An Tir Internal Letter for December, AS XXXIX / 2004 CE
David Hunter of Montlaw
1703 Crosby Ct SW *
Tumwater, Washington 98512
360-705-0550 or amoffatamoffat@juno.com
22 December 2004
Unto the An Tir College of Heralds does David of Moffat, Electrum Herald, and Interim Lions Blood Herald, send these greetings and things heraldic.
Now that transition of the Lions Blood Herald’s office has begun, I wish to take this opportunity to thank Marya for her efforts in the office of Lions Blood, and my regrets that her real life became such that she felt she was no longer doing the populace of An Tir a good service by holding the office.
It is my hope during the time that I hold this office that the College of Heralds can publish the Herald’s Page and Internal Letter on a monthly basis, and that publication will happen in the first half of the month in which the letter issued . Submissions that are included in the Internal Letter will be ruled on two months down the line from the month of publication (i.e. the December 2004 submissions will be ruled on in February 2005 at the Lions Blood meeting). The Lions Blood meetings will generally happen on the 3rd Sunday of each month, at my house to begin with. The other change which I will be implementing is that submissions must be received in my hand on or before the 25th of the month preceding the Internal Letter (i.e. a submission received on 25 December 2004 will appear in the January 2005 Internal Letter, while a submission received on 26 December 2004 will appear in the February 2005 Internal Letter. This change is necessary to make efficient handling of the submissions possible, and for the Internal Letter to be finished in the early part of the month it is issued in.
Submissions in this letter will be ruled on 20 February 2005. Commentary on this letter should be provided to me by 17 February 2005. Directions to my house for that meeting will be provided in the January 2005 Internal Letter.
Since the last Internal Letter, the following registrations have occurred at the Laurel level from An Tir. I have omitted the commentary that Laurel may have made on the items registered, simply due to space constraints. The full text of the comments may be found online at http://www.sca.org/heraldry/loar/
April 2004 LoAR
Acceptances:
- Anisko Mandyevich. Device. Or, on a pile throughout vert between two arrows inverted sable, a dexter gauntlet sustaining a dagger fesswise reversed argent.
- Avicia le Mey. Badge. (Fieldless) A hawthorn leaf per pale vert and argent.
- Brien de Liedeberge. Name and device. Sable, a cross azure fimbriated argent between four eagles Or.
- Caitilin de Gallaidhe. Name.
- Johannes Fairhand. Device. Purpure, a hand within an annulet argent.
- John Guthrie. Name and device. Quarterly gules and sable all ermined, a fox rampant contourny within an orle argent.
- Muireann inghean ui Rodain . Device. Vert, a bend sinister between an eagle rising and a sheaf of arrows Or.
- Valgard Forkbeard. Name.
- Vostroi Ivanov Kievich. Name change from Gwilym Moore de Montfort.
- Walter Graham. Name.
- Ysabeau of Dragon's Mist. Holding name and device. Per chevron argent and purpure, two pears vert and a heron argent.
Returns
- Lucrezia da Ferrara. Name.
This name is being returned for conflict against Lucrezia Borgia, Duchess of Ferrara. As Metron Ariston notes,[T]he (in)famous Lucrezia Borgia was Duchess of Ferrara. She lived in Ferrara for the last seventeen years of her life and played a leading part in the patronage and politics of the day. Her life (accurately or not) has been enshrined in historical works, fiction, drama and opera over several centuries. She not only has her own article in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, but also in the Columbia Encyclopedia and most on-line and printed encyclopedic works and is certainly familiar to most in our Society.
By precedent,We have historically registered ' 'name' of 'Kingdom' ' so long as the given name was not identical to that of one of the rulers of 'Kingdom'. ( Da'ud ibn Auda, 5/91)
Given the fame and importance of the Italian city-states, we are extending this precedent to them and their rulers. - Michael of Lancaster. Device. Per fess argent and azure, a saltire engrailed counterchanged overall a sword inverted and in chief a rose gules.
