Elsbeth Anne Roth
c/o Kathy Van Stone
1194 Firwood Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15243
elsbeth@pobox.com

17 January 2003

Unto Ailis Linne, Garnet Herald, and Roana d’Evreux, Cornelian Herald, and the College of Heralds of Æthelmearc, greetings from Elsbeth Anne Roth, Clarion Herald.

Included are my comments on the Æthelmearc Internal Letter of Intent #64. All armory was conflict checked.

1. Adrian MacLachlan: Per pale sable and argent, an oriental dragon erect and a bordure dovetailed counter-changed

Name: As he allows no changes we cannot make his name authentic. Also, I was not able to find Adrian in Scotland, and as Withycombe mentions that it was rare in England it is quite possible that it was not used in Scotland. Also MacLachlan is more associated with Gaelic names not Lowland names. If the submitter wants and authentic lowland Scots name, he should check the article “Early 16th Century Scottish Lowland Names” at http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotnames/lowland16/.

In terms of dates, Withycombe, s.n. Adrian, dates Adrianus to 1189 and mentions in the text an Adrian Fortescue, a saint executed in 1539. Black, s.n. Maclachlan, mentions a Maclachlan of that Ilk in 1555.

2. Æthelmearc, Kingdom of: Order of the Silver Alce

Order Name: What is missing is justification that the order name is valid. While I did not find Silver as an adjective in the small list of order names I have access to, the article “Project Ordensnamen” lists Golden Unicorn as a period order name (in some language) and between the Golden Alce and Silver Buccle we probably have the name grandfathered anyway.

3. Benedict Feargus atte Mede:

Name: Withycombe also dates the form Benedict to 1273. I did not find a Reaney and Wilson citation under Fearghus, but I did find one under Fergus, with Fearghus listed as the original Gaelic form, that lists a John Fergus in 1251. Reaney and Wilson, s.n. Mead, lists a John Atemede in 1248 and John del Mead in 1379. Atte Mead should be equally acceptable.

The use of either two given name or two surnames is not really appropriate – the name would be much better as Benedict Fergus or Benedict atte Mede – the combination <given name> <patronymic> <toponymic> should be registerable (the combination <given name> <given name> <surname> is not appropriate with such an early form of the last element). I am not certain if the Gaelic form Feargus (and with the a it has to be Gaelic) is registerable with the rest of the name or not. It adds a weirdness, so it depends on whether the name formation itself is a weirdness.

4. Ethan Stewart: Per saltire purpure and vert, two moose’s heads couped contourny in pale argent

Name: Note that Biblical names were not used in general up until the Reformation. Because the Reformation happened before the end of our period they are registerable, as noted by the following precedent:

... Esther would appear to be constructed in a period manner — it is a Biblical name, and Biblical names were used in England. We can therefore register the name. [Esther Millar, 05/00, A-Outlands]

For a citation of Stewart in some form in late period England, Bardsley, s.n. Steward lists a John Steward in Northhampton in 1581.

6. Gillian Llywellyn of Ravenspur: A stag’s head caboshed, between and conjoined to its antlers a mullet voided sable

Name: I believe that this must be the Gillian Llywelyn who registered her name in September 1996, and her device in June 2001 (in Æthelmearc).

Badge: RfS VIII.3 states that “Voiding and fimbriation may only be used with simple geometric charges placed in the center of the design.” While mullets are suitable charges for voiding, in this case it is not placed in the center of the design (which in practice means it has to be the sole primary charge).

7. Gwineth McClelan: Azure, a waterfowl naiant between three roundels Or

Name: Morgan and Morgan, s.n. Gwynedd, in the section where it discusses the origin of Gwyneth as a feminine name, notes a Gwineth ver’ Robert in 1577.

Device: I find waterfowl a little too generic; it should be blazoned as a duck.

8. Isolda filia Georgii:

Name: The citation of Isolda in Withycombe is also under Isolda.

