This
is the September 2003 Middle Kingdom Letter of Acceptances and Returns
for Escutcheon’s July Letter of Intent. Unless otherwise noted, all
clients will accept changes. {Comments in braces {} were removed from
the Letter of Intent sent to Laurel and the College of Arms. Names,
devices, or badges in braces have been returned or pended; general comments
or replies to commentary are also placed in braces. Commentary, rulings,
etc. by Dragon are placed in small cap print.}. Thanks to Dugan MacLeod,
Angelique Michele d' Herisson, Angharad Rhos Tewdwr, Aryanhwy merch
Catmael, Canute, Ælfreda æt Æthelwealda, & Mikhail of Lubelska,
for their commentary this month.}
And now, ON WITH THE SHOW!
1) Bran of Lough Derg. (F) Device Resubmission. Or, a raven displayed proper perched upon a crescent inverted gules, a bordure embattled sable.
Original device, Or, in pale a bird displayed sable perched atop a crescent inverted gules, between the horns a mountain of three peaks couped sable. returned 06/00 by Laurel:
The device has three different types of charge in the same charge group, violating the rule of thumb in RfS VIII.1.a. Armorial Simplicity, ... As another guideline, three or more types of charges should not be used in the same group.
This resubmission has omitted
the mountains and added a bordure.
Device Commentary
AElfreda & Mikhail: Device:
The primary charge should be reblazoned as a "bird", as Franciois's
precedents state:
"The birds were originally blazoned as "ravens displayed".
Ravens are not found in the displayed posture in period heraldry. They
are close by default and almost always found in that posture. The unusual
posture makes them more closely resemble eagles, which are usually found
in the displayed posture. Because of the difficulty of identifying these
birds as any particular sort of bird, they have been reblazoned as generic
birds. See the cover letter of January 2000 for a more complete discussion
of the interaction between bird type and bird posture. [device return
for Brangwayn Snowden, Jan 2002 LoaR]"
This device may conflict with Christiaen de Groote (reg 8/01) "Or,
on an eagle sable a cross formy fitchy Or a bordure embattled sable."
There is no difference for the coloring of a raven proper (sable, beaked
& legged gules) vs. sable. {The color web copy shows Or beak &
sable legs.} As it's not in default posture for a raven, there is no
CD for generic bird vs. eagle. If the crescent is consider a co-primary,
there is a CD for its addition, and another for removal of the tertiary
cross. If the crescent is considered a tertiary, since it does overlap
the bird, there is only one CD for changes to the tertiary.
Canute: ...Additionally any
bird other than an eagle in a displayed posture will be considered a
"weirdness"... [01/00, CL]
Precedents - Elsbeth, under BIRD - Precedent on Difference
Clear
Reblazoned:
Or, a bird displayed sable perched atop a crescent inverted gules,
a bordure embattled sable.
{) Magnus Vargsson. (M) New Name and Device. Gyronny arrondy of 12 azure and argent, a mule and a turtle rampant addorsed Or.
[Magnus]~Geirr Bassi Haraldsspn’s “The Old Norse Name” no page cited.
[Vargsson]~ constructed from
[Vargr] found in “Norrsk-Isla:ndska Dpopnamn ock Fingerade Namn fra*n
Medeltiden” by E. H. Lind, (Upsala & Leipzig:1905-1915, sup Oslo,
Uppsala and Kobenahavn: 1931), s. n Vargr dated ca 1100, 1240.
Client will NOT accept MAJOR changes, cares most about having a Scandinavian language/culture name and wants a name authentic to 14th century Sweden.
We are returning the name submission for better documentation on the byname. While the ILoI cites Vargsson as a construction from Vargr, documented by Lind, no copies of such documentation are supplied. To quote from the Precedents of Dame Elsbeth:
There has recently been
some discussion about summarising name documentation in LoI entries.
This started with some items which had as the summary a S. Gabriel client
number and the names of the people who had worked on it. This caused
some relatively harsh criticism.
I'm afraid I have to agree with the critics. Section V.B.2.d of the
Administrative Handbook states that a "summary of all supporting
evidence provided for the submission must be included on the letter
of intent". Now, a "summary" like the one that started
this discussion is essentially similar to saying simply "the name
is found in Withycombe", without mentioning what Withycombe writes
about the name. Both these "summaries" may fulfill the letter
of the rule (although even that can be doubted) but they most certainly
don't fulfill the intent, which is to make sure that each commenting
member of the College can judge the merits of the documentation.
Granted, the Academy of Saint Gabriel has its letters publicly available
on the Web. Also, their work is excellent, although the goals are not
quite the same as those of the College of Arms. We have recently renewed
the agreement whereby the letters of the Academy are accepted as documentation,
so that a copy of the letter is sufficient without attaching copies
of the sources cited.
All this, however, does not mean that the client number is a sufficient
summary of the documentation. Immediate and affordable net access is
something we neither do nor can require from commenting members of the
College; for instance, the default method for distributing letters is
by regular mail and people have to specifically request e-mail commentary.
