Feast of St. Pamphilus
1 June, AS XXXIX

Greetings from Myfanwy!
Enclosed pray find commentary on Æ LoI # 78. No conflict checking this month, I'm afraid -- too many other things happened, particularly when the letter was about due.
I tried to be relatively thorough with other commentary, however.
I remain your servant and the Society's.
Lady Myfanwy ferch Rhiannon
Ruth Morrisson
myfanwy@nauticom.net

1. Amaryllis Coleman (badge resub) -- (Fieldless) An amaryllis flower Or seeded sable.
The documentation provided does seem to suggest that *something* was cultivated in Italy in the early 17th century. However, without actually sitting down and reading everything really carefully (just skimming the text), it isn't entirely clear whether what they are talking about is the South African plant or the American (i.e., New World) plant. Given the dates, however, I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.

2. Br{o,}ndólfer Asgeirrsson -- Gules, a stone throwing hammer and on a chief argent two ravens sable.
The Geirr Bassi docs for all name elements are as given.
The stone throwing hammer is as shown in the PIC-DIC, fig. 336.

3. Catarina di Galaxio
The docs for both name elements are as given [URL: http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/venice14/].

4. Catherine Sheffield
The Withycombe are as given (pp. 186-87).
The Reaney and Wilson docs are not quite as given (p. 404). The cite is for Ralph Sheffeld [sic] I presume that there was just a misreading or misspelling. The name is probably fine as is. "Kateryn Sheffeld", however, would be extremely righteous.

5. Creature Twyne Dragon -- Sable, a dragon's head cabossed argent.
The Reaney and Wilson docs for both byname elements are as cited (p. 459 and p. 141, respectively.

6. Duncan Blackwater
I don't have Black. Withycombe (p. 90, sn Duncan) cites two Scottish kings: Duncan I (1034-40) and Duncan II (1094-95). Reaney and Wilson (p. 145) also gives "Duncan" as a header form. Dated citations include Hugh Dunkan, Dunken [sic], dated to 1275-76, and Dunecan [sic], dated to 1130; it says:
This common Scottish name is found in Yorkshire and Cumberland in the 12th century. Here it was probably introduced from Ireland as in Somerset where the name occurs in 1086 and had become a surname in the 13th century.
Additionally, Reaney and Wilson (ibid.) gives Duncanson as a header form as well. The Black citation submitted is cited here as John Dunkanson [sic].
Reaney and Wilson don't give "Blackwater" but do (pp. 46-7) give a great number of "Black-" element names as headers, including "Blackbrook" and "Blackwell".

7. Esa Baird -- Gules, on a pale Or between two gillyflowers argent three owl's heads cabossed gules.
The gillyflowers are as shown in the PIC-DIC (fig. 318); note that the ones in the PIC-DIC are blazoned as "slipped and leaved".

8. Geal Mor, Canton of -- Per chevron sable and vert, a chevron between in chief three lozenges argent and in base a laurel wreath Or.
It would probably be better if the lozenges were more evenly spaced across the entire chief area, but this is probably registrable.
Complexity count of seven (four tinctures, three types of charges).

9. Giovanna di Morosini -- Azure, an ivy leaf and on a chief Or three roses sable.
The name docs for "Giovanna" are as cited [URL: http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/catasto/].
The docs for "Morosini" are also as given [URL: http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/venice14/venice14sur.html#table]. Note that in the commentary for this name it says: "patronymic. The name Morosino Morosini [sic] is in our data." This suggests that the "di" could, in fact, be dropped, which is probably the better option if the submitter cares most about sound.
Artist's note: The ivy leaf emblazon is from an article in an old encyclopedia (I don't know what flavor, you'd have to ask Dame Elsbeth what one and what year).
According to Brooke-Little (p. 131, sn Leaf), the leaf should more properly be blazoned as "slipped" or "stalked".
Possible reblazon: Azure, an ivy leaf slipped and on a chief Or three roses sable.

10. Helene al-Zarqa' -- Azure, a dance between three semiminmis [sic] Or.
The docs for "Helene" are as given [URL: http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/ names/byzantine/fem_given_names.html].
the docs for the byname are also as given [URL: http://www.sca.org/heraldry/ laurel/names/arabic-naming2.htm]. I had a little trouble scrolling through the text, but found it under the header "Feminine Cognomens including both laqabs [sic] and nisbas [sic].
Since Greece (or what we think of as Greece) was under Muslim, and particularly Turkish, rule for so long, the name seems plausible, although I wonder if there is a specifically Turkish equivalent for "al-Zarqa' ". Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much on Turkish that we have available. I checked the Turkish names article in the archive, and most names seemed to have patronymic bynames, with the occasion descriptive or occupational name (some of which seem to be before the given name. [URL: http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ursula/ottoman/titles.html].
The same byname was just on a letter decided on by Pelican on 5/15/04.
The dance is very small. It should be half again as thick, and maybe twice as thick as on the submission, even if it makes the secondaries a bit smaller.
According to the PIC-DIC (sn Musical Note, and fig. 520): "It is commonly represented as a lozenge or an ovoid roundel, with a vertical stem at one end." While this seems to imply that it should look like this:

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11. Henri d'Artois (new alternate name Henri d'Eu.
The Colm Dubh docs are as given [URL: http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html#H].
The Dauzat and Rostaing cite is also as given (p. 277).

