ÆTHELMEARC COLLEGE OF HERALDS - commentary archive
Letter of Intent #72
Elsbeth Anne Roth, Clarion Herald


Unto the College of Heralds of Æthelmearc, greetings from Elsbeth Anne Roth, Clarion Herald.

Herein are my comments on Æ72.

  1. Adam Enstone on Tyne: Argent, a monster consisting of the upper half of a moor and the lower half of a tree stump eradicated proper maintaining in its dexter hand a hammer sable, a ford proper

    From what I have seen, if someone was from a place like Enstone on Tyne, they would not have their name be of Enstone on Tyne, just of Enstone. For example, Reaney and Wilson, s.n Newcastle, notes the origin of the surname as being either "from Newcastle" or "from Newcastle under Lyme."

    This may or may not have problems with an overuse or inappropriate use of proper; generally we tend to avoid proper in composite monsters, although this is not an unreasonable way to do it.

    Blazon nitpick: Even though it is a monster, I suspect you can say maintaining in his hand. (The hand would be the dexter hand by default.)

  2. Aíbell Shúlglas

    The name was registered September, 2001.

  3. Ailis Linne: Pagan Daysterre

    The name was registered January, 2000.

  4. Aine ingean Ruaidri

    The standard pre-1200 patronymic marker is ingen, not ingean. The father's name is a also found in Mari's Annals, where it notes that the genitive form of the name is also Ruaidrí. The name is correct with or without the accents (so long as it is consistent).

  5. Alan the Strong: Or, a plow vert and on a chief embattled sable 3 garbs Or

    The slight angle of the plow is consistent with the depiction in Neubecker.

  6. Annanias Fenne: In pale a moth displayed argent conjoined to a mount vert

    A mount, being a charge that is partially defined by the boundaries of the field, cannot be used in a fieldless badge.

  7. Brian of Leichester: Per fess sable and argent, in chief a house and in base 3 roundels counterchanged

    His name was registered in March, 1988.

    I have found no reference to houses being ever registered, but houses are clearly period and with the follow precedent we probably can avoid the necessity of proving that this is a standard depiction of a house (just that it is a period depicition of a house):

    [registering a domed mosque of one minaret] A question of reproducibility was raised in commentary in regards to this submission. Of particular relevance to this case are period heraldic depictions of buildings. There are, particularly in Continental heraldry, many coats incorporating everything from individual buildings up to entire cities. Even a casual examination of multiple sources will show that there was little regularity in depiction. The blazon for such charges is characteristically vague: "a church" or "a city" . Clearly any variation in depiction is a matter of artistry, not heraldry.

    In this case, anyone viewing the emblazon will recognize the charge as a mosque. A competent heraldic artist may not produce this particular mosque, but will presumably produce a drawing which, again, the viewers will recognize. This situation is no different from period heraldic depictions of churches.

    This is a change to our normal policy of having the first registration of a charge not documented as having been used in period heraldry be the defining example of the charge. In this specific case, since the period usage of buildings varied so widely, we are comfortable with not having a defining example. ('Afra' bint Tamir al-Sahrahwayyiah, 5/98 p. 5)

  8. Carlo Garlucci

    His name was registered (as Carlo Gallucci) in October, 2002.

  9. Ceara inghean Dubháin uí Mháille

    Ó Corráin and Maguire notes that there were three virgin saints with the name Cera, so the name is registerable, although probably not authentic. Ceara is the post 1200 form.

  10. Donnan the Solitary

    The name was registered in February, 1986.

  11. Franz Belgrand die Mus: Argent, a brown mouse rampant proper maintaining a sword sable and on a chief purpure a longbow fesswise argent

    The name was registered in October, 2003.

    The longbow will be fesswise by default; we do not need to blazon it as such.

  12. Ghalib al-Sami: Or chaussé purpure, a natural tiger's head cabossed sable marked argent and a falcon's head erased sable

    The device is in technical conflict with Thorkell Óláfsson (October, 1996), Purpure, on a pile Or a Danish axe gules. By our current standard, these must be compared as if they both have chaussé fields and if they if they were both have charged piles. In the latter case, there is but a single CD for multiple changes to the tertiary charges. Note that this is a good candidate for a letter of permission to conflict, if Thorkell is still findable.

  13. Gideon Lydiard

    His name was registered in April, 2002.

  14. Gwenllian o'r Beddgelert

    Morgan and Morgan, s.n. Gwenllian, indicates that Gwenllian is the standard modern form and that the name dates in various forms to the 13th century at least.

    The citation given for Beddgelert does not in general have dates (it has some maps of medieval Wales, but I did not find the name on it). The website http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/sites/history/pages/beddgelert.shtml indicates that Beddgelert existed at least as a parish church in period. The use of o'r is inappropriate; for this type of name there should be no preposition at all.

  15. Jean-Philippe Firmin d'Amiens: Azure, a base Or

    The name was registered in October, 1991.

    Consider Damon of the Lake that Flames (September 1983), Azure, a bordure of flame proper. An examination of the emblazon shows that this bordure should probably be reblazoned as Azure, a bordure of flame gules fimbriated Or. With that blazon it clear of Jean-Phillipe with a CD for the change in type and a second for the tincture of the peripheral charge (peripheral charges do not qualify for X.1).

  16. Jenneca de Navarra

    Even better, Diez Melcon, pp. 254-255, s.n. Navarra, lists an Oxava de Navarra in 1155.

