Minutes of the April 1996 Meeting

[Note: These submissions appear on the Sep 1996 LoAR]

Notes and Announcements

The April meeting of the Caidan College of Heralds began at 11:15 on Sunday, 14 April 1996. In attendence were: Albyn Buckthorne; Manus le Dragonier; Madawc Seamus Caradawg; Ghislaine d'Auxerre; Gautier Langelier; Hrorek Halfdane of Faulconwood; Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme; Wilhelm Roderick FitzLovel; Catrin ferch Dafydd; Katherine of Anglesay; James of the Lake; Kelan McBride of Arainn; Miguel Esteban Franco de los Rios; Astrið Selr Leifsdottir (with Elisabeth and Nathan); Morgan O'Daire; Seosaidh MacFaoilcheire; Marie Elaine de Womwell.

The last two Laurel Letter of Acceptances and Returns (LoAR)s were discussed (two because the March LoAR was received in time to be discussed).

In the March LoAR, a holding name was formed for the unregisterable "Grímr Blóthúlfr Berserkr" as "John of Dreiburgen". This is the second "John of Dreiburgen"; the same holding name was previously formed when the College declined to register "John Sterling" in July of 1988. Crescent will so inform Laurel in the next Letter of Intent.

Marcel Longueville's device was registered by Laurel as: Argent a tyger rampant contourney between flaunches azure. This is a substantive error in blazon as the submission was in fact Argent a tyger rampant contourney purpure between flaunches azure. This word was omitted in Caid's LoI; we are resubmitting the correction on this month's LoI.

Finally, on a lighter note, Baron Bruce shared with us the following mnemonic ditty, whose origins are in the West:

D'eau, a goute, a silver goute,
D'or, a drop of golden sun,
D'huile, a drop of olive oil,
Poix, some pitch that's on the run,
Sang, a needle-prick that's bled,
Larmes, the azure tears that flow,
Vin, a drink with thou and bread,
That will bring us back to D'eau!

Descant:

Though you know the terms to say,
Use the tinctures anyway!

Caid, Kingdom of

Crossed Swords of Caid (Award) (New badge)

Per fess argent and azure two swords in saltire counterchanged and Azure, two swords in saltire within a bordure embattled argent.

Badge:

These are checked for potential conflict before being submitted to their Majesties for final decision. The second blazon has conflicts found in Papworth but not anyone of sufficient importance to warrant protection under the Modest Proposal.

Neither device appears to have any conflicts.

PENDED FOR DISCUSSION WITH THEIR MAJESTIES.

Angels, Barony of

Erich von Drachenholt (Resub name, Resub badge)

Argent masoned sable, a dragon segreant coward gules.

Name:

The submitter's previous submission was returned for administrative reasons.

"Erich" is found in [Jansson, 1967, p. 694] under the heading of "Erik" cited as early as the 12th century. It is also found on page 123 of [Bahlow, 1972]under the heading of "Erich" with the earliest citation being 1377; since the submitter wishes a "more Germanic spelling" of his actual given name, this would appear to be the more relevant of the two.

"von" is the German form of "from" or "of".

"Drachen" is found in Deutsche Namenkunde on page 335 under the heading of Drache(e). "Drache" itself is also found in [Bahlow, 1972], under the heading "Draa(c)k", dated to 1357.

Supporting the use of "Drachen-" as a prefix in toponyms, [Bahlow, 1965, p. 87] notes "Drakenstedt" and the [Seltzer, 1952] notes "Drachenfels" (incidentially asserted to be the site of Sigfried's fight with the dragon in folklore).

"-holt" is found in [Bahlow, 1972]on page 246 under the heading of "Holt". This, along with the submitter's documentation, (Deutsche Namenkunde) on page 257 under the heading of "Holz", would seem to support the use of this name as a toponymic.

The submitter includes photocopies of pages from a book or books which he identifies as Deutsche Namenkunde to support the use of "Drachen" and "- holt". He does not, however, include a title page or bibliographic information, and it is not completely clear that the three included pages are all from the same book. However, he has correctly reported the contents of the pages he provides in support.

