ÆTHELMEARC COLLEGE OF HERALDS - commentary archive
Letter of Intent #115
Myfanwy ferch Rhiannon

Feast of St.Brigid
1 February, AS XLIII

Greetings from Myfanwy!
Herein pray find commentary on Æ LoI # 115. Sorry if this is a bit late -- there was this little football game...! :-) :-) Everything has been conflict-checked through the October 2008 LoAR (I really hope they get interfiled into the O&A soon).
I remain your servant and the Society’s.
Lady Myfanwy ferch Rhiannon
Ruth Morrisson
myfanwy@nauticom.net

1. Brada Boda Æthelward -- Or, on a Douglas fir proper atop a mount vert a lantern Or.
I don’t have Searle. The online docs for <Brada> do list it as the name of three individuals, but it isn’t clear when double-checking the source material where the names were actually found in the text (although it might just be that I’m not using the database correctly).
The docs for <Boda> appear to be as cited (although I had the same problem with the PASE website as with the given name.
The PASE docs for the byname appear to be as cited, and I agree that the submitted spelling seems to be a plausible variant; I can’t seem to find the other cites online anyplace (and a Google search mostly turned up links to this LoI!); it appears to be some sort of unpublished article, or else something from something like a KWHSS proceedings, but I don’t think I have it, nor do I have Tengvik, the source Mari appears to be citing.
Artist’s note -- this submission was from the consult table at Heralds and Scribes in December. I have no idea if this is what a Douglas fir actually looks like, so I suspect it may get reblazoned as just a generic fir tree (the submitter left the event before the drawing was finished).
probably clear of: Christian of Orange (10/70 ??) -- Argent, an orange tree fructed proper issuant from a mount vert.
There is a CD for changing the field, and one for addition of the tertiary; there may not be one for the type of tree, as there is not a substantial change by X.2:
Per chevron gules and argent, three oak trees counterchanged [sic] does
conflict with Per chevron gules and argent, three fir trees counterchanged,
[sic] because the type of charge has not been substantially changed; they
both conflict with Per chevron gules and argent, two mullets and a fir tree
counterchanged
[sic] because not all of the primary charges have been
substantially changed.
probably clear of: Godwyn Penkerris o Wythial (3/85 East) -- Per fess vert, fretty Or, and Or, in base an oak tree proper, fructed Or, issuant from a mount vert.
There is a CD for adding the tertiary charge; there is probably one for changing half the field and one for removing the fretty.
clear of: Darien Tevarson (badge, 11/87 An Tir) -- Or, a cedar tree proper issuant from a mount, all within a bordure vert.
There is a CD for removing the bordure, and one for addition of the tertiary charge.
probably clear of: Adaliza Firz Symmons of Elmestone (10/08 Atenveldt) -- Or, a tree eradicated vert and a base vert platy.
There is a probably a CD for type of tree. There is a CD for removing the tertiaries on the base (but possibly not one for changing the base to a mount) and one for adding the tertiary to the tree. There may also be one for position/arrangement, since on the prior registration the tree is not issuant.

2. Chernislava Alekseeva -- Vert, a winged enfield maintaining a rapier Or, a chief erminois.
The name docs for both elements are as cited.
The enfield is rampant. I don’t know whether enfields have a default posture, so this probably needs to be specified.
Possible reblazon: Vert, a winged enfield rampant maintaining a rapier Or, a chief erminois.
Possible reblazon: Vert, a winged enfield segreant maintaining a rapier Or, a chief erminois.
probably clear of: Ginevra Visconti (8/01 Trimaris) -- Vert, a greyhound rampant to sinister regardant argent collared purpure and a chief erminois.
There is a CD for changing the critter’s tincture, and there should be one for changing its orientation; there may also be one for adding the wings. There may not, however, be a CD for type.

3. Ciar ingen uí Chrotaig
The docs for the given name and for the patronymic construction are as cited.
I don’t have either Woulfe or MacLysaght.
I also checked to see if I could find the byname in any other format. I did a search on the CELT website [URL: http://www.ucc.ie/celt/] and found a link for that Annála Connacht for 1256 [URL: http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100011/text033.html]; in the text I found the name <Gilla Isa Mac in Crotaig >. I presume, given the other documentation provided, that <Chrotaig> is the lenited form of <Crotaig>, but haven’t figured out what the nominitive form of the name would be. Additionally, there may be a temporal discrepancy, since there appears to be a nearly 600 year gap between the name elements as currently documented.

