊfnswudu Name Name Appeal Device New
(Glyn Dwfn)
Purpure, on a bend between two boars' heads erased Or three roses purpure, barbed and seeded proper
We sent the entire name discussion, pretty much intact, up to Laurel for her consideration. Since it had been returned at Kingdom (with the same form and arguments) it was sent as an Appeal to Laurel; the An Tir College took "no position" on the appeal.
12. Ravensweir, Incipient Shire of Branch Name New
(Cold Keep territory)
This one, too, went up pretty much intact.
13. Rosalie Merryman Lyon Name New; see Returns for Device
(Corvaria)
The College has reservations about three-element English names; even examples of names formed with, say, an inherited surname and a locative were very rare in period. However, since they did occasionally exist, and since we were not certain that the name was NOT registerable, we sent it up. There is support, which we added, for both <Merriman> and <Lyon> in Reaney and Wilson's 3rd Edition.
14. Seumas as a Ghlinneasgaiche Device New
(Glyn Dwfn)
Azure, three piles issuant from dexter argent
We sent it up, hoping to be clear of Veniamin Nafanovich Medvednikogotev's Sable three wolf's teeth issuant from dexter argent with one CD for the field, and one for the curve (complex line) of the wolf's teeth. Badger, you are very likely right; but we're gonna try for it anyway.
15. Sven Gunnarson Device Resubmission to Kingdom
(Wealdsmere)
Quarterly azure and counter-ermine a lion rampant contourny queue-forchÈe Or within a bordure argent charged with an orle of chain sable
The lion's tail is actually not nowed; the tail as shown in his device submission is an artistic convention often used with queue-forchÈe. An actual knot is required for 'nowing'.
16. Victor Dogood Name New
(River's Bend)
I believe Eglantyne consulted on this one; no changes or corrections needed!
The following have been returned for further work:
Conchobar Mac Muirchertaig Device New
(Three Mountains)
Or, in fess a dog sejant erect and a crane in its vigilance contourny azure
This device is in conflict with that of James the Fox, Or a fox rampant guardant gules, and therefore must be returned.
There is one CD for the addition of the crane. However, the positions rampant and sejant erect are not considered to be different enough for the second CD, since the position of only one leg is changed. Changing the color of the field, as the submitter suggested he would accept, would clear this conflict; however, I have not checked to see if any other conflict would occur because of this change.
To those commenters who asked, no, I don't believe that this is something one would see a lot of in period (two different charges in two different tinctures).
Darbie of Ironmaid Badge Resubmission to Kingdom
(Wealdsmere)
Argent, goutty sable, a Dungeness crab gules
Unhappily, it looks like lobsters and crabs are heraldically the same creature. The submission is in conflict with Raymond Crushammer's Argent a lobster displayed gules and must be returned. (Note: the locative "Dungeness" should be removed from the blazon). To determine whether or not a lobster and a crab conflicted, we reviewed several issues. One was previous Laurel Precedents, notably:
Visual similarities between the crab and the scorpion create enough visual confusion that the two cannot be considered clear. LoAR 25 January 1987, p. 16-17 [A two-tailed scorpion] Conflict with...A lobster displayed… The visual similarity between this scorpion and a lobster is too great to grant a [CD]. LoAR 6/92, p.16.
So, effectively, a crab is a scorpion, which is a lobster; so that pretty much makes a crab a lobster for purposes of heraldic distinction.
There also appears to be no consistent distinction made in period art between a lobster and a crab. The "Flemish Calendar" (Cod. Lat. 396 in National Szechenyi Library, Budapest, 15th century) shows the Cancer sign with a lobster head, and oval spiny body, and a ribbed tail that is as long as the body - much more lobster than crab. The Hall of the Months in Ferrara in the Palazzo Schifanoia, also 15th century, shows the sign for Cancer as an unmistakable big red lobster. This is not to say that all period art shows the Cancer sign as a lobster; just to demonstrate that there seems to be very little difference between the two in the period mind.