This violates RfS XI.2, Charge and Name Combinations, in accordance with the following precedent which we reaffirm at this time: "As one may not combine the White Rose of York and the name of York, it is forbidden to combine the Red Rose of Lancaster with the use of the name Lancaster." (29 Mar 1987, R-Outlands, Rebecca of Lancaster p. 21)
The overall sword lies overwhelmingly on the azure portions of the saltire and field, including the quillons and much of the hilt, greatly reducing its identifiability to the point where it violates RfS VIII.3, Armorial Identifiability: "Elements must be used in a design so as to preserve their individual identifiability. Identifiable elements may be rendered unidentifiable ...by being obscured by other elements of the design." In addition, the saltire is not centered on the shield, being counterchanged across an abased per fess line, causing a jarring feeling of imbalance; raising the line of division and recentering the saltire would cause the sword to be only "half-overall," which is also grounds for return.
Removing the rose, raising the line of division, recentering the saltire, and elongating the sword so that it remain overall would fix the aforementioned style and presumption problems, though it would still need to be checked for conflict.
May 2004 LoAR
Acceptances:
- Aleyne Edwinson .Badge. (Fieldless) An ermine passant counter-ermine maintaining an abacus sable.
- Arkill M'Robert. Name.
- Cordelia Talbot. Badge. Vert, a talbot's head erased within an orle of gillyflowers argent.
- Gilia de Ronda. Name.
- Ithamar Botwulfes sunu. Name.
- Roxanne Delaroche. Device. Sable, a catamount's face Or marked sable jessant-de-lys within a bordure Or.
- Sayna de Lincolne. Name.
- William MacAndrew of Balnagowan. Device. Per chevron argent and azure, two chess rooks and a winged wolf statant counterchanged.
Returns:
- Ruaidhrí Lámgel. Device. Per pale embattled gules and vert, an open book Or and a gauntlet aversant, a chief argent.
The embattlements on the line of division are too numerous and too small, which has long been cause for return. The chief also needs to be drawn somewhat wider, though this last is not a reason for return.
June 2004 LoAR
Acceptances:
- Ceolflæd Pyper. Name change from Gwynhavyr of Heather Glen and device change. Per pale azure and vert, a dragon passant to sinister regardant within an orle of mascles argent.
- Ceolflæd Pyper. Badge. (Fieldless) A leaf within and conjoined to a mascle argent.
- Donnchad ua Catháin . Name and device. Sable, a fess checky Or and gules between two mullets argent.
- Fionnghuala inghean mhic Oitir. Name.
- Giuliana Audaci . Device. Pily bendy wavy sable and argent, on a chief Or three crescents sable.
- Harold of Pleasure . Reblazon of device. Gules, a dexter gauntlet fesswise proper sustaining a goblet Or.
- Rowan Keele. Device. Checky sable and Or, a fox sejant to sinister within a bordure gules.
- Stromgard, Barony of. Badge for Order of the Silver Sea Urchin. (Fieldless) A sea urchin contourny argent.
- Telia Theagenous. Name and device. Argent, a pitcher bendwise azure within a bordure compony azure and Or.
- Valgard Forkbeard. Device. Per pale vert and azure, two stag's heads cabossed and a drakkar reversed argent.
- Zachary le Bigod. Name.
NEW SUBMISSIONS:
| 1. An Tir, Kingdom of: Black Stag Herald | Heraldic Title Transfer - New | |
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The Kingdom of An Tir is transferring the heraldic title “Black Stag Herald”, registered in 1992, to Zenobia Naphtali, pursuant to the text of the Cover Letter accompanying the March 2004 LoAR, which states in relevant part:
A letter signed by the Crown and Black Lion Principal herald transferring this title is provided. |
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| 2. Eadan MacEarnan | Stromgard | Name and Device, New |
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Per fess argent and Or, a winged boar rampant gules The submitter will accept any changes to the name, cares more about the language and culture, and wishes the name to be authentic for 12-14th century Scots. He desires a male name, and will accept a holding name. He notes “Eadan” is a Scotts gaelic form of Aidan. Also associated with the name Hugh. Aidan is the historical name of a King of Dal Riata 574 C. and a saint 651 C. who was bishop of the Angeles. Also associated with Aodh and Aodhan. Scottish Kings, Gordon Donaldson.” He cites Ainmean Chloinne (“Scottish Gaelic names for Children”) by Peadar Morgan for “MarEarnan”, noting it as “Scotts gaelic for “son of Earnan”: Earnan or Ernest.” |
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| 3. Eleanor Ashling of Westbury | St. Bunstable | Name, Resubmission and Badge, New |
