"Well, life on the farm is kinda laid back ..." Since I wrote the last letter of intent, I've suffered two power outages. At least, the guy on the car radio said I was suffering. I wouldn't have noticed except I had to keep resetting the clocks on the VCR and microwave. I've gotten into the habit of not watching TV and reading by firelight with a cat on my lap instead. If I had known country life was this relaxing, I'd have moved years ago.
"Doe, a deer, a female deer ..." Somebody road-killed a doe in front of my house last week. Their solution to the problem was to drag it onto my front lawn and drive on. :( With a little instruction from friends and books, I've learned yet another country skill. My project for the rest of this winter is going to be tanning a deer hide. Right now the deer skin has been heavily salted and is sitting in my beer fridge alongside a jar labeled "Abe Somebody" :) Since I don't know how old the kill was when I found it, I didn't trust the meat. I donated the venison to the licensed falconer who lives down the road from me so he could feed it to his raptors. What? Me? Use a donation as an excuse to see a raptor up close and personally? Well, ... okay, guilty! :)
I would like to personally and publicly thank Cadell Blaidd du for the magnificent job he's been doing with the new and very much improved Æthelmearc Heralds' web site. He has scanned in EVERY document that this office has produced: all the internal letters of intent; all the letters of report; and all the external letters of intent to Laurel; along with all the letters of comment I've received and all of Laurel's rulings on Æthelmearc submissions; converted them to HTML files and posted them on the web-site. Additionally, he has MANUALLY cross referenced them so they are now indexed by submitter. If you want to check the progress of a submission, all you need to know is the name. Congratulations on a job well-done. Vivat! Vivat! Vivat!
Congratulations to Hamish MacLeod, Red Squid Pursuivant for the Shire of Coppertree, on his induction into the Order of the Keystone. Congratulations to Lyev Davidovitch, pursuivant at large, on his induction into the Order of the White Scarf. Both gentles received their honors at the Feast of the Seven Deadly Sins in Delftwood. Vivant! Vivant! Vivant!
Last year, I tried to produce an April Fool's letter of intent. My life got busy and the project fell by the way side. Juliana de Luna has proven she's "de Luna" and volunteered to produce this year's letter. Send all your best (worst?) puns, emblazons, flunky names, etc. to Julia Smith, 1155 Portland Street, Pittsburgh PA 15206-1501. I will be sending her the file of stuff I received for last year's attempt.
As always, you are welcome to comment on all or any part of this letter. E-mail is strongly encouraged. Send comments to: Lord Dagonell Collingwood, Garnet Herald; c/o David P. Salley, 5294 Webster Road; Fredonia, N.Y. 14063 or salley@k1aatu.canisius.edu Courtesy copies to: Cadell Blaidd du, AE Heralds Webmaster, c/o Trevor W. Schadt, 2352 Eldridge Street, Pittsburgh PA 15217, or owaru@myfamily.org. Due date is April 1, 2001 A.D. I A.S. XXXV
In Service,
Dagonell, Garnet Herald
01.) Áine ingen Morgainn uí Diarmata (F) -- new name and device
Áine -- O'C&M, pg. 19, early masculine name "it retained its popularity as a female name.
Morgainn -- Krossa, Simple Guide to Constructing 12th C. Scottish Gaelic Names lists this as a Genitive form from Book of Deir, 12th c.
Diarmata -- Jones, 100 Most Popular Men's Names in Early Medieval Ireland lists this as genitive.
"Argent, three triskeles azure."
Herald of Record: Juliana de Luna
02.) Alexander Ó Chonchobair (M) -- change of name to Alaxandair Ó Conchobhair and new device
Alaxandair -- (sn Alexander) Black lists this as a Gaelic spelling found in 1467
Ó Conchobhair -- MacLysaught (sn O'Connor) gives this as the Gaelic form of the name recorded in Black in 1622 as Oconochar -- Black asserts it's an "ancient" Irish name.
If this is passed, his old name Alexander Ó Chonchobair (date registered?) is to be released.
"Sable, two chevronels Or and in base a broad arrow argent."