This submitter was misinformed, and included a "second choice" submission, which she was told would "run" concurrently with her primary submission; however, the An Tir heralds' office hasn't worked that way in quite some time. You will find her "second choice" under "New Submissions".
Šrennach ingen Cormaic Device New
(Three Mountains)
This is very nearly Per chevron inverted enhanced argent and azure a rose and two wolves rampant regardant addorsed all within a bordure counterchanged. However, the counterchanging of the field with the bordure makes it necessary, for the sake of recognizability, to draw the per chevron inverted field division very clearly; and as it is currently drawn, it is both placed very high on the field and is drawn very shallowly. Bringing the point down somewhat (a little past the midpoint of the shield) would be better. There is a very good chance that Laurel would return it for redrawing, so we have attempted to address the potential problem at Kingdom level, and so save the submitter a great deal of time.
Qiturah bint Raqs bint Shula Name and Device New
(Cragmere)
Gules, a crescent argent; on a chief argent two pales wavy azure
I was at something of a loss concerning the registerability of this name submission. Because we had no one in An Tir who was expert on Arabic names and naming practices, we asked Master Da'ud ibn Auda, twice Laurel Sovereign at Arms and a scholar of Arabic names, to help us. This seemed like a good choice, also, because he is the primary expert on Arabic names at the College of Arms (Laurel) level; since his comments would be very influential at that level, by getting them from him now - at Kingdom level - we could save the submitter months of time. I sent him, essentially, everything we received, so that he would have all the information to work from. He gave us a pretty intensive analysis; I am passing along that analysis, basically unaltered
The next two paragraphs are part of a response that he had already written to another person who wished to use the name <Qiturah> as part of an Arabic name; after that, he addresses our name submission in particular.
"The real trick, of course, is that all of the Biblical people mentioned in the Qur'an are given the Arabic versions of their names - Ibrahim (Abraham), Ismail (Ishmael), Daood (David), Suleiman (Solomon), Harun (Aaron), 'Isa (Jesus), Ayyub (Job), Yusuf (Joseph), Mariam (Mary), and so on. As you can see, some of the names are not very close equivalents. So simply adopting Keturah as an Arabic name probably does not have a very solid foundation of other equivalencies which would allow us to make assumptions about incorporating Biblical names with any degree of confidence. The fact that some names appear in both Judeo-Christian and Muslim sources is not sufficient to permit us to assume that _any_ name can be assumed to be "in the pool" of available names, nor can we be sure to any serious level of confidence how such names might have been modified even had they been used in Arabic. (E.g, Peter = Butrus, presumably from the Greek petros. What was Peter's name in Aramaic? [He was born Simon])
After looking through _all_ of my Arabic names books, even the modern "what to name your baby in Muslim" ones, I do not find any names (feminine or masculine) that come at all close to Keturah. (Even looking up "perfume" in the dictionaries didn't give me anything that might be cognate.) As a consequence, I pretty much have to assume at this point that Keturah was a Hebrew name which was not adopted into Arabic. [He suggests that the submitter might be better served to] (1) find an Arabic name or (2) go for a Sephardic Jewish persona."
Those paragraphs were for the name <Qiturah> in general; now he goes on to address our submitter's particular complete name submission.
"So, how does this relate to the name at hand? Well, even checking all the "what to name your baby in Muslim" books under "Q" as well as "K", I still don't find Qiturah/Keturah/Qeturah/etc./etc./etc. So the assumption remains that the name did not enter the Arabic naming pool. I have absolutely no support for any form of Keturah, and, as noted above, just because two languages may be related does not mean that one can simply take a name from one and use it in the other. (French, Spanish, and Italian all are as related to each other as Hebrew/Aramaic and Arabic are, but that doesn't mean that you can take a French name and simply plop it into a Spanish or Italian context and use it unchanged. As only one example, the Borgias were originally a Spanish family, where the name was Borja - presumably pronounced in the Spanish fashion, with a strong "h" sound for the letter "j".) Without being able to find any evidence of Keturah or an equivalent in Arabic, I have no idea how Arabic would have modified the name for use in an Arabic context, and cannot even make an uninformed guess.