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(Fieldless) A needle bendwise argent The submitter's previous submission, Eleanor Ashling, was returned at Laurel in July 2003 for an aural conflict with Eleanor of Ashley. Laurel ruled that the preposition "of" did not contribute difference between the two names and that Ashling and Ashley were sufficiently similar in sound as to conflict. The addition of the locative byname "of Westbury" should address this conflict. The submitter will accept only minor changes, cares most about meaning (nothing specified), desires a female name, does not want name changed to be authentic, and will accept a holding name. Eleanor can be found in E.G. Withycombe, Oxford Dictionary of Christian Names. (s.n. Eleanor, page 96). Withycombe states "from the 12th to the 15th century the name usually appears as Alienor, Eleanor, Elianor." Ashling can be found in P.H. Reaney and R. M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames (s.n. Aslin, page 16). Westbury can be found in Eilert Ekwall, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names (s.n. Westbury, page 106). Ekwall cites a Westberie in the Domesday Boke 1086. |
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| 4. Faol O'Banan | Aquaterra | Name and Device, New |
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Vert, a tree blasted and eradicated within seven mullets of eight points in annulo argent The submitter will accept only minor changes, cares most about meaning (wolf) and language/culture (unspecified), desires a male name, wants his name changed to be authentic for time period and place (13th-15th century Ireland), and will accept a holding name. Faol can be found in the Names and Naming Practices in the Red Book of Ormond (Ireland, 14th Century) article found at http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/lateirish/ormond-glossary.html#Glossary. O'Banan can also be found in the Names and Naming Practices in the Red Book of Ormond (Ireland, 14th Century) article found at http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/lateirish/ormond-glossary.html#Glossary. The argent of these charges was colored using a dark silvery gray marker or crayon. |
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| 5. Guillemin de Rouen | Myrgan Wood | Name and Device, New |
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Sable, a sword inverted argent between flaunches wavy argent, each charged with semy-de-lis sable. The submitter will accept any changes, cares more about the language and culture, is interested in having a name authentic for time period and language or culture, noting 13th-14th Century French. He desires a male name, and will accept a holding name. Guillemin is found in “French Names from Two Thirteenth Century Chronicles - Masculine Given Names” by Arval Benicoeur, at http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/crusades/crusadesHommes.html This source lists this name as having occurred up to 23 times in this spelling or in the spelling Guillaume. The name is also found in “An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris ” by Lord Colm Dubh, at http://sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html, where the name occurs in the form “Guillemin le Normant.” No documentation for de Rouen was cited. |
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| 6. Mæva matbúðarkona | Glymm Mere | Name and Device, New |
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Sable, three pomegranates slipped and leaved conjoined in pall and a chief Or The submitter will accept any changes, cares most about meaning (one who cooks), desires a female name, does not want name changed to be authentic, and will accept a holding name. Mæva is found in Geirr Bassi Haraldsson, The Old Norse Name (s.n. Mæva, page 13). matbúðarkona is found in Zoëga, Geir T., A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic. Matbúðarmaðar and matgerðamaðr are masculine nouns meaning cook (p. 288). To make the name feminine, -maðr (meaning man/male) should be replaced with -kona (meaning woman) (page 284, 286). In modern Icelandic, the words matreiðslumaður and matreiðslukona mean male and female cook, respectively. Making this substitution in period Icelandic seems reasonable. Copies of this documentation were not included. |
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| 7. Olivia Dougall | Eisenmarche | Device, Resubmission |
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Per chevron inverted argent and purpure, a lit candle between two needles counterchanged The submitter's previous submission, Per chevron inverted argent and purpure, a lit candle between two needs counterchanged, was returned at kingdom in July 2004 for an ambiguous line of division (neither per chevron inverted nor a pile). This submission has addressed that issue. The candle is flamed gules. |
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| 8. Zenobia Naphtali, for Black Stag Herald Extraordinary |
Dragons Mist | Heraldic Title Acceptance of Transfer & change of Designator - New |
The submitter’s name was registered in August 1984. The Kingdom of An Tir is transferring the heraldic title “Black Stag Herald” to Zenobia Naphtali, pursuant to the text of the Cover Letter accompanying the March 2004 LoAR, which states in relevant part:
A letter signed by the submitter accepting transfer of this title is provided. This title was registered in 1992 with the designator “herald.” Given the text of the cover letter, above, the designator should be changed to “herald extraordinary.” |
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I remain in Service to the Crown and Kingdom of An Tir,
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David of Moffat
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