From Roana d'Evreux, greetings to Christopher Garnet and all of my fellow heralds!  Below pray find the first part of my comments upon ILoI AE85 (February 1, 2005).  I hope to finish researching the other items on the letter, but wanted to make sure that I got out at least part of my commentary by the end of the month:

1. Æthelmearc, Kingdom of - New order name Ordre du Cheval de Fer and new badge 
(Fieldless) A horseshoe argent. 

Have the current Royalty been consulted as to whether or not they support the registration of this name and badge for the Order of Merit for Martial Authenticity?  According to the version of Kingdom Law available on the Kingdom webpage, this order has not yet been written into law, although that should not be a bar to the name and badge being registered.

I hope to have some more commentary about this item - I am reminded of Northshield's "Order of the Iron Griffin" which was recently passed, IIRC.

 2. Alric of the Mists - Resubmitted device 
Per bend sinister purpure and sable, a wyvern sejant within a bordure embattled Or.

Is this wyvern actually 'sejant,' or is it 'statant'? It seems to make a difference.  

Consider Tristan of Longford: 'Azure scaly argent, a dragon segreant a bordure embattled Or,' with one CD for changes to the field (scaly being, as I recall, a field treatment and not a semy) and possibly one CD for the change in posture between a 'dragn segreant' and Alric's wyvern.

Elsbeth's precedents:
-  [a dragon segreant vs. a wyvern erect] "... there is no difference given between a wyvern and a dragon (the wyvern being simply a continental variant of the dragon)..." [Gylmyne Ardrossane, 01/00, R-Meridies] 
-  [a wyvern passant vs. a dragon sejant] As a wyvern passant can be equally blazoned as a wyvern sejant, there is no CD for posture, thus there is only a single CD for the tincture of the wyvern. [Wyvernwoode, Barony of, 10/00, R-Trimaris] 
-  [a wyvern statant vs. a dragon segreant] "There is a CD ... for the change in posture of the primary charge." [Giles fitz Alan, 04/01, A-Middle] 

Precedent implies that a wyvern passant, and a wyvern sejant, both have one foreleg up.  Alric's wyvern has both forelegs down; I argue that it is more properly blazoned a 'wyvern statant' in which case a second CD for posture is possible.

 3. Chière une Clergesse - New name, New device 
Argent, on a chevron cotised sable three crosses clechy argent.

I think that the [un]'s and [une]'s in Colm Dubh's article are editorial and should be dropped from the occupational byname, making it Chière Clergesse.  The name and device appear free of conflict.

 4. Coeddu, Shire of - Resubmitted name and device 
Argent, a tree blasted and eradicated sable within a laurel wreath vert and on a chief sable three mullets argent. [color] 

This is another item I hope to have commentary on by the end of the month.

5. Donecan de Maccuswel - Appeal of return of household name Clann Maccuswael 

Concerning the clans cited in the appeal part IV:

A - Clan Stewart of Grandloch.  While the Stewart clan is large and active, Grandloch does not seem to be a part of its current or historical lands, making the name 'Clan Stewart of Grandloch' registerable  under our rules.
B - Clan MacMurtaugh.  There is no currently active mundane Clan MacMurtaugh, Clan Murtaugh, or Clan MacMurrough, making the name registerable under our rules as I understand them.
C - Clan Baldwin.  There is no currently active mundane Clan Baldwin, making the name registerable under our rules.
D - Clan McBride.  While I did find a single reference saying "According to Scots Kith and Kin, Clan MacBride was in Bute and Moray in the 14th Century. It is a sept of Clan MacDonald," I did not find evidence of a currently active mundane Clan McBride or Clan MacBride, making the name registerable under our rules.
E - Clan MacFergus.  I did find a currently active mundane Clan Fergus(s)on; this name may have been deemed registerable because of differences in sound and appearance.
F - Clan MacFergus of Muir.  The Fergus(s)on clan does not seem to be mudanely associated with Muir, so the name is perfectly registerable under our rules.
G - Clan Cleirigh.   This is the only point where I think Donecan's argument is valid; there is a currently active mundane Clan Cleary/Clann Ui Cleirigh and I do not know why it was not considered at the time of registration.

Also, Donecan has ignored Pelican's statements about the proposed spelling of 'maccuswael,' namely:  "The submitter proposed the form Maccuswael as a variant of Maccuswel based on the statement in Black, Surnames of Scotland, that wael is the Old English word for well or pool. In this instance, Black is mistaken. According to the OED wael is an Old English word for a ridge or wale; the Old English word for pool is wæl. As there is no evidence that the "Æ" and "ae" are interchangable in Old English, this variant is not a valid spelling for this name." (July 2004 LoAR)

Overall, I think that we should explicitly *not* support this petition; Donecan has certainly not discovered any sort of pattern of registration of SCA household/clan names that are identical to active mundane clan names (which seems to have been his reasoning behind why Clann Maccuswael should be registered despite the mundane Clan Maxwell) and he has not brought forth any new evidence to support the spelling 'Maccuswael.'

 6. George Anne - New badge 
(Fieldless) A frog tergiant inverted argent.

George Anne has a frog tergiant inverted on her registered arms.  The badge appears to be free of conflict.

 7. Keran Roslin - New badge 
(Fieldless) A heart per pale azure and argent. 

The badge appears to be free of conflict.

 8. Keran Roslin - New badge 
Argent, a heart gules within a bordure invected azure.

I believe this to be clear of Patrice du Coeur Fidel: 'Argent, upon a heart gules another Or, within a bordure engrailed azure'

There is a CD between engrailed and invected.  Depending on how Patrice's armory is drawn, it may be 'a heart gules charged with another Or' giving a second CD for addition/removal of tertiary charges, or it may be 'a heart Or fimbriated gules,' in which case there is still a second CD for changing the tincture of the primary charge.

 10. Thorin bjarnkarl - Resubmitted device 
The device appears to be conflict-free.

This concludes this part of my commentary for the month.  May I remain
Yours,
~~Roana