4. Clemente de Warrewyk (badge) -- (Fieldless) An anchor per pale argent and sable.
probably clear of: Castellana de la Cueva (3/06 Northshield) -- Per fess wavy and per pale argent and sable fretty counterchanged and azure and argent, in base an anchor counterchanged.
There is a CD for field vs. fieldless, and probably one for removing the fretty. I checked the emblazon for the prior registration on the Northshield College of Herald’s website [http://web.northshield.org:8081/index.php?system=news&obj=item&func=display&category=118&item=210] to see what it actually *looked* like, since I couldn’t visualize it from the blazon :-( and it turns out that there is *not* a CD for tincture of the anchor itself.

5. David Chadwyk
The docs for the given name are as cited.
I don’t have Bardsley. Reaney and Wilson [p. 89, sn Chadwick] does not give the submitted form for the byname, but does have [Chadwyck] as a subsidiary header form, and cites <Andrew de Chadewyke [sic]> dated to 1328, so if the Bardsley docs are as cited this should be fine.

6. Gabrielle Winter
The docs for the given name are as cited; additionally, Although not giving a dated citation, Withycombe [p. 124, sn Gabriel(le)] says:
in the Middle Ages Gabriel [sic] (in Latin Gabriela [sic] or Gabella [sic]) was
used as a woman’s as well as a man’s name.
I don’t have Bardsley; Reaney and Wilson [p. 496, sn Winter] give several 12th century cites, but nothing as late as the submitted docs for the given name.
While there is no problem with the combination of French and English, there really isn’t a dated citation to bring the time period of the two name elements together (note: I presume that the submitter is a new herald, because of the somewhat awkward phrasing “no step from period practice”; someone should tip her off that she could just say something like “the combination of French and English elements are acceptable/are registrable”). I suspect that the name is fine, however.


7. Helewys Spynnere (badge) -- (Fieldless) A wool-pack argent.
This is the default orientation, and is drawn more or less as found in the PIC-DIC [sn Wool-pack, and fig. 808].
possibly clear of: Catalina de Almería y Tiermas (1/90 Outlands) -- (Fieldless) A cushion crosswise argent within a necklace of beads in annulo gules, its thread knotted in sinister chief and passing through the eye of a needle bendwise sinister, point in base, Or, piercing the cushion.
There is a CD for fieldless vs. fieldless; it isn’t clear whether the beads are a secondary charge or (effectively) maintained. It also isn’t clear what the orientation of the cushion is from the blazon, so this is probably going to have to have a visual comparison.

8. Isabele of Dunbar -- Per bend argent and purpure, a wolf rampant counterchanged.
clear of: Angharat verch Reynulf (3/02 An Tir) -- (Fieldless) A wolf rampant barry argent and purpure.
There is a CD for field vs fieldless, and one for the tincture of the wolf (i.e., from “barry” to “per bend”).

9. Jok Macpherson -- Per fess dancetty azure and vert, in chief a thistle Or.
The docs for both name elements are as cited.
Possible reblazon: Per fess indented azure and vert, in chief a thistle Or.
probably clear of: Caressa de Marchena (11/79 West) -- Per fess gules and sable, issuant from base a stalk of three sunflowers, one and two, throughout proper. [Helianthus annus]
There is a CD for changing the field, and probably at least one for changing the type and number of of flowers.
probably clear of: Oriana la Fleur de Bruse (11/89 Outlands) -- Azure, a thistle bendwise sinister Or.
There is a CD for changing half the field, and there should be one for the orientation of the thistle. There may not be one for position/arrangement: the thistle has to be either completely on one section of the field or the other, so as not to overlay the low-contrast line of division.