  17. John Ignaiszack

    I checked the article in question (which apparently is currently unavailable), and I did not find support for the ending -ack, although they did have examples ending in -ak and -iak. In any case, there are no rules given for how such constructions are made, and, more importantly, being Ukrainian, they cannot be combined with a Polish name without violating III.1.a, "Linguistic Consistency," which states that a single phrase cannot contain more than one language.

  18. Katherine Loch Duibh

    Better documentation for the given name is from Talan's Index to Reaney and Wilson, s.n. Katharine, where this form is dated in 1325, 1516, and 1597 (as well as other dates).

    The byname certainly looks like it should mean "dark lake" in Gaelic. As the Irish almost never use locatives, it is difficult to figure out how they would be used. From the article "Names and Naming Practices in the Red Book of Ormond" , when Gaelic locative do appear, the appear either without a preposition or with de. Therefore if this place name is correct (and I lack the sources to check), its use is probably registerable. For an authentic name, the place name should probably be in the form used by the English, not the Irish. As far as I can tell the Scottish Gaelic do not use locatives (at least not early), although they are common for Scots names.

  19. Lothar Hugelman

    The name was registered (as Lothar Hügelman) in January, 2003.

  20. Mailagnas Maqqas Dunaidonas

    The article list Dunaidonas in the list of masculine names as the genitive form (ref 16 refers to the original source, which is less useful for us right now). The article also notes that the overall formation should use maqqas, not Maqqas.

  21. May Wynn

    The name was registered February, 2003.

  22. Michelina da Trento

    The name was registered September, 2001.

  23. Óláfr Thorvardarson

    His name is on the June, 2003 external LoI (as Óláfr Þorvarðarson).

  24. Otelia d'Alsace: On a cross patonce Or a heart gules

    Consider the badge for Eibhlín ní Chaoimh (April, 2000), On four demi-fleurs conjoined in cross Or a torteau. There is not a CD for changing the type only of the tertiary as this cross is not a suitable charge as per RfS X.4.j.ii. There may be a CD for the type of cross, but Eibhlín's cross is close to a cross flory, which does not get a CD from a cross patonce. We might want to get a letter of permission just in case.

  25. Rhydderch ap Erwin

    Morgan and Morgan also notes that "It was a fairly common name in the med period" and list a number of forms in period. The documentation in Bardsley lists Erwin as an alternate header form, and dates at Chrisofer Urwen of Boneshawe in 1547. The name, however, is listed as a locative; however, Reaney and Wilson, pg. 157, s.n. Erwin, lists an Augustinus filius Erwin' in 1255, and a Thomas Erwyn in 1459, so the name is registerable as is.

  26. Seth Mac Michael: A gorilla statant contourny argent

    His name was registered August, 2002, as Seth MacMichael.

    The gorilla was registered to him in February, 2003.

  27. Sophie Davenport: Sable, a bend sinister gules fimbriated Or between two scorpions argent

    Consider Kelson de la Croix (June 1973), Sable, a bend sinister gules fimbriated argent, between a Latin cross and an olive branch bendwise sinister argent. There is not a CD for the change of tincture of the fimbriation, but there is a CD for the type of secondary charges. As both branches and scorpions can be bendwise, there may also be a CD for orientation of have the secondary charges.

  28. Taileshíthe of the Greenwood: Per pale sable and vert, a pall between two owls close respectant and a crescent argent

    I suspect that even our Gaelic experts would hesitate about constructing a name from its elements, and I have no way of knowing if this is a valid construction. I know enough Gaelic to know that Dhuibshíthe is composed of the parts Dhuib (derived from Dhub) and shíthe, but I do know if Tailefhlaith is composed of the parts Taile and fhlaith, or Tailef and laith or is not composed at all.

    The pall is inverted.

  29. Tat'iana Kionova

    The assertion is valid, in that Wickenden only listed earliest dates for names, and has stated publicly that all names should be assumed to exist from the earliest date cited through 1600.

  30. Tiarnach mac Cathail

    Ó Corráin and Maguire lists Tiarnach as the modern (not period) form of Tigernach, with Tighearnach being the post 1200 form (the sound, however, is the same). From Mari's index to the Annals, mac Cathail is both the pre-1200 and post-1200 form of the patronymic.

  31. Vlksha Iakovleva

    Because there are two major editions of Wickenden (plus an online version), the page number is not that helpful. Wickenden, s.n. Vlksha, lists it as a masculine name that appears in patronymic form in 1249. Because it is a male name, it cannot be used with a feminine patronymic, even though the submitter is female. Therefore Vlksha Iakovlev is registerable, but not the submitted form. Wickenden, s.n. Iakov, lists a Vasiuk Iakovlev Kolokoltsov in 1495.

References

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

Diez Melcon, R. P. Gonzalo, Apellidos Castellano-Leoneses: Siglos IX-XIII, ambos inclusive (Universidad de Granada, 1957).

Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2003) [http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/].

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

Neubecker, Ottfried, Heraldry: Source, Symbols, and Meanings (Twickenham, UK: Tiger Books International PLC, 1997).

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

Paul Wickenden of Thanet, A Dictionary of Period Russian Names, 3rd edition (Free Trumpet Press West, 2000).

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

Talan Gwynek, "Feminine Given Names in A Dictionary of English Surnames" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997) http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/reaneyintro.html.

Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, "Names and Naming Practices in the Red Book of Ormond" (SCA, Inc: Known World Heraldic Symposium Proceedings, Tir Ysgithir, 1998; WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999) http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangywystl/lateirish.

Created Sat Nov 01 16:01:36 EST 2003