This without even getting into whether Qiturah is a reasonable alternate transliteration of Keturah. After all, "kalb" is a different word in Arabic that "qalb" ("dog" and "heart", respectively). The letter values are very similar, but plainly Arabs see a difference between them. It would be fine, I expect, to say to your lover that she is your "heart", but calling her your "dog" would very likely evoke an entirely different reaction! :-)
Now, all that said, the overall structure of the name is impossible. Qiturah bint Raqs bint Shula is "Qiturah daughter of Raqs daughter of Shula", so it means _nothing_ like what the submitter thinks it means. "Raks" is "dance" (Jaschke's "English-Arabic Conversational Dictionary", p. 184; Elias' "English Arabic Dictionary Romanized", p. 47, gives it as "raqs", bringing us right back to the k/q transliteration difficulty. Personally, I have been unable to hear the difference between K and Q in Arabic, but I am told that it exists. Then I find different transliterations of the same word, as here, and have to just throw up my hands in despair.) Either way, the word doesn't mean "dancing", it means "dance", and she can't be the daughter of "Dance" unless the word was used as a masculine given name, of which I have never found an example.
Similarly, [you] can't be the granddaughter of "Flame", even assuming that [you have] documentation that "shula" is "flame". Jaschke, p. 201, gives "dau" for "flame", and "nar" for "fire". Elias, p. 78, also gives "nar" for "fire", and on p. 79 gives "eltehib" for "flame". (I have to assume that Elias and Jaschke are translating different dialects of Arabic. Jaschke, I know, is mostly Egyptian and Syrian Arabic; I don't know about Elias. I do know that some of the regional differences in Arabic are almost as great as the differences between some American English and English English.) In any case, [you'd] have to show that shula/dau/nar/eltehib was used as a masculine name before she could use it this way. Again, I have no evidence to support that concept."
This can be taken, I think, to indicate that there is no evidence for names based on the maternal line in Arabic. Then he goes on to discuss the fact that numerical values are taken quite seriously in Arabic naming, but:
"…But to make even a meaningful guess as to any of that, we first need to know whether she means the numerical values of the Arabic letters or the numerical values of the Latin/English letters, and which numerical system she is using for that language."
And finally,
"… as submitted, I cannot support either the construction of the name or any of its individual elements (well, except for "bint", which is the standard patronymic particle for women to use. It simply means "daughter of")."
The device had to be returned with the name. In case anyone wondered, I am not empowered to form holding names; only Laurel Sovereign at Arms can do that. However, no conflicts were found.
Rosalie Merryman Lyon Device New
(Corvaria)
Vert, three mullets of six points Or
We added the word "points" to the blazon in Kingdom. Sadly, this elegant device was in conflict with Alissende du Soleil, who registered Vert three suns Or in December 1997. (Good work, Tegan, who found the conflict!)
Theresia von Villach Device Resubmission to Kingdom
(Wealdsmere)
Per bend sinister azure and vert, a bend sinister dancetty argent between a sun in splendor and an acorn inverted Or
This was returned for redrawing; the azure selected from the computer was indistinguishable from purpure. Please be careful about this, folks; it'll cause you to lose time. Otherwise, the device seemed fine, and should be fine if resubmitted right away!
Wealdsmere, Barony of Badge Resubmission to Laurel
(Wealdsmere)
Azure, three acorns conjoined at the stems in pall inverted Or within an orle of eight oak leaves in annulo argent
This had to be returned, as the forms were signed only by the branch herald; signatures of the ruling nobles are required for the registration of a badge for a branch. It is possible that the previous forms were so signed, but as the file has been lost, we cannot use those (possible) previous signatures for this resubmission.