10. Lasairfhíona inghean Uî Ghallchobhair -- Argent, two lions rampant addorsed tails entwined gules, a chief indented sable.
Wow, was I really herald of record? I thought I just drew it [Coronation seems forever ago.... :-) ]
Yup, that’s how the name is listed on the December 2007 LoAR (not sure why the <U> in <Uí> is capitalized, but it apparently is.
clear of: Ianthe Delfini del Mare (10/08 Caid) -- Argent, a lion rampant contourny maintaining a pomegranate gules, a chief embattled sable.
There is a CD for adding one of the lions, and one for changing the type of complex line on the chief.

11. Margarita de Siena -- Per pale argent and sable, on a goblet bendwise sinister inverted distilling a goutte de sang a daisy counterchanged seeded gules, on a chief three mullets counterchanged.
The docs for the given name are as given, as are the docs for <Siena>.
Fusilla appears to be on the do not photocopy list, according to Appendix H of the Admin Handbook [URL: http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/admin.html], but I’m not familiar with it. I would have thought that the name should be <da Siena>.

12. Ol’ga Godunova
The docs for both name elements are as cited; note that in addition, the submitted byname form is found under <Godunova> although dated to just OOP (1626), in the name <Ivanova zhena Ivanovicha Godunova [sic] Orina Nikitichna>.

13. Ragnailt Maccuigham
The docs for the given name are as cited.
The docs for the byname are also as cited; however, there doesn’t appear to be any evidence that any of these words are found in period (i.e., that this is modern -- relatively speaking -- Irish, rather than either Old Irish Gaelic or Middle Irish Gaelic). Note also that the *actual* citation is for <Marcuigham>, not <Maccuigham> (which appears to be a typo in both the LoI and cited documentation).

14. Rubyn Makdonald -- Sable, a wyvern displayed Or within an orle of mullets of six argent.
The docs for both name elements are as cited..
probably clear of: Conrad von Zuberbuehler (12/96 Atenveldt) -- Sable, a cockatrice displayed Or a bordure compony argent and gules.
There is at least one CD for changing the bordure to the orle of mullets, and there is probably a CD for type (by Precedent from Jaelle’s tenure:
[a dragon vs a cockatrice] [sic] We do not normally give a difference for
changing the head only of a beast or monster. However, since they were
considered different monsters in period, and since the head is not obscured
in any way, we are willing to grant it the necessary CD to make it clear of
these possible conflicts. (Wolfger von Lausfenburg, 11/97 p. 10)
probably clear of: Kjartan Wainwright (6/90 West) -- Sable, a dragon passant Or, in chief three Kendal flowers proper.
There is a CD for change of posture (although not of type); there is probably at least one for changes to the secondaries (type, number and arrangement).
possibly clear of: Sunniva Ormstung (7/96 East) -- Sable, a dragon sejant reguardant, wings displayed and tail nowed to base, in chief a demi-sun Or.
There is at least one CD for changes to the secondaries (type, tincture, number); there may or may not be one for posture, however, given the wing position.
possibly not clear of: Daffyd ap Caradoc (5/84 Atlantia) -- Sable, a wingless, gules hydra, tail nowed, Or.
There is a CD for addition of the secondaries; there may be one for type but not for posture.
clear of: Valgard Leifsson (3/93 Middle) -- Sable, a wyvern displayed and sinister facing Or, charged on each wing with a goblet gules.
There is a CD for adding the secondaries, and removing the tertiaries; note that there is
probably nothing for the head position.
clear of: Nicholas of Thistletorr (12/91 West) -- Sable, a dragon displayed, head facing sinister, between three roses argent.
There is a CD for change of tincture of the primary charge (but not of type or head position) and at least one for type and number of secondaries.
possibly clear of: Michael Drache (10/93 Middle) -- Sable, a dragon dormant between five mullets in annulo argent.
There is at least one CD for changing the tincture and posture of the dragon. There may be CDs for number and arrangement of the secondaries.

15. Tadhg Sotal Ó Néill
Online docs for <Tadhg> are as cited. Additionally, ÓC&M [p. 168] gives this spelling as a post-1200 header form.
The docs for the given name and the descriptive appear to be as cited; however, they seem to be fairly far apart temporally (the latest dated citation in the Annals article for <Sotal> is earlier than the earliest dated cite for <Tadhg>.
The docs for the patronymic form appear to be as cited; however in the raw data for the patronymic construction, I didn’t find a dated citation for <Ó Néill>, only for <Uí Néill/Uí Neill> -- and these were for (very) late 1400 -early 1500 cites (which may throw an *additional* temporal inconsistency into the mix).