Badge:

Conflicts with the badge of Bela of Eastmarch (6/76), Gyronny sable and argent, a dragon rampant gules, armed and webbed vert. There is one CD for the field but nothing for the armed and webbing.

Note: This is in conflict with the submitter's other badge submission at this meeting. The submitter has provided a letter of permission to conflict with himself.

NAME APPROVED AND SENT TO LAUREL.
BADGE RETURNED FOR CONFLICT.

Erich von Drachenholt (Resub badge)

(Fieldless) a dragon segreant coward gules.

Name:

Approved at this meeting (see above)

Badge:

Conflicts with the badge of Bela of Eastmarch (6/76), Gyronny sable and argent, a dragon rampant gules, armed and webbed vert. There is one CD for the field but the changes to the tail, arming and webbing do not constitute a second CD.

Note: This is in conflict with the submitter's other badge submission at this meeting. The submitter has provided a letter of permission to conflict with himself.

BADGE RETURNED FOR CONFLICT.

Yllaria of Wildewode (Resub name, Resub device)

Sable, on a fess dovetailed argent a wolf's head erased gules

Name:

Her previous submission was returned by Caid for administrative reasons.

"Yllaria" is an English variant of Hilary, dated to 1203 by [Withycombe, 1977, page 152].

The byname "of Wildewode" is also English, formed from "wilde" 'uncultivated land' and "wode" 'wood'; [Reaney, 1976] shows "wilde" on page 383ff, with comments that nicknames fromed with a component of "wild- " were common (this discussion is under the heading "wildblood"). Reaney also shows "wode" on page 389. [Ekwall, 1960] provides evidence that the practice extended to place names, with "wilde" found on pg. 519, showing the example "wildemor (wastemoor)" and "wode" on page 531, with the example "wodeford" dated to circa 1225.

Device:

No conflicts found.

NAME AND DEVICE APPROVED AND SENT TO LAUREL.

Yllaria of Wildewode (Resub badge)

(Fieldless) A wolf's head erased gules

Name:

Accepted at this meeting (see above)

Badge:

Conflicts with Carol of the Steppes, Per bend sinister Or and sable in dexter chief a hounds head couped gules.

BADGE RETURNED FOR CONFLICT.

Carreg Wen, Shire of

Cristina of Carreg Wen (Resub device)

Argent ermined azure and on a chief embattled azure an arrow fesswise point to dexter Or.

Name:

Registered September 1994

Device:

Against Melisande de Westemere, Argent , ermined and on a chief urdy azure three crosses clechy Or, we feel that there is a clear difference between the urdy and embattled lines of division.

DEVICE APPROVED AND SENT TO LAUREL.

Aidan Brandr Arinbjornson (Resub device)

Erminois, on a mullet of nine points vert a wolf rampant holding a sword and shield Argent.

Name:

Registered by Laurel, February 1990

Device:

His previous submission was returned for conflict.

Conflicts with (Fieldless) On a compass star of sixteen points vert, a boar's head erased argent armed with a unicorn's horn Or [Badge: Harold von Auerbach - Aug. 90 East], and with Or, on a sun vert, two lion's heads erased, addorsed and conjoined at the neck argent [Device- Elspeth Starwatcher, Jan. 87]. Note that there is not a CD between mullets or compass stars of more than eight points or between them and suns (precendent?).

DEVICE RETURNED FOR CONFLICT.

Cloudy River, Shire of

Arthur of Anchoridge (New name, New device)

Vert, on a chevron Or three goutes gules.

Name:

"Arthur" is found on [Withycombe, 1977, page 32], with this spelling apparently dated to 796.

"Anchoridge" is found in the [Oxford University, 1971, page 313] under the heading of the same. It is cited to 1593 as being "the cell or retreat of an anchorite". Though it seems more likely that the name would be "Arthur of the Anchoridge" or "Arthur Anchoridge", this does not appear to be sufficient weirdness to be cause for return.

Device:

Conflicts with the arms of Theodore the Emerald (1/73), Vert, on a chevron Or three brilliant cut emeralds seen from above proper. There is only one CD for the change of type and tincture of the tertiaries.

NAME APPROVED AND SENT TO LAUREL.
DEVICE RETURNED FOR CONFLICT.