However, this is in fact beside the point: even if everyone had such
access we would still need a summary, just like we need a summary when
a name is documented from the reference works listed in Appendix H of
the Administrative Handbook.
Starting with the July 2000 LoI's we are going to tighten our interpretation
of V.B.2.d. so that items that don't have a proper summary of supporting
evidence may be returned instead of pended. Blatant cases (such as "<name>
is Saint Gabriel Client #1234", or "<name> is Irish"
or "<name> is in Withycombe") will be returned unless
the College of Arms is able to provide appropriate supporting evidence
in its commentary.
Changing Vargsson to vargh as suggested is a major change, which is not allowed by the client.
The Device is being returned
with the name.
Name Commentary
Ary: There is no need to
cite page numbers for Geirr Bassi, as his list are arranged alphabetically.
The byname is incorrectly constructed. <vargr> 'wolf' is a byname,
not a given name, according to Lind. As far as I know, there is one
possible example of a patronymic formed from the father's byname, and
not his given name, and that example is suspect. This can be corrected
by making <vargr> a nickname: <Magnus vargr>. This spelling
may not be the best choice for the 14th century, however.
The dated forms that Lind gives, among others, are:
* Vargr ca. 1100, 1240
* Vargh 1308
* Vargher (no date)
* Wargh 1489
* Varg 1509
I would recommend changing this to <vargh>, to match his time
period.
Device Commentary
Ary: The numbers in the blazon
should be written out in full: "Gyronny arrondy of twelve azure
and argent, a mule and a turtle rampant addorsed Or."
Canute: Clear
2) Maire of Glencoe. (F) Name Resubmission.
(Canton of Rimsholt)
[Máire]- Donnchadh Ó Corráin and Fidelma Maguire, Irish Names, 2nd edition (Dublin, Ireland: Lilliput Press, 1990).
Woulfe, Patrick, Irish Names and Surnames, Special Revised Edition (Kansas City, MO: Irish Genealogical Foundation, 1992). Also found in “Index of Names in Irish Annals” by Mari Elspeth nic Bryan at http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/Feminine/Maire.shtml
[Glencoe] – clan Donald; Donald J. Mc Donald of Castleton, pps. 195-226.
Original name [Mailse of Glencoe] submission returned by Rouge Scarpe 03/03 for lack of documentation for [Mailse]. Client wants and Irish given name with a Scottish place name.
Glencoe - www.glencoscotland.com/thehistory.htm gives dates back to 1308 for Glencoe
Name Commentary
Ary: It's nice that she has
lots of sources for the given name, but none of them are any use unless
they include dates and/or discusses of medieval usage. (The last two
names she submitted were also found in Woulfe...that's not guarantee
that they're acceptable). <Mire> (note accent) was a quite uncommon
name in medieval Ireland, with compound forms such as <Mel Muire>
being more common. However, <Mire> does show up in the annals
13 times between 1396 and 1601.
The documentation for <Glencoe> is insufficient, and this should
not be sent to Laurel unless a dated citation for the place name can
be found.
{) Marie Boleyn.
(F) Device Resubmission. Purpure, a maiden arms upraised Or, on
a chief argent a dachshund statant gules.
(Muskegan, MI)
{Name reg’d:11/98}
Original device returned by
Laurel 11/02 for a non-period depiction of a maiden (she was vested
in a halter and harem paints). Client has redrawn the maiden in western
clothing and changed the tincture of the dachshund to gules (original
was sable).
We are returning this submission.
The dachshund is still unidentifiable, and looks more like a skinny
gules blob that a dog.}
Device Commentary:
Ary: This has to be returned
for identifiability again. The dog is still unidentifiable and must
be redrawn. Also, the maiden is _affronty_.
Canute: The dachshund is unidentifiable.
Return for redraw.
3) Melchor Stoneteeth. (M) Device Resubmission. Argent, masoned sable, a bull rampant guardant sable, on a chief embattled azure a sword fesswise reversed argent.
(Cincinnati)
{Name reg’d:2/95}
Original device (Argent masoned sable, goutty de
sang, a bull rampant guardant sable and on a chief embattled azure a
sword reversed argent
) returned by Laurel 9/96 for redraw. This submission is a new variant.
Device Commentary:
Canute: Argent masoned sable,
a bull salient guardant sable on a chief embattled azure a sword fesswise
reversed argent
The chief is too thin.
Clear
Redraw?
4) Shih Tan Po. (M) Name and Device Resubmission. Sable, a wheel emflamed and in chief two natural tigers couchant and respectant Or marked sable.
Original name and device submission returned by Rouge Scarpe 4/03 because the documentation was very difficult to adequately summarize.
Names found in “In Search of Your Asian Roots: Genealogical Research on Chinese Surnames” by Sheau-yueh J. Chao pp.160,170, 149 Also various searches at the website http://www.Chineseroots.com
In the following the Wades-Giles
romanization is listed first in brackets and the Pinyin in parenthesis
after)
[Shih](Shi3)
“The chineseroots.com website
shows the surname <Shi3> as being in use well before our period.