9. Leo Bertrand Benton: Purpure, a sword palewise maintained by a hand and in chief three estoiles of eight points argent

Name: Leo is cited under Leo in Withycombe, and Benton is under Benton in Reaney and Wilson. The citation for Bertand is not quite correct. It is found under Bertram and the citation states "The French form of the name, Bertran(d), is much less common than Bertram, Bartram, which occur from the end of the 12^th C." Assuming that the final clause modifies the nearer noun, this means that Bertram and Bartram are found in the 12^th century, not Bertrand. The Paris Census article lists a Bertrant le plastrier, and Morlet, Noms de Famille, s.n. Bertrand, notes it as a personal name of Germanic origin. Thus Bertrand is certain the standard modern French form of the name, and it is possibly a period form, although from looking at the various articles on French names Bertran is more common. As double given names were not used in England until the very end of period (and only rarely even then), Leo Benton would be a much more authentic name.

10. Michael the Tinker:

Name: Withycombe, s.n. Michael, dates Michael in this form in 1218 and 1303.

11. Phebee Sybbel Headley:

Name: I did not fine Sybbel in the Chesham article, but I did find it in the article "Names and Naming Practices in the Registers of the Church of St. Mary's, Dymock," s.n. Sible, dated to 1561.

In terms of authenticity, the submitter should probably be informed that double given names are extremely rare even in 16^th century Elizabethan names. Because 16^th England was one of the places they did appear, I cannot say the name is inauthentic as is, but it would be much more typical as Phebee Headley.

12. Rhiannon y Bwa:

Name: A number of the citations given in LoI can also be found in CA #66, which is on the no-photocopy list. It may also be worth noting that Rhiannon is (modern) Welsh, so there is only the single weirdness for using the SCA compatible name.

14. Una de St. Luc: Argent, a winged bull passant gules, on a chief sable three escallops inverted Or

Name: I was unable to find any record of this name.

15. Viola Thornhaven: Argent chaussé ployé purpure, six violets leaved proper

Name: It is not clear if the Withycombe citation is good enough for registration or not. The latest precedent I could find on names from Shakespeare is the following:

The cases where documentation from Shakesphere is sufficient by itself require that the name be formed in a manner consistent with sixteenth century England (it also helps if the play was written before 1600). In this case Yorick appears to not follow English naming practices, but instead was specifically intended to be a foreign sounding version of George. Barring evidence that the name is compatible with period style we must return it. [Yorick of the Craigs, 08/99, R-Caid]

Given the name’s close relation to Violet, which Withycombe dates to the 14^th century and mentions as being common in the 16^th century, Viola is probably reasonably consistent with 16^th century England. The play, however, is dated to 1601.

As for the second citation, Gower, lived from 1330-1408 (from http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/Confess/). The work, however, is in Latin, so I cannot tell how the name was used in the work, and in any case it would have been Latinized.

Device: By long standing precedent (there are some citations during my tenure), armory with a chaussé field must be also checked as if it were a pile. Using the blazon Purpure, on a pile argent six violets leaved purpure it conflicts with Julian of the Purple Must (reblazoned March 2002), Purpure, on a pile argent two sprigs of laurel in fess proper, with only a single CD for the multiple changes to the tertiary charges.

In service,

Elsbeth Anne Roth
Clarion Herald, Æthelmearc

References

Bardsley, Charles, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980).

Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986).

Colm Dubh, "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris", Proceedings of the Known World Heraldic Symposium 1996 (SCA: Montgomery, Alabama; WWW: SCA, Inc., 1997) http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html.

Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "A Welsh Miscellany", Compleat Anachronist #66 (Milpitas,CA: SCA, Inc.).

Krossa, Sharon L. (Effric neyn Kenyeoch vc Ralte), "Early 16th Century Scottish Lowland Names" (WWW: Privately published, 1 Nov 2001). http://www.MedievalScotland.org/scotnames/lowland16

Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Given Names in Chesham, 1538-1600/1" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999) [ http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/chesham/].

Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Names and Naming Practices in the Registers of the Church of St. Mary's, Dymock" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/dymock/

Meradudd Cethin, "Project Ordensnamen" (WWW: privately published) http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/order/.

Morgan, T.J. and Prys Morgan, Welsh Surnames (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1985).

Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995).

Withycombe, E.G., The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988).