Bronwen of Glamorgan (New name, New device)

Or, a cross formy sable charge with an estoile Or, in base an ermine spot gules.

Name:

"Bronwen" is found in [Gruffudd, 1980, page 17].

"Glamorgan" is found on [Seltzer, 1952, page 685] as a coal-mining village in southeast Wales. It is also found in Jonston's The Place Names of England and Wales on page 274 dated to 1242.

Device:

The device is fine but would be considerably better if the secondary (ermine spot) were drawn larger -- and even better if the ermine spot were to be removed all together.

NAME AND DEVICE APPROVED AND SENT TO LAUREL.

Darach, Shire of

Phiala Etain nic Uaid (New name, New device)

Per pale vert and sable a scorpion inverted argent and on a chief gules three crescents inverted Or.

Name:

The submitter asserts that "Phiala" was a 5th Century Irish saint, killed in Cornwall. We were unable to confirm her assertion the existance of this name and we would prefer additional evidence (i.e. photocopies of the title page and referenced page of the book being used as documentation)

"Etain" is found in [Withycombe, 1977] on page 107. It is cited as Anglicized form of the name of the heroine of an Irish myth, "Etaoin" in Irish. In addition to other problems with this name, there does not seem to have been a practice of combining Irish and Anglicized forms.

"nic" is "daughter of."

"Uaid" is found in [Bell, 1988] on page 180 under the heading of "MacQuaid", which is asserted to be "originally in Gaelic MacUaid 'son of Watt' ".

To the best of the College of Arms' knowledge, Irish Gaelic names did not occur with double given name. Because of this, such names are currently disallowed in forming Irish Gaelic names.

Device:

Placing a colored chief on a colored field runs afoul of the "law of tincture" (expressed as RFS VIII.2, Armorial Contrast), and is not known to be a period practice.

In a redesign we note that if the submitter changes the chief to Or, it will introduce a conflict.

NAME AND DEVICE RETURNED FOR FURTHER WORK.

Dreiburgen, Barony of

Francine de Rouen (New name, New device)

Argent, on a fess between four ermine spots sable, three and one, a leopard (or lion passant guardant) brandishing a sword argent.

Name:

"Francine" is found in [Dauzat, 1987] on page 267 under the heading of "Francin".

"Ruen" is said to be a place name in France. We were, however, unable to document this spelling. We are therefore submitting the spelling "Rouen" found in [Dauzat, ] on page 576.

Device:

While Argent, on a fess sable between four ermine spots, three and one, a leopard brandishing a sword argent would also be a clear blazon, we have chosen to place the tincture after the ermine spots, conveniently removing any ambiguity in their default coloration. Blazoning the leopard as a lion passant guardant would also be perfectly reasonable, but since the default exists...

There was some discussion regarding the position of the sword; we elected to use the term brandishing to indicate that the sword was being held in the paw, but not in the upright position usually associated with maintaining or sustaining.

Compared with the arms of Randall of Hightower (1/93), Ermine, on a fess gules a lion passant guardant Or, there is one CD for the tincture of the fess. We consider the number of ermine spots here to be distinct (i.e. a CD) from the "many" spots that would be present on a semy and therefore CD from an ermine field.

We note that the discussion in RFS X.4.f indicates that four (of a charge) is significantly different from six or more.

NAME AND DEVICE APPROVED AND SENT TO LAUREL.

Jeffery de Bruin (new name)

Name:

"Jeffery" is the submitter's given name.

Despite the apparent familiarity of the byname, we were unable to directly document "de Bruin". However, we note that "Bruine" is attested in [Dauzat, 1987, p. 71]. Given the regular addition/subtraction of a trailing "e" as a part of the masculine and feminine forms of adjectives, the dropping of a trailing "e" does not seem entirely implausible, although it is not directly supported by modern French grammar.

APPROVED AND SENT TO LAUREL

Henri St. Jean le Blanc (Resub name)

Name:

His previous submission, "Henry d'Agincourt", was returned by Laurel; the accompanying armory was registered under the holding name "Clayton of Dreiburgen" in April 1994.

"Henri" is found in [Dauzat, 1987] on page 324.