Legend places it at the mid-third millenium BC; concrete records have
it back to at least 722 BC, with other examples in various other times
ranging up to the late Ming Dynasty (AD 1368-1644). The character means
"history," and the etymology given by that website seems likely.”
~from Zacarias’ commentary on the client’s documentation in the original
submission.
The next two elements are a
familiar name. While the romanization is the same as previously submitted
the characters are different. The name [Tan Po] (Tan2 Bo2) can be translated
as ‘deeply changes color in the face’. This descriptive familiar byname
would be appropriate for a Buddhist monk persona. For exact characters
see http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/3919/atoz.html under the appropriate entries. Client
wants a Mandarin name.
Client has re-colored his
device (original submission had the tigers orange-red which could not
be properly called either gules or Or).
Name Commentary:
Ary: - I _believe_ that <Shi3>
is a different name than <Shi4>, which is discussed in an addendum
to Academy of S. Gabriel report #2527 (http://www.s-gabriel.org/2527):
"Correction, Yin Mei Li & Arval, 19 Apr 2003: We originally
included <Shih> in the list of given names, with the following
paragraph:
Shih4 [Shi4],
pronounced \shR\ [4]
A ming and tzu used from at least 2nd C BCE through 10th C AD.
Apparently given to a very important woman in a family, usually
the patriarch's mother, wife or favorite concubine, or a daughter
whose hoped-for marriage would greatly advance the family. Also
given to women who, through court positions end up teaching
imperial concubines or helping historians, and thereby gain honor
for their families. The character means "clan, family, sect."
Yin has since learned that <Shih> is a generic form of address
meaning
"Ms.". We have removed it and replaced it with <O>,
which Yin found
in subsequent research; and used <O> in place of <Shih>
in an example
of an appropriate name."
I couldn't find <Tan> or <Po> in any of the Academy's reports
on Chinese names, which are my only sources.
Device Commentary:
Canute: Sable, a wheel emflamed
Or and in chief two natural tigers couchant respectant proper.
Clear
5) Zygmunt Nadratowski. (M) Device Resubmission. Per pale argent gules, a cross Osmorog with roundels at each point, Sable.
Device returned by Rouge Scarpe 9/02 for redraw because the client’s drawing did not closely resemble his documentation for what would be the first registration of this Polish-heraldry specific charge.
Client supplied documentation
of the cross Osmorog as a period Polish charge dated to 1584 in one
item and 1503 in another. The items are written in Polish and Latin.
Pictures of the charge in his documentation can be viewed online at http://www.geocities.com/Esctherald/0207/osmorog1.gif and http://www.geocities.com/Esctherald/0207/osmorog2.gif
Reblazon:
Per pale argent gules, a cross Osmorog sable.
Device Commentary
Canute: Per pale argent and
gules, a cross Osmorog sable
The roundels appear to be part of the definition of the charge and therefore
shouldn't be specifically mentioned in the blazon.
The following all have a CD for the tincture of either the field or
the primary charge and almost certainly a second CD for type of cross:
Darya Kazakova - October of 1996 (via An Tir): (Fieldless) A cross of
four ermine spots conjoined sable.
Maximilian Delmonico - September of 1997 (via the Outlands):
(Fieldless) An equal-armed Celtic cross clechy sable
Allyn Samildanach - August of 1979 (via the West): (Tinctureless) A
cross of Samildanach
Darcy Graham - February of 1981 (via Ansteorra): Argent, a bowen knot
in cross sable
Clare RosMuire St. John - February of 1981 (via Ansteorra): Argent,
a
cross avellane sable, the center roundel gules
Aengus Stiubhard Mac Dhughaill - January of 1996 (via Calontir): Barry
and per pale argent and vert, a cross crosslet fitchy sable
Peter fra Marstal - September of 1988 (via the West): Gyronny vert and
argent, a Latin cross nowy pierced sable
Gwynneth Sanquebarr - November of 1977: Or, a cross gurgity sable
Lorraine Marcus - January of 1973 (via the West): Quarterly vert and
Or, a cross of Lorraine sable
The following might be problems for this cross:
Emeric Wendel - August of 1979: Per pale argent and gules, a Maltese
cross counterchanged. CD field. The Maltese cross, with it's splayed,
although straight, arms and notched ends has some visual similarities
with the cross Osmorog.
Teutonic Order - December of 1994 (via Laurel): (Fieldless) A Latin
cross formy sable fimbriated argent.
Dorothea of Caer-Myrddin - January of 1973: Argent, a cross patty
sable. CD field. The cross formy and cross patty with splayed, usually
curving arms also have similarities in appearance to the cross Osmorog.
Send it up.
Done by my hand this 25th day
of September, 2003
Rory mac Feidhlimidh, OP
Dragon Principal Herald
820 E Monroe St.
Bloomington, IL 61701
herald@midrealm.org