Newsletter of the College of Heralds of An Tir Volume 2, Number 5 ~ October 28, 2003

Table of Contents:

• Greetings from Black Lion Herald
• Greetings from Morel Black Stag
• Important information from Dexter Gauntlet
• A Correction
• Hail to the Herald
• The An Tir Internal Letter of Intent
• Return to the IL Archive Page

Greetings from Black Lion

It is my pleasure to announce the new Queue Forcheé Herald, HL Christopher Thomas. He should be a fine addition to the College and a good drop dead deputy.

I would like to make a quick point, and small apology. I did not leave much time for this position to be open, that much I admit. This will not be the normal procedure for officer changes, just to be clear.

I'm going to be out of the country in November, and I wanted to get someone in place, just in case. I don't foresee any issues coming up, but it would be nice to have some one answering the phone just in the off chance something did come up.

Also, I could make an educated guess that the interested and parties would probably come from a small pool of people I am steady contact with.

So, apologies for the quick decision, if you have any concerns or questions feel free to contact me..

Frederic Black Lion

Greetings from Muirgheal inghean Labhrain Black Stag

Several months ago, I wrote to the An Tir Heralds email list requesting help with an issue I knew almost nothing about. I was to organize the toasts for a local feast, and had witnessed so few of these toasts that I had not a clue where to begin. I received several replies, all of them containing valuable and helpful information. Some of the most important points I learned were:

• Anything after the word "to" will be repeated, so if you wish to embellish, do it before the word "to". For example, "For our new Principality, lush and green. To Tir Righ!" And of course, the populace will repeat "To Tir Righ!," with the exception of the stubborn few who still pronounce Tir Righ "North".
• It is a good idea to have the highest-ranking noble present the first toast.
• The people giving the toasts often speak in order of precedence, but that is not always the case.

The following "keeper posting" from the ATH list is a reply to my problem from Natasha Vox Leonis. Lady Natasha simplifies the order in which the toasts are given, and offers some important tips. It has been very slightly edited with permission (only the names of Their Majesties have been changed).

Natasha Vox Leonis writes:

Sounds like you've had some good advice. Once you have the general idea of the order of things, the best advice I can give you is to just let it flow.

If you are doing all the toasts yourself, you'd start with something like "I ask you to raise your glasses with me and toast Their Majesties, Gunnarr and Gabrielle". Then the populace says back "Gunnarr and Gabrielle" and drinks.

The rule to remember about the order of things is that with people, you start from the top and work down. With places, you start at the bottom and work up. It's easy to remember when you always end with the big AN TIR! at the end... ;-)

It's considered very bad form for the local nobles to arrange to have themselves saluted (for example, in a barony, the herald can arrange for all other toasts, including to the barony, but the toast for the coronet couple should be spontaneous one from the populace.

(However, in my personal opinion, it does no harm for the local herald, while arranging for people to to the "loyal toasts", to take notice of who is in attendance that might be gently nudged into doing the coronet toast. YMMV)

Natasha, Vox Leonis

Yours in service,
Morel Black Stag

Important information from Dexter Gauntlet

The Dexter Gauntlet team has been hard at work making the Order of Precedence accurate and current and bringing you the features that you need from your OP.

We received a suggestion to have individual branch alphabetical rosters listed as well as the branch OPs. Today, it is my pleasure to announce that this is now available!

Please take a look at http://www.antirheralds.org/awards/OP/op.html.

In our continuing quest to provide An Tir with an easier and better Order of Precedence, it is my pleasure to announce that we have a new and easier method of reporting your OP corrections to Dexter Gauntlet - web forms!

On the main Order of Precedence page, http://www.antirheralds.org/awards/OP/op.html, which is accessible through either the An Tir Heralds site (http://antirheralds.org) or the Kingdom website (http://www.antir.sca.org), there is a new link to "Updates and corrections to the Kingdom OP".

This page has 5 different forms that will tell you all of the information we need in order to get your award properly reported! Simply fill out the form and click the Submit button and you're done!

But don't worry, the same address that you've been using for years - op@antir.sca.org - is still open for business if you'd like to contact us that way.

Thank you!

Lord Quentin d'Or
Dexter Gauntlet Herald
Kingdom of An Tir
op@antir.sca.org

A Correction

On the charge identification quiz included in the August Heralds' Page with answers included in the September Heralds' Page, I said that the swan's posture was rousant. Wrong. Rousant, the default posture for swans, is the equivalent to rising and has both feet down and both wings elevated and addorsed. The swan depicted in the quiz is actually a swan close, that is standing with wings folded.

Hail to the Herald

By Dmitri Skomorochov

Hail to the herald, of green and crossed horns,
Who blazons things argent, and rampant, with thorns,
Who reads the devices like they were a book,
And identifies strangers with merely a look,

Hail to the herald, the greatest of fools,
Painting in azure and sable and gules,
Displaying a field full of lions and birds,
And spinning them all into colors and words,

Hail to the herald, with monstrous voice,
So those standing nearest don't have any choice,
At dawn's morning light, they make their words known,
And then dodge the pillows so angrily thrown,

Hail to the herald, his nose in a book,
When you need a name, he knows just where to look,
Be you French, Welsh, or Scot, he'll find you the page,
And give you a name from a long distant age,

Hail to the herald, the voice of the crown,
She tells all the people of royal renown,
She carries the word of their wishes and laws,
And bellows their praises without any pause,

Hail to the herald, who yells on the field,
Whose voice causes all our bold fighters to yield,
Dukes, knights, and barons all bow to her word,
And midst all the chaos, she'll always be heard,

Hail to the herald, who governs the site,
There, all of the gentry must bow to his might,
He knows all the schedules, he keeps us on time,
And he'll call on the autocrat to keep us in line,

Hail to the heralds, the heart of the Dream,
We keep the world running with heads full of steam,
We give all we can so that others can play,
And we wouldn't have it any other way.

An Tir Internal Letter for October, AS XXXVIII / 2003 CE

Commentary on this Letter will be due December 10, 2003.
(Send comments to Lions Blood Herald, information at top of this page)

The November Lions Blood meeting will be held on Sunday, November 23rd, at the home of Jessimond of Greencross 512 W. 30th St., Vancouver, Washington. 360-737-7980 ­ Call if you get lost.

Directions: From points south of Portland, get onto I-5 heading North ­Proceed north past Jantzen Beach Center and into Washington. The 2nd exit is the Mill Plain/Fourth Plain exit. Take that exit and stay to the left, which will put you up the off ramp with 4th Plain running right-left in front of you. Take a left turn onto 4th Plain. Proceed west on 4th Plain for approximately one mile. The crossroads start coming in alphabetical order (Columbia, Daniels, Esther, Franklin, Grant) Take a right turn onto Franklin. Proceed 4 blocks north on Franklin. Take a left turn onto 30th. We're the 4th house on the right (north) side of the street.

Other locations, take your best route to Vancouver, WA, on I-5 at the Mill Plain/Fourth Plain exit, go west on Fourth Plain and proceed as above.

The December Lions Blood meeting will held on Sunday December 14th, location TBA

Greetings from Lions Blood.

Whee...... It's all my fault now. It'll be fun I'm sure. Feel free to publish my address in branch newsletters or wherever else seems good. I hope to be taking the meetings on the road a fair bit, so please let me know if you or your branch would like to host one. Please feel free to comment; even just a few items helps.

RESULTS OF THE AUGUST LIONS BLOOD MEETING:

The following people were present at the August Lions Blood meeting or sent commentary: Marya Boar, Juliana Siren, Richenda de Jardin, Meadhbha Dragon's Mist, Earc Mountain Edge, Teceangl Lions Blood, Sigismund Schmidt, Francesca Testarossa dei Martini, David Electrum, Natasha vox Leonis, Gwenlian Catharne, Rogez du Pont, Li Ban Tir Righ, Tadgg h-úa Faelan of Clan MacNessa, Knut,Brigit Cold Keep, Guillermo di Francesco, Aurencia Moulay, and Aryanhwy merch Catmael.

The following names and armory have been sent to Laurel (August LoI) --

The following were returned for further work:

NEW SUBMISSIONS:

1. Anisko Mandyevich	Three Mountains	Device, New
	Or, on a pile throughout vert between two arrows inverted sale, a dexter gauntlet maintaining a dagger argent. The submitter's name is on the April 2003 LoI.

2. Avicia le Mey	Madrone	Badge, New
	(Fieldless) A hawthorn leaf per pale vert and argent. The submitter's name was registered in Nov. 1997.

3. Brian of Ledbury	Three Mountains	Name and Device, New
	Sable, a cross throughout azure fimbriated argent between four eagles displayed Or. Submitter will accept any changes, desires a male name, and would like his name changed to be authentic for 10th-12th Century (culture unspecified). He will accept a holding name. Brian is found in Reaney and Wilson's A Dictionary of English Surnames, s.n. Brian, page 63. Ledbury is found in Reaney and Wilson's A Dictionary of English Surnames, s.n. Ledbury, page 275.

4. Caitilin de Gallaidhe	Mountain Edge	Name, New
	Submitter will accept any changes, and desires a female name. Caitilin is found in O'Corrain and Maguire's Irish Names, s.n. Caiterina. 'The name became popular in Ireland, Norman and English influence and was well established among the Irish aristocracy by the 15th century.' The old French forms Caterine and Cateline gave rise to the Irish forms Catriona and Caitilin. de Gallaidhe is found in MacLysaght's Surnames of Ireland s.n. Galwey, Gallwey, de Gallaidhe. 'This name is found in Ireland since the 13th century mainly in Ulster and in Cork.' The submitter would prefer the spelling of Caitlyn if possible.