Windwic, Shire of Device New
(Windwic)
Vert, on a fess wavy azure fimbriated between two salmon naiant respectant and a garb three laurel wreaths Or
There were several reasons for return here. First, I was apparently mistaken about the status of the group's name, and they have been informed about how to proceed there. Second, the group sent this office a money order, mistakenly made out to SCA, Inc. What I have been doing in such cases is to write to the submitter, returning the money order or check to them, with a request that they replace it with one correctly made out to College of Heralds, An Tir. In the meantime, I put the submission in question on the current letter. If I do not receive replacement funds by the time the meeting discussing that letter is held, the submission must be returned. I have not yet received replacement funds for this submission; however, it is likely that the group is waiting until their name issue is straightened out. Third, I had to request a "fresh" petition, which I have not yet received; as with the funds, the group may have chosen to wait.
New Submissions:
1. Aidan O'Toole Name and Device New
(Wastekeep)
Per bend sinister vert and argent, in cross five annulets sable all enflamed Or
<Aidan> is documented from The Book of Saints, compiled by the Benedictine monks of St. Augustine's Abbey, Ramsgate; on page 17 is shown <Aidan>, from the years 651, 626 and 768 CE. Name documentation for the surname <O'Toole> is supplied from Edward MacLysaght's Irish Families; the O'Tooles are shown on page 276, dated, among other dates, as St. Laurence O'Toole (1132-1182).
Commenters, let's have everything you know about "enflamed".
2. Antonio Giovanni Pecoraro Device New
(Port de L'eau)
Per chevron per pale argent and azure three crosses clechey counterchanged
His name was registered in November of 1993. A copy of a page from Heraldry by Bedingfeld and Gwynn-Jones is included to show arms utilizing this arrangement and field division(s).
3. Antonio Giovanni Pecoraro Badge New
(Port de L'eau)
(Fieldless) A cross clechy per pale argent and azure
His name was registered in November of 1993.
4. Aurora Kaspar Name and Device New
(Stonewolf)
Per fess azure and vert in pale a sun in his splendor and a swallow volant Or
The name is meant to be English, and the general sound is desired. Documentation is from Hanks and Hodges, and from Withycombe, but as only the relevant portions of the pages are photocopied, it is unclear which is which. <Aurora> is cited as the Latin name for the goddess of the dawn, used occasionally in England and Germany since the Renaissance. The only dated example given is from 1696.
<Kaspar> is said to be German and Polish, from a given name "..especially popular in central Europe up to the 18th century". Help properly documenting this name in any language would be appreciated, at least by LB.
5. Bartholomew Reynold Codlin Name and Device New
(Stonewolf)
Per pale azure and sable, a lion's head erased and an falcon's head erased contourney in base two swept hilt rapiers per saltire Or
There is no '-e' in 'contourny'; remember, this is the blazon as received, but getting the ever popular and recurrent '-e' out of 'contourny' is important enough to stress once again here. The language is meant to be English, and the general sound is the most important. As in the above submission the documentation is from Hanks and Hodges and from Withycombe. <Bartholomew> is shown in this spelling from 1273, and the name is said to have been common in England from the 12th century onwards. <Reynold> is also shown from 1273 in this spelling. <Codlin>'s reference is not dated.
6. Darbie of Ironmaid Badge Resubmission to Kingdom
(Wealdsmere)
Argent, goutty sable, a Dungeness crab gules a base azure
Her name was registered in February 1993. Her last submission was returned for conflict; at that time the An Tir College determined that a lobster and a crab conflict in heraldry. We also removed the word 'Dungeness' from the blazon. This submission adds a base azure.
7. David Visdelu le Wrothe Device Resubmission to Kingdom
(Valley Wold)
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
His name is currently before Laurel. His last device submission had to be returned, as the bordure was divided into more than four, but did not show good contrast between the parts. The per saltire division remedies that problem. He's worked hard for this one, commenters; is he clear?
8. Grecia Percival, change to Grecia Tavernier Name Change, Device New
(Coeur du Val)
Lozengy vert and argent on a pile argent a toad rampant azure
Stalwart has threatened to resign if I sing the "I'm in love with a big blue frog" song one more time.
The name <Grecia Percival> was registered by Laurel on the July 1998 Letter of Acceptances and Returns. The lady has included excellent documentation for the name <Grecia>, which, under the circumstances, we need not repeat. However, I feel that I should at least mention her sources again, since I have been asked before what constitutes "good documentation". First, A Statistical Survey of Given Names in Essex Co, England, 1182-1272 by Mistress Nicolaa de Bracton, found at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/5145/names.html ; second, a dated citation from Withycombe, and third, a dated citation for the given name from Reaney and Wilson, 2nd edition. For <Tavernier>, she offers us, from Reaney and Wilson's 2nd edition, page 343, under 'Taverner', William le Tauerner, Tauernier 1175,…Ofr tavernier 'tavern-keeper'. Also, pages from Travels in India by Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, Baron of Aubonne, written in 1676, and the translation published in 1925; in the first lines of the introduction it is stated that he was born in 1605 - a year within our grey area. She wishes to retain the general sound of the name.
The device is submitted on a form from 1987, which would be a problem if we weren't going to have to transfer it to a new form anyway. If this device passes, it will certainly make a recognizable banner!
9. Indigo Hall Name and Device New
(Madrone)
Per bend sinister dovetailed gules and argent two rapiers bend sinisterwise counterchanged
Note that this is a personal name, not the name of a household. The submitter says that he has documented the name <Inigo>, but has not included copies. He would prefer the name <Indigo> if documentation for it can be found; however, he will accept <Inigo> instead - although we will need to provide documentation for that, as well. He includes a copy of the title page of The Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance by John Hale, which shows the name Joseph Hall from 1608. He favors the general sound of the name.
10. Marcus Griffin Name and Device New
(Dragon's Laire)
Per chevron azure and vert a griffin segreant argent maintaining a sword Or a base embattled argent
On the new forms!! Documentation is from Reaney and Wilson's 3rd edition. <Marcus>, under 'Mark', page 298, gives us Marc le draper 1292; Mark, Lat. Marcus; <Griffin>, under 'Griffin', page 206, shows Robert Griffin 1197. It's a 'male' name, and if changes must be made, he cares more about the sound.
11. Rafaella d'Allemtejo Name and Device New
(Dragon's Mist)
Sable, on a chevron throughout argent an escallop vert
The name is intended to be Italian and Portuguese, meaning 'Rafaella from (or of) the Allemtejo (a place in central Portugal).' <Rafaella> is found in De Felice's Dizionario del nomi italiani sub 'Rafaelle'. She also includes, in a letter from the Academy of St. Gabriel, the statement that they can date the name <Rafaela> to Iberia in 1559; while the submitter prefers the spelling 'Rafaella', she will accept 'Rafaela' if necessary. The placename <Allemtejo> is documented to the 15th century in that spelling. A copy of the complete correspondence from St. Gabriel is included.
12. Rafaella d'Allemtejo Badge New
(Dragon's Mist)
(Fieldless) On an escallop vert a rose argent barbed and seeded Or
See above for the lady's name submission.
13. Richard Bullock Name and Device New
(Lion's Gate)
Or a natural tiger rampant sable marked argent on a chief azure issuant from chief a demi-sun Or
The language is English; the photocopy provided appears to be Reaney and Wilson. Under 'Bullock' are shown two spellings for the surname, William Bulloc 1195, and Roger Bullokman 1332, which give us, alternately, '-c' and '-k' for the final consonant; the exact chosen spelling is not shown. Also, there is Richard le Bollocherde 1281, to tie in <Richard> very nicely. I need opinions or examples for the final '-ck' in <Bullock>, please; the submitter accepts no changes.