Herald of Record: Juliana de Luna
Antoinette -- the submitter's legal middle name is Antoinette (photocopy of daughter's birth certificate with submitter's name on it is enclosed) The name is also found at Saint Gabriel's in the article Sixteenth Century Norman Names by Cateline de la Mor (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/cateline/normanl6.html) Note that the name on the web site is Anthoinette.
de la Croix -- the name is found in Dauzat's family names book on pg. 184 under the heading of Delacoste. Also, Dictionnaire de Biographic Francaise identifies a Francois Delacroix who was born in Valenciennes in 1582. Submitter would prefer to keep the surname spelled as submitted, de la Croix, not Delacroix.
Herald of Record: Silver Buccle
04.) Bertrand du Beaumanoir (M) -- new name and device
Bertrand -- The name appears in Dauzat's Dictionnaire Etymologique Des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France, third edition on page 40. Not reading French, I am not sure what it has to say about the name, however the submitted spelling is the header form for the entry. The name also appears on pg. 49 of Withycombe, and is identified as the French form of Bertram, the header form, with the statement that the name was introduced to England during the Norman Conquest. Finally, the name Bertrand is found in The Book of the Medieval Knight by Stephen Turnbull, Bertrand du Guelsclin died on 13 July 1380 (pce)
Beaumanoir -- The name appears in Dauzat's Dictionnaire Etymologigue Des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France, third edition on page 63 (although one is then referred to several other pages to find what we think is the ultimate source of the name). Phillipe de Remi took the title "Sire de Beaumanoir" in 1255. His son, Girard, took the title upon his father's death in 1265, and was knighted in 1283. The source for this documentation is Medieval France: An Encyclopedia edited by William Kibler and Grover Zinn (pce). Finally, the name Beaumanoir is found in The Book of the Medieval Knight by Stephen Turnbull. Jean de Beaumanoir was the commander of Josselin castle in Brittany in 1351 (pce)
"Vert, two tennis racquets in saltire a bordure embattled Or."
As the tennis racquet has never been registered by the College of Arms before, we submit the attached documentation, summarized here, and ask that the device be registered according to Part VII - Compatible Armorial Content, section three, Period Artifacts, of the Rules for Submission. We assert that the tennis racquet is a period artifact, and would be known especially among the upper classes of society in late period.
We have attached pages from The Ultimate Tennis Book: 500 Years of the Sport, edited by Gianni Clerici. This source documents tennis as a period sport, enjoyed by all levels of society, but especially the nobility. Clerici also provides documentation from the writings of Shakespeare and Chaucer to establish that the tennis racquet and the game were known in period (although not necessarily by the name tennis, or with the same rules and instruments during the span of our period.) This source also provides a diagram of racquets and how they changed over time (starting first with the hand and proceeding to the modem racquet). We have chosen to portray the racqhet as drawn from 1583 (picture 11). (pce)
As luck would have it, there is an article in the most recent issue of Tournaments Illuminated (issue 137, Winter 2001). The article discusses instrumepts for striking the ball. It says of the racquet that it is "... very much like a modern racquet, although smaller. The total length is one and a half feet. The width of the stringed area is ten inches. The strings are crosses and made tight, as the modem racquet is. Scaino recommends strings ‘like the thickest used in the Viola"' (pg. 7-8). Scaino refers to Antonio Scaino's Treatise on the Game of the Ball, written for the Prince of Ferrara. Copy of the article is attached.
It is hoped that the information given above, along with the accompanying documentation, will meet with the approval of the College, and that the device will be accepted.
Herald of Record: Silver Buccle
Henry V. Act I. Scene I by William Shakespeare
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05.) Colin MacWilliams -- name registered April 2000. new badge
"[Fieldless] a wolf's head erased contourney argent."
Herald of Record: Richenda du Jardin
06.) Degan of Coventry -- name registered May 1997, new device
"Gules, a chevron embattled ermine between three crosses bottany, a border argent."
Herald of Record: Garnet
07.) Deirdre ingean Dhomnaill -- name registered November 1997, new device
"Per pale sable and Or, a trillium gules barbed vert."
Herald of Record: Richenda du Jardin
08.) Elizabeth McGrigour (F) -- new name and device
Elizabeth -- header form in Withycombe, dated to a variety of period times
McGrigour -- header form in Black (sn McGregor) with numerous period spellings
"Gules, a chalice Or and in chief two stirrups argent."