5. Johnannes Fairhand	Blatha an Oir	Device, Resubmission
	Purpure, a hand within an annulet argent. The submitter's previous device, Purpure, a hand argent, was returned in Sept. 2000 by Laurel for conflict with Kenric Manning (Sept 2000 via Ealdomere), Lozengy azure and Or, a hand apaumy argent. The addition of the annulet clears that conflict. The submitter's name was registered in Sept. 2000.

6. John Guthrie	Lions Gate	Name and Device, New
	Quarterly gules and sable all ermined, a fox rampant contourny within an orle argent. Submitter will accept all changes, cares most about sound and desires a male name. He will accept a holding name. John is found in Withycombe's The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, 3rd. ed., s.n. John on page 178. Withycombe states that John is fairly common from the 12th century onward. Guthrie is found in Black's The Surnames of Scotland, s.n. Guthrie, page 333, and dates this spelling to 1299. The submitter has provided photocopies of pages from the Baniff Charters: 1232 ­ 1703," citing John Guthry as a notary on Dec. 19, 1559.

7. Lucrezia da Ferrara	Druim Doineann	Name, New
	Submitter will accept minor changes only, cares most about language/culture, desires a female name, and would like her name changed to be authentic for 13th to 15th century (no culture provided). She will accept a holding name. Lucrezia is found in Jo Lori Drake's (Rhian Lyth of Blackmoor Vale) "Italian Renaissance Women's Names" at http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/rhian/italian.html. This article dates the name to 14th-15th century in Florence. The use of the preposition da is found in Brian Scott's (Talan Gwynek) "15th Century Italian Men's Names" at http://www.s-gabriel.org/docs/italian15m.html. This article discusses the use of da as the normal locative pronoun in Italian names. Ferrara is not documented. Copies of documentation are included.

8. Michael of Lancaster	Wealdsmere	Device, New
	Per fess argent and azure, a saltire engrailed counterchanged overall a sword inverted and in chief a rose gules. Submitter's name was sent to Laurel on the Letter of Intent dated October 2003. This device, submitted at the same time, had to be pended because an incorrect blazon was entered into the Internal Letter. The blazon has been corrected for accuracy and was also rewritten for clarity.

9. Muireann inghean ui Rodain	Glymm Mere	Device, Resubmission
	Vert, a bend sinister between an eagle rising and a sheaf of arrows. Submitter's previous device was returned in Oct. 2002 by Laurel for unidentifiability of the arrows as they were drawn too small. This emblazon should correct that issue. The charges in this device are Or. The submitter's name was registered in Oct. 2002.

10. Valgard Forkbeard	Borealis	Name and Device, New
	Per pale vert and azure, two stags heads cabossed argent and in base a drakkar proper. Submitter will accept only minor changes, cares most about language/culture, desires a male name, and would like his name to be changed to be authentic for 12th Century Norse. He will accept a holding name. Valgard is documented from the Berkeley Digital Library "The Online Medieval and Classical Library" at http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/Njal/. The name is of a man who was the son of Jorund the Priest and brother to Wolf Aurpriest. Forkbeard is documented from "History of the Monarchy" at http://www.royal.gov.uk/textonly/page33.asp. This is a physical description consistent with Norse naming practices described in Sara L. Friedemann's (Aryanhwy merch Catemael) "Viking Names found in the Landnámabók". Copies of the documentation (except Sara Friedemann's) were included.

11. Valgard Forkbeard	Borealis	Badge, New
	Per pale vert and azure two stags heads cabossed. His name appears above. The stag's head is argent.

12. Vostroi Ivanov Kievich	Three Mountains	Name, Change from Gwilym Moore de Montfort
	Submitter will accept only minor changes, cares most about language/culture, desires a male name, and would like his name to be changed to be authentic for 16th century Russian. Vostroi is found in the on-line version of Paul Goldschmidt's (Paul Wickenden of Thanet) Dictionary of Period Russian Names at http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul. The name is dated to 1500 and means sharp. Ivanov is found in the on-line version of Paul Goldschmidt's (Paul Wickenden of Thanet) Dictionary of Period Russian Names at http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul. Ivanov is a patryonymic byname dated to 1147. Kievich is a locative meaning "from Kiev," a Ukrainian city founded before 880 AD. This element was constructed using the rules listed in the on-line version of Paul Goldschmidt's (Paul Wickenden of Thanet) Dictionary of Period Russian Names at http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul. Copies of the documentation were included. If this name is accepted the submitter would like to retain his current name as an alternate name.

13. Walter Graham	Mountain Edge	Name, New
	Submitter will accept any changes and desires a male name. Walter is found in Withycombe's The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, s.n. Walter. Withycombe states that Walter was a favorite name of the Normans and dates Walter to 1273. Graham is found in Reaney and Wilson's A Dictionary of English Surnames, s.n. Graham, stating that the first of the Grahams was in Scotland. Reaney and Wilson date de Graham to 1127.

14. Ysabeau d'Anjou	Dragon's Mist	Device, New
	Per chevron argent and purpure, a heron statant argent and in chief two pears vert Submitter's name was sent to Laurel June 2003.

In service,

Written by: Richenda de Jardin Boar Pursuivant

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