14. Ross Schweinkopf Name and Device New
(Dragon's Mist)
Argent a boar's head erased close contourney sable
Okay, what did I tell you about that 'contourney' thing? He includes a copy of his work badge/photo ID, to demonstrate that <Ross> is his modern given name. The language is German, the meaning 'Ross Pig-Head'. Help with documentation is requested by LB; how often do people believe us when we tell them that their epithet would have been bestowed on them by others, and would probably not be very flattering? He wishes to retain the meaning.
15. Rowan O Moroghoe Device Resubmission to Laurel
(Three Mountains)
Per bend Or and vert an acorn slipped and leaved proper and an owl argent
Her name was registered in October 1996; her device was returned at the same time for the very light brown tincture of the acorn. It has been redrawn with a darker brown for good contrast with the field, following the suggestion from Laurel. Laurel also suggested that, if the acorn was so tinctured, it could still be blazoned as proper.
16. Summits, Principality of, for the Consort Device Resubmission to Laurel
(Summits)
Azure a griffin passant on a mountain issuant from base argent a goblet azure environed by two barberry sprays vert fructed gules
The previous submission for the device for the Consort for Summits was returned by Laurel on the December 1997 LoAR, with these remarks:
While there was a petition enclosed with this submission, it was signed by less than 30 people, and less than two thirds of the officers, and if any of the relevant royalty signed the petition, it was not noted. The Administrative Handbook says:
Evidence of Support. Submissions involving the name or arms of an active branch must include evidence of support for the action on the part of a majority of the active members of the branch. In the case of branches with no ruling noble, this support may be demonstrated by a petition of a majority of the populace and officers or by a petition of the seneschal and at least three-quarters of the other local officers. In the case of branches with ruling nobles, such petitions must also include a statement of support from the ruling noble. If a submission would result in the registration or modification of the Branch Name or Branch Arms of a kingdom, principality or equivalent branch, support must be demonstrated by the results of a poll conducted in the relevant official newsletter and certified by the seneschal of the appropriate branch.
Signatures included with this submission:
1) All past Royalty residing in Summits
This meets the support requirements set out in the rules. The LoAR also said:
Additionally, some questions were raised as to whether the Barberry plant was known in period. If the sprigs are used in future resubmission, please include such evidence.
The hypertext version of A Modern Herbal by Mrs. MK. Grieve, Dover, originally published in 1931, can be found at http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/b/barcom12.html , and describes the Barberry as a "well-known bushy shrub" found in parts of England and distributed over Europe, Northern Africa and temperate Asia. The Encyclopedia Britannica (and, it is asserted, several other encyclopedias) indicate that the barberry is "native to Eurasian Northern Temperate Zone". The submitters also provide documentation for the name of the shrub from Middle English, and from Old or Middle French before that, as well as Medieval Latin, indicating knowledge of the shrub in Northern Europe during the medieval and renaissance period. An example of the use, from the Compact OED, from 1430: 'Vnder a lefe sale Of box, and of barbere'.
This is the short version of the documentation included with this submission.
17. Tegan Th–rbergsdÛttir Name and Device New
(Montengarde)
Argent, a stallion rampant azure, tongued gules, on a chief engrailed gules 2 fleams argent
The name is a combination of a Welsh given name and a Norse surname. <Tegan> is documented from Yonge's History of Christian Names, page 234, under 'Ancient Keltic Names': "Caradwg's wife, Tegan Euvron, or golden beauty.." The name is intended to mean "beauty". <Th–rbergsdÛttir> is intended to mean, roughly, "daughter of Th–r's mountain protection." It is shown on page 209 of The Varangians of Byzantium by Sigf™s Bl–ndal, translated by Benedikt Benedikz. She is most interested in the meaning of the name.
An Tir College of Heralds - Internal Letter - September 1998