March 15, 1999

Greetings unto Master Dmitrii Volkovich, Dragon; Lord Alan Fairfax, Rouge Scarpe; and the commenting members of the Midrealm College of Heralds; from Lord Paul Wickenden of Thanet, Escutcheon.

Here are the February 1999 submissions for your consideration and commenting. All commentary should be sent to Rouge Scarpe Herald, Alan Fairfax, early enough to arrive by May 1, 1999, with copies to Dragon and myself. Unless otherwise stated, all name submissions will accept minor and major changes to grammar and/or spelling.

There appears to be some commotion going on about what I write (and don't write) on the ILoIs. My job is to summarize the documentation that the client provides and give an appraisal of whether it will be sufficient to pass or not. None of this is done to pass judgment on the hard work of the client or their consultants, but merely to alert commentators of possible problems that we should address in-Kingdom. Occasionally I must take extraordinarily detailed (and well-documented) documentation and summarize it in order to make it fit in the LoI's format. While this may lead to inaccuracies and even outright mistakes, none of these mistakes are intentional. My intent in all cases is to serve the clients by providing a frank appraisal of the strengths and weakness of their submission.

1) Bastian Wolfhart. New Name and Device. Argent, upon a mount vert a wolf statant gules.

Bastian is attested to be a good 15th or 16th century according to what seems to be Scott, "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia." Wolfhart is dated to 1257 somewhere in Brechenmacher (no page or volume given). The documentation is very confusing and hopefully can be clarified before we send this to Laurel. The client cares most about meaning and would like an authentic name for an [unspecified, but probably German] language/culture.

Bastian is dated to 1538 in Brechenmacher (I: 78). Wolfhart is a header spelling in Ibid (II: 830) which gives the date 1257 for that spelling. Inserting these page-specific references should help this submission.

2) Caitlin of Greencastle. Device Resubmission. Argent, a horse rampant and a base purpure.

{Name reg'd 1/97}

The client's previous submission (Or, a castle, a bordure embattled vert) was returned by Rouge Scarpe for conflict with Sherri Lynn (Or, a tower vert) on 11/98. This is a complete redesign.

3) Carrick Mac Cucharraige. New Name and Device. Gules, a bull passant guardant Or.

Carrick is inferred through the patronymic MacCarrick in Black (465). The surname Cucharraige (meaning "rock hound") is in Ibid (465). The client requests that we correct the grammar of the patronymic and make any necessary genitive/nominative case changes as required.

4) Catriona MacKay. New Name and Device. Vert, on a bend Or, between two wolves' heads erased argent, three oak leaves in bend vert.

Catriona is documented from Dunkling (32) as a Gaelic form of Catherine or Katherine. Mac Kay is inferred through Black (387) as a "possible derivation of Macaoidh, as in the Isle of Man, the omission of 'mac' is recorded there as early as 1610. In Scotland the 'mac' may have been dropped earlier." The client cares most about language and would like her name to be authentic for [an unspecified, but probably Scots Gaelic] language/culture.

Morgan gives Catrìona as the Scottish equivalent of Catherine (I do not imagine that resolving the accents matters much in this case, but I bring it to your attention in case you feel it matters).

5) Clarissa Wykeham. Change of Registered Device. Or, a seablatt vert.

{Name reg'd 11/92}

If this device is registered, the client requests that her currently registered device (Or, on a chevron azure between three hearts gules, two swords conjoined at their points Or) be released.

6) Deirdre Wydeville. New Device. Vert, on a spiderweb throughout Or, in bend a mask of comedy and a mask of tragedy argent.

{Name reg'd 9/98}

7) Elena of Myddle. New Name and Device. Argent, a bend purpure between two bloodhounds statant gules.

Elena is dated to 1271 in Scott, "A List of Feminine Personal Names Found in Scottish Records." Myddle is the name of a town in Shropshire, according to Darby and Versey, Domesday Gazetteer (340). The client cares most about having an English name.

8) Elspeth Clerk. Name Resubmission.

The client previously submitted Elsby MacKristinn in Æthelmearc and it was returned by Laurel on 4/98 for lack of documentation of the given name. The client has opted for a more common name but the documentation she encloses is a bit shaky (and we request assistance).

Elspeth is documented from Barstow, Witchcraze (121) as the name of a witch hanged in 1671. The client writes, "Although her age is unknown, she had at least one child old enough to offer as a servant, placing her birth in late period." Clerk is dated to 1349 in Sims, Scottish Surnames (n.p.). The client cares most about the meaning of the surname which must have a "religious designation." She wants to have an authentic "Scottish" name.

The client misunderstands our "grey area" (1600-1650) which allows names that were in use up to 1650 as long as it can be shown that the person with the name had been born prior to 1600 (not 1650).

9) Giuliana Fornaciari. New Device. Gules, on a cross of flames, a bat sable.

{Name reg'd 4/94}

10) Isabella Somerhild. New Name and Device. Azure, on a chevron argent three roses azure, in base a phoenix rising from flames argent.

Isabella is from Scott, "Women's Given Names from Early 13th Century England." Somerhild dated to 1297 in Scott, "Feminine Given Names in A Dictionary of English Surnames". The client cares most and language/culture and wants an authentic [English?] name.

11) István Valkai. New Device. Gules, three chevronelles enhanced and a basset hound Or.