"St. Jean" is a French form of St. John; we note Dauzat's incidental reference to St Jean in his citation of "St Jean le Blanc" as a place name in France (page 605). In in addition to Dauzat's mention of the town by that name, the submitter provides an annotated map of the battle of Órleans, giving the names of a number of the bastilles surrounding the town, one of which was the "Bastille de St. Jean le Blanc".

"le Blanc", meaning "the white" is discussed in [Dauzat, 1987] on page 46 (under the heading "blanc"). We also note the reference to "Jeanblanc" in Dauzat page 343 under the heading "Jean+".

The formation of names from personal names with a prefixed "Saint", and the actual use of saints' names as surnames is discussed in [Dauzat, 1987] on pages 534-536, including cases where the prefix is apparently ironic.

This combination of facts leads to three related potential justifications for this name:

• Henri St Jean [where the name has passed into usage as a surname] called the white (le Blanc)
• Henri [from] St Jean le Blanc, which is apparently the submitter's intended meaning. We are uncertain if unmarked toponymics are attested in French.
• The possibility that since names of the form "St Jean" passed into use as a surname so might "St. Jean le Blanc", although we know of no direct evidence for this.

While none of the three is necessarily compelling, each seems plausible enough to give the submitter the benefit of the doubt.

NAME APPROVED AND SENT TO LAUREL.

Dragons Citadel, Canton of (Dreiburgen)

Rafael Gavilan Ramirez de la Fuente (New name)

Name:

"Rafael" is found in [de Love, 1982, pg. 50-51, 310].

"Gavilan" is found in [Tibón, 1988, page 106].

"Ramirez" is found on [Gosnell, 1938, pg 64- 65], with an apparent dating to the 12th century on page 25, and also in [de Love, 1982, pg. 40].

In modern Spanish, we find "de la" as "of the"; and "Fuente" as "fountain" or "spring" [Gonzalez, 1982].

NAME APPROVED AND SENT TO LAUREL

Gallavally, Canton of (Dreiburgen)

Seamus Rudah mac Maitiu (Resub (Laurel) name)

Name:

The submitter's previous name submission, "Seamus Maitiu an Ruaid" was returned by Laurel in the LoAR of January 1996; the submitter has elected to take one of Laurel's suggestions to correct the problems with his prior submission. This choice was listed with the meaning of Red James the son of Matthew.

"Seamus" is found in [Ó Corrain and Maguire, 1981, pg. 163].

"Rudah" is Irish Gaelic for "Red" [according to?]

"mac" marks the patyonymic.

"Maitiu" is found in [Withycombe, 1977, pg. 213] under the heading for "Matthew". The spelling "Maitiu" is dated to 1086, as a variant of "Matthew" found in the Domesday Book.

APPROVED AND SENT TO LAUREL

Caitlín ní Dhuibheasa Uí Dhubhuidhir (Resub Laurel name)

Name:

Her previous submission, "Caitlín Duibheasa Ó Duibhir", was returned by Laurel at the February 1996 meeting, with the accompanying armory registered under the holding name "Carol of Gallavally". In the commentary accompanying the return, Laurel suggests as an alternative the form being submitted, but considered it more than a minor change, and so returned it for the submitter's further input.

APPROVED AND SENT TO LAUREL.

Gyldenholt, Barony of

James Andrew MacAllister (New badge)

On a cross-crosslet fitchy argent a compass star azure.

Name:

Registered March 1989

Badge:

Note: This is a change of the joint badge held between James and his wife, Ghislaine d'Auxerre. If this badge is registered by Laurel, they wish their previous joint badge, Per chevron, azure and vert, two compass stars argent and a bear passant contourny Or, to be released. A letter to this effect is included.

Compared to the badge of David of Moffat (7/94), (Fieldless) A cross-crosslet argent quarter-pierced gules, there is a CD for the fieldlessness and a CD for the type and tincture of the tertiary. Along the same lines, when compared to the badge of Sofya Ioannovna Starokevskaya (5/92), [Fieldless] A cross bottony fitchy argent surmounted by a rose purpure, there is a CD for the fieldlessness and a CD for the type and tincture of the tertiary.

BADGE APPROVED AND SENT TO LAUREL.

Morgan Arthur ap Llewellyn (Resub Badge)

Per pale vert and bendy argent and vert, a rose Or.

Name:

Registered by Laurel 8/86

Badge:

His original submission, Per pale vert and bendy sable and Or, a rose Or returned by Kingdom for having a charge on a same-tinctured field.

The badge conflicts with the badge for the (Caidan) Legion of Courtesy, (Fieldless) A rose Or (registered February 1996, but in use for much longer). The badge was pended in Caid's February meeting in order to determine the status of the requisite permission; permission to conflict having not been given, this must be returned.

BADGE RETURNED FOR CONFLICT.

Ildhafn, Incipient Shire of

Ildhafn, Shire of (Resub device)

Per pale azure and argent, chap ploy, two lymphads and a laurel wreath counterchanged.

Name:

Registered by Laurel in October 1995

Device:

The shire's previous submission of June '95, Per pale argent and azure, on a mountain two lymphads and a Laurel wreath, all counterchanged, was returned for unrecognizablity of the mountain because as drawn it appeared to be a badly drawn chief. The current submission corrects this.

This device was previously pended awaiting a petition of support from the populace. Such a petition having been received, the device is now being forwarded.

DEVICE APPROVED AND SENT TO LAUREL.

Lyondemere, Barony of

Stephen de Huyn (Resub (appeal) badge)

(Fieldless) A cross of Santiago argent.

Name:

Registered by Laurel April 1982

Badge:

This badge was returned by Laurel in the belief that the charge was not attested in period. Baron Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme has provided a three page summary of the historical evidence, which is attached (not including photocopies of the relevant references, which add another twenty-nine pages). The photocopies of the relevant passages are included in the Laurel packet, but not in the other copies of the LoI.

The Caidan College of Heralds supports this appeal.

BADGE APPEAL SENT TO LAUREL.

Nordwache, Barony of

Seanach Ó hAodha (Resub name, Resub device)

Or, a crescent and on a chief triangular sable a massacre Or.

Name:

The submitter's previous effort, "Hagen Seanaeiche" was returned by Laurel in December 1994.

[Ó Corrain and Maguire, 1981] shows "Seanach" on page 164 as derived from "sen"_"ancient,old", and asserts that it was a very common early Irish name.

"Ó hAodha" is cited by [MacLysaght, 1985, pg. 151] as the name of a sept of the Corca Laoidhe, and comments that it is there seldom anglicized "Hayes" as it is elsewhere (discussed under "(O) Hea").

Device:

We have redrawn the device to more clearly represent the submitter's intent (deduced from the several file copies of this submission, which has previously been returned because of problems with the name).

NAME AND DEVICE APPROVED AND SENT TO LAUREL

Wintermist, Shire of

Galen the Clumsy (New name, New device)

Argent, a natural panther rampant between six daggers inverted sable and a sinister tierce azure.

Name:

"Galen" is found in [Neilson, 1951] as the commonly used personal name of a Greek physician in the 2nd century A.D. This individual's name was Romanized as "Claudius Galenus", as cited in Lampriere's, so there is some doubt that it was in fact a personal name but given the wide spread reference by this individual by "Galen" alone gives us the reason to believe that this acceptable.

"Clumsy" is a modern spelling of the more ancient version "Clumsie" (c.1600) found in [Oxford University, 1971] under the heading "Clumsy".

Device:

The colouring of the emblazon leaves something to be desired, especially in allowing the details of the panther to be seen, but the underlying drawing seems to be okay. Therefore, we are unwilling to return a device just for the colouring job of the submitter.

NAME AND DEVICE APPROVED AND SENT TO LAUREL.

Kristofer Olafsson (New name, New device)

Argent, a stag's head affronty erased proper and a chief embattled azure.

Name:

"Kristofer" -- "Christopher" is found on page 65-66 of [Withycombe, 1977]. It appears to have been common practice in Swedish naming practices to interchange back and forth the "C" for "K" and "F" for quot;PH". Also supporting "Kristofer" as a plausible Scandanavian name is the example cited in [Haraldsson, 1977] on page 13, "Kristoforus", and the list of names in [Jansson, 1967] under the letter "C" which consist of cross-references to the equivalent name beginning with "K" -- "Kristoffer" being among them (col 556).