Herald of Record: Juliana de Luna
09.) Fordwin Marchand (M) -- new name and device
Fordwin -- St. Gabriel Report #253 (pce) "We did find a list of Anglo-Norman names which were taken from various documents from the 12th and 13th centuries; any of these would be perfect for a name from your period. The list was compiled by Niccola de Braxton (Susan Carroll-Clark). ... Rarer names include: ... Fordwin ..."
Marchand -- St. Gabriel Report #481 (pce) "'Traveller' is so common in the SCA that it's a cliche. Names like 'baker' and 'smith' describe what a person does for a living, and it's not possible to survive just by travelling. People with personas who wander can usually find names which mean mercenary, merchant, or whatever they actually do. Here are some examples of names which were applied to people whose occupations caused them to travel. ... Merchants: Marchand, Marchant, Lemarchand, Marquant ..."
"Argent, a mallet fesswise, head to sinister sable, on a bordure dancetty vert, six annulets Or."
Herald of Record: Eleanore Godwin
10.) Geoffrey of York -- name registered (date?), new device
"Or, six crescents pendant two, two and two azure."
Herald of Record: Margaret McFee
11.) Laurette de Montasalvy (F) -- new name and device
Laurette -- Latin, Dictionary of Given Names by Flora Haines Loughead, pg 181 (pce)
Monta -- topographic name for someone who lived on or near a hill, Dictionary of Surnames by Hanks & Hodges, pg 372 (pce)
Salvy -- French Saint, 6th c. Bishop of Albi, and 7th c. Bishop of Amiens, variant spelling, Hanks & Hodges, pg. 468 (pce)
"Argent, two hummingbirds rising respectant, wings elevated and addorsed purpure, a chief invected trefoily at the points purpure."
Herald of Record: Eleanore Godwin
12.) Lyon Wolfram (M) -- new name and device
Lyon -- Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris by Cohn Dubh cites "Lyon le Rous" and "Lyon d'Acre"
Wolfram -- header form in Reaney & Wilson, "Ralph filius Wifrun" cited to 1209, "Thomas Woulfran" cited to 1297
"Per chevron azure and argent, two wolves combattant Or and a castle gules."
Herald of Record: Cadell Blaidd du
13.) Myfanwy ferch Rhiannon -- name registered March 1985, change of device and new badge
Device: "Purpure, three unicorns couchant in pale argent."
Badge: "A unicorn vairy pean and Or."
Herald of Record: Myfanwy ferch Rhiannon
Note from Garnet: I still need documentation proving she was at The Flood. One free Dagonell point to anyone who gets the reference :)
Rúadhán -- OCM (sn Rúadán) is late period form of name, St. Rúadán founded monastery of Lorrhan
Ó Conchobhair -- MacLysaught (sn O'Connor) gives this as the Gaelic form of the name recorded in Black in 1622 as Oconochar -- Black asserts it's an "ancient" Irish name.
Herald of Record: Juliana de Luna
Sara -- R&W documents "Sara de Redyngg" to 1311
de Lindley -- "Lindley" is a header form in R&W, "Siward de Lindele" is documented to 1204
16.) Tristan Ravencrest (M) -- new name and device
Tristan -- Withycombe, pg. 283 (s.n. Tristram) "The christian name occurs in England from 1189 in the form Tristram, which was the usual one in England, though it was exceptional in France. The intermediate form Tristran is found in one of the earliest French Tristan romances." (pce)
Ravenscrest -- Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames by Bardsley, pg. 637 (s.n. Ravenscroft) "Local 'of Ravenscroft', a township in the parish of Middlewich, co. Chester" various spellings from 1565 to 1757. (pce) Dictionary of Surnames by Hanks and Hodges, pg.445, (s.n. Ravenscroft) "habitation name from a place in Ches. so called from the gen. case of the OE byname Hræfn 'Raven' + OE croft 'paddock, smallholding'" (pce)
Note from Garnet: The submitted surname is Ravencrest, however all of the documentation is for Ravenscroft. The submitter will not accept major changes, and cares most about the meaning of the surname 'Raven on a crescent or helm'.
"Quarterly, azure and argent of the 2nd and 3rd, a raven close on a decrescent sable."
Herald of Record: Eleanore Godwin
In Service,
Dagonell, Garnet