{Name reg'd ??/??}

I was unable to find any evidence that the client's name has been registered or is in process.

The client has attached documentation from McCarty, Basset Hounds that shows that the basset hound's predecessor (the St Hubert hound) dates to the 6th century or before and that such dogs were imported to England as early as the 15th century.

12) Julianna de Pardieu. New Name and Device. Per pale purpure and vert, a unicorn rampant contourny Or.

Julianna is documented from Scott, "Women's Given Names from Early 13th Century England." de Pardieu is found in "An Onomastikon (Dictionary of Names) at http://www.fairacre.demon.co.uk/England-Medieval/Norman/Surnames.htm. The client cares most about sound and wants an authentic 11-13th century Anglo-Norman name.

13) Lunari del Lupo. New Name.

The only documentation which is provided is De Felice, Nomi (242). Lupo is given on this page as a var of the German "Wolf" but there is no indication that del Lupo is an acceptable byname or that Lunari is anything at all. The client will NOT permit major OR minor changes to the grammar or spelling.

De Felice, Cognomi (155, under "Lupi") provides evidence that Lupo and other variants were used in the Middle Ages. We still need documentation of the given name.

14) Marguerite Gisele Mont du Chat. Device Resubmission. Per chervon argent and azure, a natural panther couchant sable and a decrescent Or.

{Name reg'd 5/98}

The client's previous submission (Argent, a natural panther couchant sable, on a chief azure, a decrescent between two mullets Or) was returned by Laurel on 5/98 for conflict with Ruben ben Yosef the Khazar (Argent, a catamount courant sable, on a chief azure, three stars of David Or) and Cerdic MacAoidh (Argent, an ounce rampant queue forchy sable spotted Or on a chief azure, three increscents Or). This resdesign clears both of the original conflicts.

15) Norborough, March of. New Group Device. Or, a pavilion vert within a laurel wreath, on a chief vert, three compass stars Or.

{Name reg'd 9/98}

A petition of support is included.

16) Philippe de Lyon. New Name and Device. Gules, three torches in pall inverted bases to center Or.

Philippe is in Dauzat (481). de Lyon is in Ibid (401). The client cares most about the language/culture and wants an authentic [French?] name.

17) Savaric de Pardieu. Device Resubmission. Quarterly argent and sable, five crosses swallowtail in saltire counterchanged.

{Name reg'd 6/98}

The client's previous submission (Quarterly argent and sable, a Maltese cross between four others, all counterchanged) was returned by Laurel on 6/98 because the center cross was drawn larger than the others. This problem has been rectified. In addition, the client has decided to switch to crosses swallowtail.

18) Seamus Albanach Mac Roibert. New Name and Device. Bendy sinister sable and argent, an equal-armed celtic cross potent gules.

A letter from the Academy of St Gabriel for "Roibert Albanach mac <father's name>" is attached as the sole documentation. This gives Albanach as a Gaelic word meaning "Scottish" according to Ó Baoill, "Scotticisms in a Manuscript of 1467." Roibert is dated to 1467 in an unknown source [no fault of Gabriel -- the client failed to include the complete bibliography]. Seamus is not discussed in the letter and thus undocumented. Obviously, this name needs a little help. The client cares most about language/culture and wants a 15th century Gaelic name.

Morgan gives Seumas as derived from Jacob. Any help on documenting this given name would be appreciated.

19) Simon Justus. Device Resubmission. Azure, a saltorel Or, overall a feather inverted argent.

{Name reg'd 12/98}

The client's previous submission (Azure, a saltire couped Or, overall a feather inverted argent tipped sable) was returned by Laurel on 12/98 for poor contrast and the ambiguity of the feather's coloration. The client has attempted to rectify the problem by making the feather solid argent. The question for us to answer is whether there is now adequate contrast now that the feather no longer has a sable tip. The "saltorel" is probably better described as a "saltire couped" but I leave that matter for others to decide.

20) Thora Grimsdottir. Name Resubmission.

The client's previous submission (Thora Grimsdóttir) was returned by Laurel on 5/98 for inconsistent spelling. Laurel specifically suggested resubmitting the name as Grimsdottir or Grímsdóttir. The client has opted for the former. The client cares most about Old Norse language and would like an authentic 10th century Scandanavian name.

21) Vladislav de Jaffa. Device Resubmission. Sable, a lion's head argent, and in base, a point pointed ermine.

{Name reg'd 1/97}

The blazon is the client's. I suggest the following reblazon: "Per chevron sable and ermine, in chief a lion's head erased argent." The client's previous submission (argent, a paw print counter ermine) was returned by Laurel on 1/97. This is a complete redesign.

22) Ysabel Natalia Osorio de León. Device Resubmission. Per chevron purpure and vert, two lions combattant Or and a chalice argent.

{Name reg'd 1/99}

The client's previous submission was returned by Laurel on 1/99 for a redraw. The client has obliged the request by drawing a much beefier chevron division (compare with her first submission on the 7/98 ILoI). The blazon has remained unchanged.

Yours In Service,

Paul Wickenden of Thanet

c/o Paul Goldschmidt
802 Bowman Ave
Madison WI 53716
608-224-0126
goldschp@uwplatt.edu

Dragon:

Rouge Scarpe: