Unto the College, greetings from Garnet and Cornelian! A few comments before we get into the letter proper. First, commentary on this letter is due by January 15, in order to give us all a bit of a break over the winter holidays! Secondly, there won’t be an internal letter in early January, since we would both like to be celebrating instead of compiling it ... =) On a different note, several submissions this month had incomplete documentation. Remember, a page number alone is not enough! We need both a dated form of any name and the header form under which you found those dated citations.
And now, with no further ado: It is the intent of the Æthelmearc College of Heralds that the following items be considered for registration. Unless otherwise noted, submitters will accept minor changes only.
1. Adrian MacLachlan – New name, New device
Per pale sable and argent, an oriental dragon erect and a bordure dovetailed counter-changed.
This name is intended to be masculine. The submitter requests an authentic name for lowland Scots and will allow no changes.
Adrian is a header form in Withycombe with spellings dated as early as 1189. Can someone actually give us one of the dated forms?
MacLachlan is a header form in Black, with the form Maclouchlan dated to 1314.
Herald of Record: Cadell Blaidd du
Silver is dated to 1526 as an adjective with other spellings as early as 1032 AD in the Oxford English Dictionary.
Alce is another name for an elk and is dated to 1541 in the OED.
Herald of Record: Edmund Lambert of Tregelles
This name is intended to be masculine.
Benedict is found in Withycombe, with Benett dated to 1273.
Feargus is found in Reaney & Wilson (s.n. Fearghus), with Fergus dates to 1251.
Herald of Record: Edmund Lambert of Tregelles
4. Ethan Stewart – New name, New device
Per saltire purpure and vert, two moose’s heads couped contourny in pale argent.
This name is intended to be masculine. The submitter cares most about sound and will allow any changes.
Ethan is a biblical name, and can be found in I Kings 4:31 as well as the 89th Psalm.
Stewart is a header from in Black, with this spelling dated to 1371. Black emphasizes that the name Stewart was hardly exclusive to the Royal Family.
Herald of Record: Otfrid Ammerthaler
5. Giana di Aurelio – New name, New device
Azure, three water-bougets Or and a chief Or fretty azure.
This name is intended to be feminine. The submitter cares most that the name be Italian and will allow any changes.
Giana appears once in Arval’s names from Florence in 1427.
di is a patronymic marker
Aurelio is a personal name dated to the 16th century by Rhian Lyth.
Herald of Record: Cadell Blaidd du
6. Gillian Llywellyn of Ravenspur – New badge
(Fieldless) A stag’s head caboshed, between and conjoined to its antlers a mullet voided sable.
When was her name registered?
Herald of Record: Anlon find macRobartaigh
7. Gwineth McClelan – New name, New device
Azure, a waterfowl naiant between three roundels Or.
This name is intended to be feminine. The submitter cares most about sound and will allow any changes.
Gwineth is cited as an “occasional holdout of native names” in “16th Century Welsh Women’s Names” by Tangwystyl. This source is no longer available online. Can someone find another citation?
McClelan is dated to 1509 in Black, s.n. Macclellan.
Herald of Record: Cadell Blaidd du
This name is intended to be feminine. She will allow any changes and cares most that the name means “Isolda, daughter of George.” Withycombe (p. 166, no header form given) dates Isolda to 1273.
filia is Latin for ‘daughter.’ Reaney & Wilson (p. 188, no header form given) cites a Hugo filius Georgii in 1222.
Herald of Record: Otfrid Ammerthaler
9. Leo Bertrand Benton – New name, New device
Purpure, a sword palewise maintained by a hand and in chief three estoiles of eight points argent.
This name is intended to be masculine. The submitter cares most about an unspecified language/culture.
Leo is found in Withycombe, used in 1273.
Bertrand is found in Withycombe, used at the end of the 12th century.
Benton is found in Reaney & Wilson dated to 1234 and 1275.
Can someone look up the header forms and dated spellings?
Herald of Record: Diane the Scrivener
This name is intended to be masculine. He will allow any changes and cares most that the name means “the Tinker.”
Michael is the submitter’s legal given name, but as he provides us no proof of this fact (such as a photocopy of his driver’s license) would someone please give us a citation for it? Reaney & Wilson (s.n. Tinker) cite one Robert le Tinker in 1243.
Herald of Record: Otfrid Ammerthaler
This name is intended to be feminine. The submitter cares most about sound, wants the name to be authentic for 16th century Elizabethan, and will allow any changes.
Phebee was a feminine given name in Chesham from 1538-1600 according to Mari.
Sybbel was a feminine given name in Chesham from 1538-1600 according to Mari.
Headley is a surname dated to 1521-1615 from Durham and Northumberland by Julie Stampnitzky.
Herald of Record: Rose Marian of Edgewater and Elisabeth Law of Robertson
This name is intended to be feminine and the submitter will allow no changes.
Rhiannon was ruled SCA compatible in Jaelle’s January 1997 LoAR.
y Bwa is a constructed nickname intended to mean “of the bow.” Otfrid includes email correspondence from Tangwystyl who gives several examples of nicknames based on weapons, most notably Hywel y Fwyall (Hywel of the Axe, from the era of Edward III), a formation using both an unmodified weapon-name and a definite article. Other examples of this general name pattern include Ithel Aur gledde (Ithel golden-sword, 1230) and numerous “early, semi-legendary figures” with nicknames like gleddefrudd (red-sword), gyllell fawr (big knife), and baladyr bras (broad spear).
Herald of Record: Otfrid Ammerthaler
This name is intended to be masculine. He will allow any changes and cares most that the name means “Seamus, son of Maolan.”
Seamus is found in Ó Corráin & Maguire (s.n. Séamus) and was “common among the Anglo-Norman settlers in Ireland and was adopted by the native Irish.”
Maolain is proposed as the genitive form of Maolán. Ó Corráin & Maguire (s.n. Máelán) gives this as the name of a lector at Kells who died in 1050.
Herald of Record: Otfrid Ammerthaler
14. Una de St. Luc – New device
Argent, a winged bull passant gules, on a chief sable three escallops inverted Or.
When was her name registered?
Herald of Record: Otfrid Ammerthaler
15. Viola Thornhaven – New name, New device
Argent chaussé ployé purpure, six violets leaved proper.
This name is intended to be feminine. The submitter desires an authentic post-14th century English name.
Viola is found in Withycombe on p. 289 (no header form given). It is the name of Shakespeare’s heroine in Twelfth Night.
Thornhaven is a constructed locative byname intended to mean “harbor where thorns grow.” Ekwall gives several examples of placenames beginning with Thorn-, such as Thornhill, Thorneye, and Thornbush, and s.n. Keyhaven dates this spelling of the element –haven, meaning ‘harbor,’ to 1228.
Herald of Record: Summer’s End Point