16. William Peregrinus -- Per bend sinister gules and sable, a cross bottony and on a chief argent a falcon rising winged [sic] addorsed and inverted sable between two roses gules.
The docs for the given name are as cited. Additionally, although not giving a dated citation, Withycombe [pp. 293-94] says the name:
was introduced into England by the Normans in the 11th C [sic], from
which time it has held its place as one of the com- [sic] monest men’s
names (from the 16th to 19th C [sic], for instance, it averages 20 [sic]
per cent. [sic] of baptismal entries in parish registers), tying with John
for first place.
I don’t have Bardsley; however, the Reaney and Wilson docs are as cited.
possibly clear of: Francis Martin (11/05 Æthelmearc) -- Per bend sinister azure and sable, a cross of Calvary and on a chief argent three ravens sable.
possibly clear of: Alainne d’Ancenis (2/05 Atlantia) -- Azure, a Latin cross of Toulouse and on a chief argent a fleur-de-lys azure between two crescents sable.
possibly clear of: Constanzia Moralez y de Zamora (6/01 Lochac) -- Gules, a cross of Santiago, on a chief argent three crescents sable.
In each case, there is a CD for changes to the field; and possibly one for changes to the tertiaries (type of all of them and tincture of more than half of them). There may or may not be one for the type of cross.
clear of: John Theophilus (12/87 West) -- Azure, a cross formy throughout and on a chief argent, three hearts gules.
clear of: Stephan of Atenveldt (11/07 Atenveldt) -- Per bend gules and sable, a cross formy and on a chief argent a fleur-de-lys between two roses gules.
possibly not clear of: Taliesin d’Acre (11/83 Caid) -- Sable, a cross of Jerusalem and on a chief argent three Maltese crosses gules.
In each case here is a CD for changing the field and one for changing the type of cross.
possibly clear of: Raven of Drachenheim (1/03 West) -- Sable, a Latin cross crosslet and on a chief argent a fleur-de-lys between two ravens regardant respectant sable.
There is a CD for changing half the field; there may be one for cumulative changes to the tertiaries (type and tincture of two, and type of the third). There is probably not one for the type of cross.
probably clear of: Adam of Erin (12/91 Atlantia) -- Vert, a celtic [sic] cross and on a chief argent three quatrefoils vert.
probably clear of: Gideon Lydiard (3/04 Æthelmearc) -- Vert, a cross moline and on a chief argent three torteaux.
In each case here is a CD for changing the field and probably one for type of cross (there is a CD between these crosses and a cross crosslet, so there is probably one between this and a cross bottony as well.
clear of:Donnchadh Farris (12/86 Trimaris) -- Per bend sinister gules and sable, on a cross crosslet fitchy argent, a mullet of eight points gules between four horseshoes in cross, open ends to center, azure.
There is at least one CD for removing the charged chief, and one for addition of the tertiary charges on the cross. There is however, not one for field or for the type of cross.

Bibliography
Black, George F. The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning, and History.
Edinburgh: Birlinn Ltd., 1999, 2004 [copyright: The New York Public Library, 1946].

Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme [Bruce Miller] and Akagawa Yoshio [Kevin Munday].
A Pictorial Dictionary of Heraldry As Used in The Society for Creative Anachronism,
2nd Ed., 1992.

http://oanda.sca.org

http://www.s-gabriel.org/

http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/precedents.html

http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/rfs.html

http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/loar/

Ó Corráin, Donnchadh, and Fidelma Maguire. Irish Names. Dublin: The Lilliput Press,
1981. 1990.

Reaney, P. H. and R. M. Wilson. A Dictionary of English Surnames, Rev. 3rd Ed.
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Paul Wickenden of Thanet [Paul W. Goldschmidt]. A Dictionary of Period Russian
Names, 3rd.Ed. Normal, IL: S.C.A. Inc. -- Free Trumpet Press West, 2000.

Withycombe, E. G. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, 3rd Ed.
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other URLs as cited