"Olafsson" is a common construct of the Norse naming practice of patronymics. "Olaf" is found on page 231- 232 of [Withycombe, 1977], and, of course, is perfectly reasonable Old Norse.

NAME AND DEVICE APPROVED AND SENT TO LAUREL.

Tabitha Leah meen Samarra (Resub name -- change of holding name)

Name:

Her previous submission "Samrah shel Shemish Blackrune" was returned by Laurel in November 1990. The accompanying armory was registered under the name "Cinde of Wintermist".

According to [Easton, 1989, p. 651], "Tabitha" was a Christian disciple, know in Greek as "Dorcas"; the name is also found in [Withycombe, 1977, pg. 274].

"Leah" was the wife of Jacob, again according to [Easton, 1989], pg. 417; [Withycombe, 1977] shows the name on page 192.

The submitter asserts that "meen" is a preposition in Hebrew meaning "of" or "from".

"Samarra" is a city in Iraq on the east bank of the Tigris River 97 km. north of Baghdad [Seltzer, 1952].

NAME APPROVED AND SENT TO LAUREL

Notes

The meeting ended at 4:10. Minutes were taken by Battlement and Ghislaine d'Auxere.

References

Bahlow, H. (1965). Deutschlands Geographische Namenwelt. Klostermann, Frankfurt am Main.

Bahlow, H. (1972). Deutsches Namenlexikon. Suhrkamp, Baden-Baden.

Bell, R. (1988). The Book of Ulster Surnames. Blackstaff, Belfast and St. Paul, Minnesota.

Dauzat, A. Dictionnaire Étymologique des Noms de Lieux en France. Larousse, Paris.

Dauzat, A. (1987). Dictionnaire Étymologique des Noms de Famille et des Prénoms de France. Larousse, Paris. Reviewed and augmented by Marie-Thérèse Morlet.

de Love, F. A. (1982). Nombres Propios Espa{n }oles. Editorial Vosgos, Barcelona.

Easton, M. G. (1989). Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Crescent Books, New York, New York. Originally published by T. Nelson & Sons, 1894.

Ekwall, E. (1960). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names. Oxford/Clarendon, Oxford, fourth edition.

Gonzalez, M. (1982). Collins Spanish-English English- Spanish Dictionary. Berkley Books, New York, New York.

Gosnell, C. (1938). Spanish Personal Names. H. W. Wilson, New York, New York.

Gruffudd, H. (1980). Enwau i'r Cymry: Welsh Personal Names. Gorffennaf?, Talybont, Ceredigion, Wales.

Haraldsson, G. B. (1977). The Old Norse Name. Yggssalr Press, Olney, Maryland.

ibn Auda, D. (1994). Rules for Submissions of the College of Arms of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Society for Creative Anachronism, Milpitas, California. With updates as published in Laurel Letters.

Iulstan Sigewealding (Stephen R. Goldschmidt), editor (1995). An Ordinary of Arms of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Free Trumpet Press, 877 San Lucas Avenue, Mountain View, California, fifth edition. With semi-annual updates and an electronic edition.

Jansson, S. B. F., editor (1967). Sveriges medeltida personnamn (8 vols.). Almqvist & Wiksell, Uppsalsa & Stockholm. Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Ankikvitets Akademien, in the library of Eiríkr Sigurðarson.

MacLysaght, E. (1985). The Surnames of Ireland. Irish Academic Press, Dublin, sixth edition.

Neilson, W. A., editor (1951). Webster's Biographical Dictionary. G. & C. Merriam Co., Springfield, Mass.

Ó Corrain, D. and Maguire, F. (1981). Gaelic Personal Names. The Academy Press, Dublin.

Oxford University, editor (1971). The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Reaney, P. H. (1976). A Dictionary of British Surnames. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, second (R. M. Wilson) edition.

Seltzer, L. E., editor (1952). The Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World. Columbia University Press, Morningside Heights, New York.

Tibón, G. (1988). Diccionario Etimológico Comparado de los Apellidos Espan{o }les Hispanoamericanos y Filipinos. Editorial Diana.

Withycombe, E. G. (1977). The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names. Oxford University Press, Oxford, third edition. reprinted 1982.

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