12. Maria Adriane
The docs for "Maria" are as given [URL: http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/byzantine/fem_given_names.html].
The docs for "Adrianos" and its feminine form "Adriane" are also as given [URLs: http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/byzantine/family_names.html and http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/byzantine/feminizing.html].
Nice name!

13. Maximilian Von Petsch
The "von" should probably not be capitalized; I don't know if this is a typo on the letter, since in the documentation the "v" is lower-case or, if it is on the submission form that way.
I don't have Bahlow, but Talan's article "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia" lists "Petsch" as a form of "Peter" and dates it to 1348-68 [URL" http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/bahlow/bahlowMasc.html].
I do question the use of "von" in this case, since "Petsch" does not appear to be a locative in this case. Is it listed that way in Bahlow?

14. Nichola of Castile
The Reaney and Wilson docs are as given (p. 346).
The byname docs are also as given [URL: http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/isabella/locative.html].

15. Phiala O'Ceallaigh -- Vert, a fret and overall a mascle argent.

16. Saerlaith the Seamstress -- Per bend vert and sable, a dragon segreant contourny argent maintaining a spool of tread [sic] argent threaded vert.
The ÓC & M docs are as given (pp. 160-61). The online docs are also as given [URL: http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/Feminine/all.html]. Both sources have the accent over the first "a", however. I don't know whether this makes a difference or not.

Artist's note: The emblazon is partly my fault, since I didn't really look at the tinctures too closely. Additionally, the original artwork I was working from was *not* in fact a dragon segreant, but rather one that was sejant and resting it's claw on the spool.

17. Thescorre, Barony of (order name Order of the Broach and badge) -- Argent, in base two bars wavy azure overall a penannular broach pin open to base sable.
This looks like it might be a case of "I don't think that word means what you think it means". I suspected that they want "brooch" and have misspelled it. A (heraldic) "broach" is something quite different: Parker (pp. 225-26, sn Embroiderers') says:
The broach [sic] is an instrument used by embroiderers, and borne [sic] by their several companies; it is represented as in the margin, but as a rule two are borne [sic] together in saltire.
The arms of the Embroiderers' Company of London (incorporated, according to the blazon given on p. 226, in 1562) , and those of the Embroiderers' Company at Bristol and Chester (undated), include broaches in saltire as charges.
Basically (for those who don't have access to Parker), it looks like a two-pronged pickle fork; I suspect that it's used something like a nostpinne, as a spindle that holds thread wound on to it while you're doing something like couching it down.
I don't have access to the online OED The best I can do is Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition, Unabridged (Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, 1949) -- this is the big mucking dictionary that has over 3200 pages and is about 6" thick [you don't really want to know why I have one :-)]. There are about 9 different definitions for "broach" as a noun (p. 338, sn broach). Definition #4 does in fact say "A clasp pin, as for fastening a garment. See BROOCH [sic]." However, the bulk of the definitions appear to be related to pointed rods, spindles, or spires. Since a lot of them seem to relate to poking or sticking, or to that shape (and most of the verb definitions likewise), the reference may ultimately relate to the actual pin part (rather than to the circular part.
This is very poor style.

18. Thescorre, Barony of (order name Order of the Black Talon and badge) -- Argent, a talon sable and in base two bars wavy azure.
I checked a bunch of books, trying to find any reference to a talon as a charge. The closest I got was in Parker (p. 217, sn Eagle), and then only in relation to the leg and foot: "Gules, three eagle's legs erased, talons in chief or [sic] -- BAWDE [sic], Essex."
I would blazon the depiction here as being couped (even though the cut is at an angle); not knowing if there is a default orientation, it should probably also be blazoned as fesswise.
This is very poor style.
Possible reblazon: Argent, a talon fesswise couped sable and in base two bars wavy azure.

Bibliography:
Brooke-Little, John. An Heraldic Alphabet, Rev. Ed. London: Robson Books Ltd., 1975, 1985.
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.
Dauzat, A. and Ch. Rostaing. Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de lieux en France, 2nd. Ed. Paris: Librairie Guénégaud, 1963, 1978.
Geirr Bassi Haraldsson [??]. The Old Norse Name. Olney, MD: Yggssaldr Press, 1977. [Studia Marklandia I]
Ó Corráin, Donnchadh, and Fidelma Maguire. Irish Names. Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1981. 1990.
Parker, James. A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry. Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Co., Inc., 1970.
Reaney, P. H. and R. M. Wilson. A Dictionary of English Surnames, revised 3rd. Ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Withycombe, E. G. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, 3rd. Ed. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1977.
Woodward, John, and George Burnett. Woodward's Treatise on Heraldry, British and Foreign. Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Co., Inc., 1969, 1971.
other URLs as cited